There was just an interview on my local public radio station with the author of a new book on the peregrine (and bald eagle) recovery effort in NY. They usually post a podcast link later in the day. I'll post that link when it shows up.
I'm putting it in the Rochester history section since Rochester was one of the original peregrine recovery hack sites. They mentioned Rochester several times as well as a "young, untested biologist" whose name should be familiar to us all.
http://www.tinyurl.com/j36lo7dIn the late 1970s, the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon were heading toward extinction, victims of the combined threats of DDT, habitat loss, and lax regulation. Flight Paths tells the story of how a small group of New York biologists raced against nature’s clock to bring these two beloved birds back from the brink in record-setting numbers.
McGrath documents both rescue projects in never-before-published detail. At Cornell University, a team of scientists worked to crack the problem of how to breed peregrine falcons in captivity and then restore them to the wild. Meanwhile, two young, untested biologists tackled the overwhelming assignment of rebuilding the bald eagle population from the state’s last nesting pair, one of whom (the female) was sterile.
Darryl McGrath is a journalist who has written about upstate New York’s environment and rural regions for over twenty years.
Darryl McGrath will be speaking before the Women’s Club of Albany on Wednesday night at 7PM.