the Alaska Game Commission, com- 

 mented in a similar vein when he 

 stated that — 



In Alaska they are still probably more 

 abundant than they ever were in the 

 States and the majority of the Alaslia 

 lands adjacent to the coastline frequented 

 by eagles are so rugged and uninhabited 

 that when the eagles get away from 

 salt water or away from the immediate 

 lower reaches of the streams they are 

 practically free from danger from moles- 

 tation by human beings. 



Notwithstanding the fact that 

 during the period of bounty pay- 

 ments the bald eagle of the coastal 

 region of Alaska was reduced in 

 numbei^, the area still is one of 

 great eagle abundance, far exceed- 

 ing that existing any place in the 

 States. This is a fact seldom appre- 

 ciated by those who have never 

 witnessed the bald eagle in and 

 adjacent to tlie waterways of South- 



eastern Alaska. This thought was 

 expressed by Dr. T. Gilbert Pear- 

 son (1928), former president of the 

 National Association of Audubon 

 Societies, who made a personal in- 

 spection of the area in 1927, when 

 tlie bounty law had been in efl'ect for 

 10 years and more than 40,000 bald 

 eagles luid been removed. Although 

 he stated that the "bald eagle had 

 been greatly reduced in num- 

 bers, * * * as a species, it cannot 

 be considered as being in any im- 

 mediate danger of extermination." 

 No doubt that statement has com- 

 l^lete application today in Alaska, 

 where the bald eagle is now relieved 

 of the pressure formerly exerted by 

 tlie bounty and may be killed only 

 when causing damage. 



In the course of field studies con- 

 ducted in Southeastern Alaska 



FiGUEE 2. — Typical bald-eagle habitat, iiiuuth of Koduian Creek, Baranof Island, 

 Alaska. Nineteen bald eagles were in sight at this point at one time on August 9, 

 1941. (Photograph by K. H. Iniler.) 



8 



