When Eagles Didn’t Fly

A Bald Eagle soars over treetops near our summer cabin in Western Maine.  The large predator lands atop an 80-foot-tall red pine, then rockets towards the pond’s surface to grab a largemouth bass.  We first started seeing eagles at the near-by Androscoggin River about 15 years ago, now their frequency and abundance is quite evident.  When I was a kid visiting our family’s camp (Maine speak for cabin), we never saw eagles; they were just not there.

So, what happened to bring the Bald Eagles back?  In a word, it was a book published in 1962:  Silent Spring by Rachael Carson.  Carson’s innovative publication combined her expert views on nature as a writer and Fisheries Biologist with an awareness that the indiscriminate use of chemicals, in particular the pesticide DDT, was severely damaging and even threatening the very existence of wildlife and indeed, humans.  It took 10 years, but the use of DDT was banned in 1972.  Her book has served as a foundation for turning the tide on environmental degradation through education and action.

I have just finished reading Silent Spring Revolution (November 2022) by historian, author, and Professor Douglas Brinkley.  In this 857-page book, Professor Brinkley re-visits the accomplishments of Rachael Carson and many other activists to document an amazing environmental awakening that occurred in what he calls the ‘long 60s’ (1960-1973).  Highlighting the initiatives from the administrations and Congress during the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon years, Brinkley methodically records the many efforts to tremendously increase the amount of land set aside for conservation, build consensus and pass new conservation laws, and create a new legal framework in environmental protection that still rings true today.

Photo by Bob Wardwell: From the tranquility of his Maine Camp, a sanctuary emerges for the majestic bald eagle.

Silent Spring Revolution contains an encyclopedic amount of information on the conservation and environmental movements of the ‘long 60s’.  The book introduces many key individuals both inside government and in the non-profit world, who pushed for change.

During much of the ‘60’s, conservation was the thing.  Led by Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and others, more than 200 national wildlife refuges and parks across the country were created, preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of land during this period.

Terms like “environmental impact” were first introduced in the late 60s. Many new environmental laws were enacted to eliminate harm and/or in response to ecological disasters. Conditions in many parts of the country were environmentally at risk.  Testing of nuclear bombs in Nevada was still occurring in the early 1960s until being banned in 1962. The effects of the pesticide DDT that weakened eggshells of eagles, ospreys and other predatory birds through bioaccumulation of these chemicals reduced their numbers to a threatened few. Major oil spills occurred during this era including a major one off Santa Barbara, California; the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire when floating oily waste and debris was ignited. And in 1972 people died as berms collapsed around lagoons holding coal ash waste near Buffalo Creek, West Virginia.

Professor Brinkley credits each of the presidents during these ‘long 60s’ with being part of the great environmental awakening from preservation of seashores by Kennedy to wilderness laws under Johnson to a host of new environmental protection laws that were passed by Congress and signed by Nixon.  The bi-partisan consensus was amazing and contrasts sharply with today’s Congress. For example, the key Clean Air Amendments of 1970 passed the House of Representatives by 374 to 1 and the Senate by 74 to 0. Similarly, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed by a 355 to 4 vote in the House and a 92 to 0 vote in the Senate.  Many other generational environmental laws were passed during this time, including: the Wilderness Act of 1964; the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968; the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970; the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1972; the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972.

Brinkley’s book offers an encouraging recounting of the achievements of the long ‘60s.  Being a student of history and a decades-long environmental planner and having lived long enough to see the Bald Eagles soar again at our Maine Camp, I know that there is hope for similar successful outcomes to the environmental and conservation challenges we now face.

Scout strives to honor those who came before us and is proud to be part of the story of environmental awareness and stewardship. Environmental law and management have evolved and come a long way since the 60s, but the wider goal remains the same, “Protect this planet for the years and generations to come.”  Scout supports that by offering the most up-to-date environmental compliance solutions to ensure our clients protect both themselves and the environment.