The Department of Natural Resources, with assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is investigating a case of poisoned wildlife discovered recently in Baraga County.

A Keweenaw Bay Indian Community conservation officer located a deer carcass and a dead bald eagle within close proximity to each other. The deer carcass had been laced with a substance containing blue crystals. After alerting the DNR to investigate, the DNR contacted the EPA for assistance. An EPA test determined the deer had been salted with a highly toxic pesticide. Toxicology tests on the eagle are still pending.

"At this time, this case remains under investigation," said Lt. Tim Robson, DNR Law Enforcement supervisor at the Marquette Operations Service Center. "We are coordinating our efforts with other state and federal agencies."

Bald eagles have been on the federal Endangered Species List since 1940, and they continue to be protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Under these laws, a person may not kill, harass, hunt or otherwise harm bald eagles.

Bald eagles, the national emblem, are one of two species of eagles found in the United States. The image of the bald eagle has had great significance in the formation of the U.S.