The American bald eagle was nearly wiped out by DDT and like pesticides that were used after World War II. Since these poisons take many years to break down, they were caught up in Great Lakes food webs and affected the fish eating birds such as the eagles.
The eagles are higher on the food pyramid than humans since they eat only fish and meat, but fish eating humans were also being poisoned by these insecticides.
My community was the first to ban DDT that was used to control the Dutch elm beetle in the park in front of our house. My husband and I formed a committee to get it stopped and after this was accomplished, we joined others to form the Michigan Pesticides Council that met at MSU. This was a grass roots movement and it was part of a national movement.
As a result of this work, the eagles have returned to the Great Lakes as well as peregrine falcons and ospreys. Read more about this in The Dynamic Great Lakes
This book is available online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and many other stores.
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