Bald eagles make a triumphant return to the Lower Wisconsin river valley

June 11, 12:25 PMChicago Adventure Travel ExaminerTed Nelson

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Bald eagles are making a triumphant return to the Lower Wisconsin river valley making this an excellent adventure travel destination to view this magnificent bird.  I have been taking canoe trips to this area for over twenty-five years and when we first started we never saw one.  Then, in the middle 1980s we would rarely see one.  Now, they are seemingly on every tall dead tree or one is spotted soaring above the river after every turn.  The comeback has been truly remarkable.  In fact, in 2007 they were taken off the federal Endangered and Threatened Species List although they are still protected under Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

I asked Wisconsin Department of National Resources (DNR) Wildlife Biologist Daniel Goltz what he attributed to this amazing turn around.  Mr. Goltz states that the cessation of DDT pesticide spraying in 1972 was the big key.  The pesticide spraying led to thinner egg shells often resulting in unsuccessful hatching of young birds.  It was environmentalist and writer Rachel Carson who really brought this issue into our national consciousness with her seminal work Silent Spring in 1962.  Still, it took ten years for the ban to go in affect.  Daniel Goltz also said that cleaner fish for the eagles to eat have also had a positive impact as well.

Once or twice a year Goltz gets in a plane and counts eagle nests and eagle young.  He has counted twenty-three nests from Prairie Du Sac to Wyalusing and another fourteen within ten miles of the river.  This may actually be near the optimal population for this stretch based on spacing between nests and available forage, but for the time being their population continues to gradually increase according to Goltz.  Unfortunately, DNR budget decreases has put a crimp in this program, so donations to this worthy cause would be welcome.

With so much negative news coming out of the ecological world about diminishing rain forests and species becoming extinct or on the brink it is great to have some positive news.  The eagle population in 1970 in Wisconsin numbered only eighty-two pairs yet today the breeding population is over a thousand breeding pairs.  Goltz cites that there still are concerns as eagles are  victims of lead poisoning from eating bottom feeding fish that have swallowed lead sinkers, and there are issues with eagles colliding with power lines, wind generators, and even automobiles.  However, with protection like the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, private non-profit groups conducting research, education events like Eagle Watching Days, and licensed wildlife rehabilitators able to treat, cure, and release sick or injured eagles back into the wild it is hoped that the bald eagles return to the Lower Wisconsin river valley will be permanent one.

This makes this area ideal for those that want to view the eagle.  The Lower Wisconsin river valley is only three and a half hours away from Chicago and definitely worth the trip.  Just take I-90 to Madison and veer west on U.S. 12 to U.S 14 to Spring Green. You can camp on the sand bars along the river or you can camp at Wyalusing State Park.

The best way to view them is by canoe or boat.  They roost along the river and can be easily approached and photographed.  Just be sure to not approach too closely to a nesting area.  Canoes can be rented in Boscobel and Sauk City.  The Ferry Bluff Eagle Council also has a website showing a map with the best spots to view if you do not have a boat.