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runs are an important food source for brown bears. The integrity 

 of salmon streams and the old-growth forest must be protected for 

 the brown bears to survive. 

 Bald Eagle 



Southeast Alaska has the highest density and the largest 

 population of breeding bald eagles in North America. Over 10,000 

 of these spectacular birds live on the Tongass. Bald eagles live 

 primarily in old-growth stands near the water where they have 

 adequate nesting habitat and food. The nest trees are usually 

 old-growth Sitka spmce, and although nest trees and a 

 surrounding buffer are protected from disturbance by state and 

 federal regulations, over half of the 126 variances requested 

 between 1969 and 1983 on the Tongass were granted (ADFG, 1985) . 



Salmon are also an important component of the bald eagle's 

 diet, and without adequate food reasonably close to its nest both 

 the eagle's survival and reproductive ability are endangered. 

 Under the current management plan, natural populations of eagles 

 will be jeopardized by strezun sedimentation caused by logging and 

 by elimination or alteration of 90 percent of the eagle's nesting 

 and perching habitat (The Wilderness Society, 1986) . The harvest 

 level must be reduced to protect the bald eagle. 

 Salmon 



Five species of salmon — king, sockeye, coho, pink, and 

 chum — live in the waters in and aroxind the Tongass and are the 



