Interior Secretary Kempthorne to Make Major Announcement on Status of Bald Eagle

What:           Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is expected to announce that the U.S. national symbol, the American bald eagle, is flying off the Endangered Species List on Thursday, June 28, thanks in large part to a U.S. ban on the toxic pesticide DDT in 1972, the first campaign launched by the national non-profit group Environmental Defense Fund, now known as Environmental Defense (see www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/244_Where%20It%20All%20Began.htm ). 

When:            Thursday, June 28, 2007

10:00 a.m. EDT news conference for DC-based reporters

1:30 p.m. EDT teleconference for non-DC-based reporters

Where:           Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C.

In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the Department of the Interior, 1849 C. St, NW, Washington, D.C. Please call 202/208-5636 for details.

For reporters unable to attend the event in Washington, D.C., a press teleconference will be held on Thursday, June 28, 1:30 p.m. EDT.  To access the call, please dial 1-800-857-1092 and tell the operator the passcode “bald eagle” and the call leader “Nicholas Throckmorton.”  You will be asked for your name and media affiliation.

Notes to media attending Washington, DC event:

Reporter Drop off and Satellite Vans: The drop off for reporters is on East Basin Drive, the one-way, westbound-only, street that runs between the Jefferson Memorial’s Old Parking lot and I-395. Once dropped off on East Basin Drive, it is approximately a 250-yard walk to the Plaza side of the Jefferson. Only live trucks will be allowed to park on East Basin Drive.  If you plan to broadcast parts of the event live, you will need a 750 foot cable.

Parking for all other media-related vehicles: Available at parking Lots “A,” “B,” or “C,” accessible from Ohio Drive on the Potomac River side of the Jefferson Memorial (and which are located south of the George Mason Memorial and SOUTH of the Inlet Bridge). Parking lots are approximately 300 yards south of the Jefferson Memorial and are situated in between the spans of the 14th Street Bridge or I-395. 

Why:            The American bald eagle was first declared endangered in 1967, but after four decades of hard work by scientists, citizens, and government agencies, the species is making a remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction. In 1963, there were only less than 500 nesting pairs of bald eagles left in the lower 48 Unites States; today, there are almost 10,000 (see state-by-state statistics at

                    www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/population/nos_state_tbl.html ). 

Who:               Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne

Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior

Matt Hogan, Executive Director, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Jim Lyon, Senior Vice President for Conservation, National Wildlife Federation

                        Michael Bean, Chairman, Wildlife Program, Environmental Defense –

Bean is a wildlife attorney who has led Environmental Defense’s wildlife team since 1977. Nationally recognized as an expert on incentive-based endangered species conservation and the Endangered Species Act, in 1995 he played a lead role in creating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Safe Harbor program. It assures a landowner who agrees to carry out activities expected to benefit an endangered species that no added Endangered Species Act restrictions will be imposed on the landowner as a result. He also can discuss bipartisan legislation in Congress to create tax incentives to conserve endangered species that live on private lands (see news release at www.environmentaldefense.org/pressrelease.cfm?ContentID=6009 ). 

Contact:             Sharyn Stein, [email protected] , 202-460-6512–c

                        Colin Rowan, [email protected] , 512-799-6400