The bald eagle, the national bird depicted on the Great Seal of the United States carrying arrows and an olive branch, is a step closer to coming off the endangered species list.

The Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service issued draft voluntary guidelines Monday that spell out how landowners, land managers and others should protect the bird once it no longer is safeguarded by the 1973 law. The majestic, white-headed eagle has been on the list for decades because of loss of habitat eating animal flesh that contained now-banned DDT pesticide.

Full Story: CNN .