The Washington Post
The United States last week helped ease international trade restrictions on the bald eagle, whose numbers have recovered on U.S. soil. Bush administration negotiators pushed for the change at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in Bangkok, arguing that it will make it easier for Native American tribes in the United States and Canada to get permits for exchanging eagle feathers and parts for religious purposes.
Bald eagles are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but federal officials plan to propose delisting them because the number of breeding pairs has risen from 500 as of 40 years ago to 7,600 today.
Craig Manson, assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife and parks, who led the U.S. delegation to the Bangkok meeting, said the birds are still protected by other laws.
\No one is going to be able to rush out and trade in bald eagle parts,' Manson said. He added that the switch will cut paperwork in half by eliminating the need for import permits.
Some environmentalists questioned the move. James Gilardi, director of the World Parrot Trust, said it makes little sense for the administration to relax trade restrictions on the ""symbol of the American ideals of freedom.'
""This change in protection for the bald eagle underscores the degree to which the pro-trade forces in the Bush administration have run amok, even when it comes to our national bird,' Gilardi said.
