By Mark Scarborough
Wausau Daily Herald
Tuesday, April 22, 2003

ROME – Gov. Jim Doyle will release an adult male bald eagle Thursday that was nursed back to health after it was found near death last year on Rib Mountain.

Organizers of the event, which will benefit the Raptor Education Group of Antigo, expect hundreds of people to turn out on Thursday and Saturday to watch the release of the rehabilitated bird and other immature bald eagles.

It will be the second annual eagle release at the Lure Bar & Grill at Barnum Bay Marina, which is owned by Joan and Tom Koren.

Nursed back to health by volunteers working with Antigo’s Raptor Education Group, Inc, The male eagle Doyle will help release was banded June 9, 1989, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“Releasing a bald eagle is such a special thing,” said Marge Gibson, director of the Raptor Education Group. “On an emotional level, it’s just amazing. There’s something magnificent about returning a bird like this to the wild where it belongs.”

The Raptor Education Group, established in 1990, “does not receive on penny from the state or federal governments,” Gibson said.

Currently, Raptor Education Group in nursing 18 eagles “in various stages of rehabilitation, recovering from things like being poisoned by lead to being hit by cars.” Gibson said. “It’s so good to see them released. That’s the reason I do this kind of work – to see the eagles successful. It’s so energizing for me to see these big wings spread and see them fly off.”

The bald eagle, they symbol of America, was threatened with extinction in the 1960s because of pesticide use and loss of habitat. For years, the bird was listed as “endangered” by the federal government. Thanks to increased numbers of eagles in the wild, however, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service downgraded this designation to “threatened” in 1994.

Gibson has 35 years of experience as a field biologist. “I have a natural affinity for feathers,” she said.

Tom Koren, who plans to support the group’s work each year with an eagle release, loves to watch the birds return to nature. “It’s such a great thing,” he said.