End Nevada’s Eagle Death Vortex

Golden eagles are disappearing from Nevada’s deserts.

In parts of the state, scientists now describe a “death vortex” — where more golden eagles are dying than being born. Once-productive breeding areas like Dry Lake Valley are seeing steep declines. Drought. Shrinking prey. Habitat loss. Expanding industrial development.

And it’s not just one project. Across the West, massive solar arrays, transmission lines, mining operations, oil and gas drilling, roads, and other large-scale developments are transforming fragile desert ecosystems at breakneck speed.

We need clean energy. We need responsible infrastructure. But we cannot allow America’s public lands to become sacrifice zones — and we cannot push iconic wildlife like golden eagles closer to collapse in the name of progress.

The Department of the Interior oversees millions of acres of public lands. It has both the authority and the obligation to ensure that all large-scale development — renewable energy, fossil fuels, mining, transmission, and other infrastructure — fully accounts for impacts on wildlife before permits are approved.

Right now, that protection is not strong enough.

Golden eagles depend on vast, unbroken landscapes to hunt and successfully raise their young. When nesting areas are disturbed and prey habitat is fragmented, reproduction drops. When cumulative impacts aren’t considered, populations quietly spiral downward.

While the exact causes of this decline are unknown and can include drought, lead pollution, and other causes, we know that development threatens eagles and other species.

The Department of the Interior must act now to:

• Require rigorous, science-based wildlife impact assessments for all major development projects — solar, oil, or any other large disruptive operations.

• Avoid construction in critical nesting, breeding, and foraging habitat.

• Account for cumulative, landscape-level impacts — not just individual permits.

• Enforce meaningful mitigation, long-term monitoring, and adaptive management.

America can lead the world in both conservation and development — but only if we refuse to trade biodiversity for short-term gain.

Golden eagles are a symbol of the West. Their survival should not be collateral damage.

Tell the Department of the Interior: Protect golden eagles and all wildlife. Plan responsibly. Stop approving development that pushes species toward decline.

The petition to the Department of Interior reads: We call on the Department to require rigorous, science-based wildlife impact assessments and enforce strong avoidance, mitigation, and monitoring standards for all large-scale development across Western public lands — including solar, oil and gas, mining, transmission, and infrastructure projects — to prevent further harm to golden eagles and other vulnerable species. Renewable energy and economic development must not come at the expense of biodiversity, and Interior has both the authority and responsibility to ensure America’s public lands are managed in a way that protects wildlife for generations to come.

Source:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/golden-eagles-desert-death