Anyone wondering what a successful wildlife program would look like if they could see it need only to look at Ohio's bald eagle program.
A hands-on management strategy has brought eagles from the edge of non-existence in Ohio to a thriving community of majestic birds.
Keep in mind that a management program is more than a sit-back-and-watch thing; far from it actually.
In fact, Ohio eagle restoration program is a pro-active activity that involves such neat little projects as climbing tall trees to band eaglets and climbing more towering trees to add a youngster that needs to be raised in the wild if it is to become a wild eagle.
Looking back, there were 15 pairs of nesting eagles in Ohio in 1959, the year wildlife officials started doing an annual count and keeping records.
By 1979, that number had dwindled to four nesting pairs. At that point, the state began a management program in an attempt to do the state's part in bringing our national bird back to a stable or perhaps growing population.
By 1986, the results of the program were encouraging and positive with eight pairs of adult birds nesting, with one pair in Trumbull County and the rest along the western basin of Lake Erie.
But that's not the end of the story. It takes long-range observation to know for sure if a nesting pair have been successful in hatching young and, if they have, how many.
It takes just three months for baby eagles to grow to nearly adult size and begin flying. That's when success is actually measured.
Between 1979 and 1986 the program has scored a total of 41 young eagles produced, but some 30 percent of them were fostered eaglets (hatched by captive adults) that had been added to a nest.
Now fast forward to this spring.
In a recent count of wild bald eagles in Ohio, observers tallied a total of 649 birds, consisting of 426 mature eagles and 223 immature birds. Eagles are considered immature until they achieve their distinctive white head feathers, usually at the age of five.
In 2007, some 194 eagle fledged or survived the first weeks and flew from the nest. Sandusky County claims 76 birds but eagles are present around the state and can be seen in at least 70 counties.
The mid-winter count, mostly done by volunteers, is done during a two-week period in early January. It's a national effort coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
While counting bald eagles, observers sighted two immature golden eagles, a species now expanding in territory and number because of an active re-introduction program in Georgia and Tennessee.
Close to home, Portage County now has nine resident eagles, Carroll has two, Muskingum has 13 as does Mahoning, and Columbiana claims 5 of these graceful birds.
Now there's a success story and a natural one at that.
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