A few weeks ago, while driving through West Virginia's northern panhandle, I spotted something I had never seen there before: bald eagles. For some readers of this column that might not be stunning, but to an entire generation of Americans, the idea of bald eagles existing anywhere but a zoo is a completely new concept.
When I was a child, it was a foregone conclusion that the national bird, the symbol of power and freedom, would soon be relegated to a museum piece. I'd seen eagles only in zoos. The first wild eagle I saw was just north of Butler in the early '90s.
In the late 1950s, it was estimated the eagle population in the lower 48 states was down to a mere several hundred pairs. That landed the bird on the endangered species list, making it a crime to harm or kill the eagle.
The blame was placed squarely on DDT, a widely used pesticide. Scientists concluded that DDT was responsible for damaging bald eagles' eggs, making the shells too fragile to support life. Rachel Carson, author of the groundbreaking book "Silent Spring," wrote extensively about the dangers of pesticides, putting DDT near the top of her list.
In the late 1960s, after the connection between DDT and damage was made, use of the chemical was stopped, and the eagle population began to grow.
I think a lot about Rachel Carson and the pioneers of the environmentalist movement at this time of year. It is during the next month or so that most farmers in my neck of the woods fertilize and protect their fields for the growing season.
Farmers have been wrongly blamed for environmental damage done in past decades. On the contrary, rather than being the enemy, most folks who grow crops are great stewards of the land and are among this country's staunchest supporters of the environmental movement.
It was farmers, along with scientists or researchers, who first noticed DDT's damaging effects on the landscape and started the movement to have the pesticide banned by making the choice to grow without the chemical. Sales of DDT were in decline before it was forcefully removed from the shelves.
The farmers are the good guys.
As with any big money industry, new products are constantly being marketed toward the farm community. Try this! It will rid your fields of all unwanted invaders! And it won't harm the land! We promise!
Some claims are more hope than promise, made with crossed fingers and fuzzy research. The fact is, until a new pesticide can be tried on a large scale, long-term situation, its environmental impact is not really known.
Farmers are on the front line of that research.
Meanwhile, I look to the skies around Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and the panhandle of the mountain state for proof that laboratory research, coupled with real life experiments done by farmers, ensure the land around us stays healthy.
The bald eagles are the proof.
The bald eagles are back.
