SAUK-PRAIRE, WISCONSIN: WHERE EAGLES SOAR

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The Ferry Bluff Eagle Council, a support group of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, took a bold and unusual approach in protecting the eagle's vital wintering grounds in the Sauk-Prairie area: After documenting the roosting and feeding territories of the eagles, it became obvious that many of the sites were on private property and not under the management policies of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Council president Dave Erickson contacted Robert Horwich, a biologist who successfully achieved a "community sanctuary" for the endangered black howler monkey of Belize, in Central America.

"In Belize," Horwich said, "we looked at the monkey's range and discovered that most of it was on private land." Through many long hours, Horwich obtained pledges from more than 1 farmers saying they would practice positive land use. The landowners later aligned with the Belize Audubon Society to establish a longterm management plan for the monkeys.

Erickson and Horwich agreed that a similar management plan was needed in order for Sauk-Prairie eagles to regenerate their former numbers. Horwich assisted Erickson and the eagle council in establishing the Sauk-Prairie Community Eagle Sanctuary.

The sanctuary's implementation on the lower Wisconsin riverway yielded community awareness like never before. The most important aspect of sanctuary management, Erickson said, would be that the woods in the vicinity of the roost be undisturbed, and that human activity be severely restricted there during winter months. Thus, property owners who were unaware of roosts on remote portions of

their tracts were recruited as faithful guardians. Also, through council recommendations to the DNR, hunting in specific roosting areas was discontinued between November 15 and March 13.

No longer considered endangered. the bald eagle has recently been moved into the "threatened species" category. It is projected that by the year 2, nearly 4 breeding pairs will fly the skies of Wisconsin. Only through the foresight of groups like the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council has the banishment of this magnificent bird been staved off.

Editor's note: Les Davenport is a freelance writer living in Eureka, Illinois.

These days Sauk-Prairie is so alive with "baldies" that it's hard to believe they were ever threatened by extinction. Through the efforts of concerned people, their numbers have soared.

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