The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly will consider changing an ordinance that restricts some development within 330 feet of a bald eagle's nest.
The consideration is coming after a 2007 decision to de-list the raptor from the endangered species list. According to documents from the city, it is following U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines that relax some protections once an animal has been cleared from the list.
"This revision acknowledges the change in status and our past practice of deferring to the federal agency responsible for the protection of bald eagles," the document states.
The issue went through the Planning Commission after the state requested a conditional use permit recently to straighten and widen a patch of Glacier Highway between mile 29.5 and 33.6. That patch of road could affect as many as seven eagle nests.
What is now being considered is giving clarity to variance allowances in the buffer zone of a nest. It will allow for "responsible development" around the areas.
"It may be appropriate to adopt regulations for development near eagle nests based on the level of tolerance of the subject eagles to human activity," the planning commission report states.
City code still emphasizes its land use code will protect existing nests from conflicting land uses, but the proposal crosses out city regulation in the distance rules on both public and private land and defers responsibility to the Fish and Wildlife Service via a "take" permit.
The raptors are still protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Act of 1940 and the Migratory Birds Treaty Act of 1918.
The Planning Commission states one reason it is looking to relax the ordinance around the nests is because the past rules from the FWS are too restrictive — and it's problematic because there aren’t enough official local experts to assist them as there once were.
"Without the ability to issue variances to provide relief (because we cannot get input from experts as we did in the past) the current code provision not allowing development near eagle nests is too restrictive," it states.
For a full agenda and related documents, visit bit.ly/zbibCO.
• Contact reporter Sarah Day at 523-2279 or at sarah.day@juneauempire.com.
Comments (10)
Add commentRelax
The CBJ needs to get away from duplicating State and Federal laws. In this case, they should reduce the set backs to allow development and activity around eagles.
This seems reasonable
Then build the road.
The protection is needed
The protection is needed because if the eagles are disturbed during nesting times the eagles will not return to their nests.
Leave this protection for our Eagles.
Folks keep in mind that some people at CBJ & on the assembly believed so much in "Responsible Development" that they worked to relax Clean Water Act regulations so that now Toxic Chemicals can be dumped by mining companies into our water ways.
If you do a search on the CBJ web site you find letters written in support of Relaxing the Clean Water Act. Hard to believe but it is true. So much for "Responsible Development" these words mean very little to some people at CBJ
Bald Eagles have become so
Bald Eagles have become so inbred and dumb that they have no clue how to build a new nest anymore. Dougres - you need to go check out the Eagles that nest at Stabler's Point. Rock drilling and blasting doesn't phase them.
Dumb?
Hey Outdoor Junkie, please site your sources for the above "Dumb" statement.....
Most people in Juneau do not
Most people in Juneau do not even drive that far out the road.
Why are we spending so much money on this road to no where while cutting the education budget?
The Bald Eagle is our National Emblem. I don't think we should change the protections we have for them. This is disturbing.
Flying Rats
Cut the trees down and build the road. The eagles will rebuild the nest.
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey for our national symbol as he felt the turkey is much smarter than the eagle.
The CBJ does need to relax many of the restrictive building regulations. They also need to cut their budget more and sell more land. All great ideas that will help to spur local development.
Leave the Eagles alone! Just
Leave the Eagles alone! Just because a oppolent few want to build a road is no excuse to change the laws of the land. Greedy people make me sick! Somebody has to stand up for the wild life in Alaska. Murderers, shooting wolves from planes, cowards!
Just because an animal is
Just because an animal is delisted from the endangered animal's list doesn't mean it is fully in the safe. Constructing buildings too close to the nest may affect them severely and put them at risk again. By relaxing the law, we might make changes to the habitat that cannot be recovered.
@simonstar
"Constructing buildings too close to the nest may affect them severely and put them at risk again."
What a dolt. Built it and they will move. The birds have thousands of acres to build on. I suppose you would prefer to continue to burn 10 to 20 times the fuel to travel Lynn Canal just to save one bird?
So your solution is to pollute more...
What a dolt.