U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bald Eagle Nesting Signage

Thanks to funding from the Barbara J Mapp foundation, Friends of Radnor Lake and donors from Giving Tuesday, we will be installing Bald Eagle Nesting signage on the Lake Trail as recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in coming days. Management of Bald Eagles at Radnor Lake as part of our resource management plan is directly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Guidelines:

“The Guidelines are intended to: (1) Publicize the provisions of the Eagle Act that continue to protect bald eagles, in order to reduce the possibility that people will violate the law, (2) Advise landowners, land managers and the general public of the potential for various human activities to disturb bald eagles, and (3) Encourage additional nonbinding land management practices that benefit bald eagles .”

In addition to our goal of educating visitors to this conservation milestone, this signage will also ensure we have met/exceeded the posting requirements for any needed law enforcement which include unauthorized off trail activity, unauthorized use of drones. These unauthorized activities could disrupt American bald eagles nesting at Radnor Lake in the future. Bald eagles are especially sensitive during this time of year when they are building nest and raising their young. They do not tolerate any disturbances so we are taking these additional steps as recommended by the US Fish and Wildlife Service Guidelines for nesting bald eagles.

Bald Eagles were removed from the endangered species list in August 2007 because their populations recovered sufficiently at that time. Bald and Golden Eagles are still protected under state and federal laws, specifically under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act.

To learn more about American Bald Eagles Best Management Practices as part of our Resource Management Plan at Radnor Lake State Natural Area, please visit the following link:

https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/management/nationalbaldeaglenanagementguidelines.pdf

Thank you to all our visitors for their support by following the posted rules/regulations while visiting the natural area so not to disturb any wildlife and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to view wildlife while visiting the natural area.

Special thanks to David Adderley at Hi-Tech Signs in Murfreesboro for working with us to get these signs done so quickly the past week and Ranger Paul Schauer for putting them together in the cold weather yesterday!