Preston Cook, a lifelong eagle enthusiast from Minnesota, led the charge to officially recognize the bald eagle as the national bird of the United States.
The United States has used the bald eagle as a national symbol since George Washington was president. But it only became the national bird on Dec. 24, and only after a Minnesota man caught the oversight.The assumptions: Bald eagles are perched on our government seals, our military uniforms, and even our money.So most of us thought the eagle was the national bird.
'My assumption was that it always had been,' said Josh Post of La Crosse, WI, as his family visited the National Eagle Center in Wabasha.But as the Eagles sang: you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.'(A family member) told me that it just happened on Tuesday,' Post said.One man's mission: President Biden signed it into law, but Preston Cook made it happen.'You can't have too many eagles,' Cook said as he roamed the bald eagle exhibition he donated to the center.Over 58 years of spreading his wings as a collector, he’s accumulated more than 40,000 eagle items.Everything from one of Gen. Colin Powell’s presidential medals of freedom — 'it has five eagles,' Cook noted — to a big plaster of Paris eagle bust.'It was on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's third inauguration platform,' Cook said.He donated the collection to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, where they fill a wing and a warehouse.And he moved to Minnesota to be near them.Everyday eagles: The population of eagles in the United States has kind of mirrored his collection: At first, there were hardly any. They were an endangered species. These days, there are a lot of them and every day he comes to work, he sees them.But as he researched one of his books about eagles, he realized the American symbol of freedom and strength had never been designated its national bird.'I wrote a very simple bill that did one thing: 'It is our national bird',' Cook said. 'And that was that was it.'Smooth soaring?: It took a year and a day, but the bill passed without opposition.'You know, it has a left wing,' Cook said. 'It has a right wing. It has a body in the middl
BALD EAGLE NATIONAL BIRD PRESTON COOK MINNESOTA LEGISLATION
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Minnesota Man's Eagle Obsession Leads to Bald Eagle Becoming National BirdA Minnesota man's lifelong passion for eagles led to a long-overlooked fact being rectified. After realizing the bald eagle, a prominent symbol of the United States, had never been officially designated as the national bird, Preston Cook drafted a simple bill that made it happen.
Read more »
A Minnesota man's mission to (finally) make the bald eagle the U.S. national birdThe House passed a bill late Monday that officially makes the bald eagle the national bird. The bill now goes to President Biden for his signature. While most people thought the bald eagle already carried that distinction, it had never received full congressional approval. NBC News' Ryan Nobles reports.
Read more »
Minnesota Man's Bill Makes Bald Eagle Official National BirdA Minnesota man's persistence has finally paid off: the bald eagle is officially going to be recognized as the national bird of the United States.
Read more »
Minnesota Man Makes Bald Eagle US National BirdPreston Cook, an eagle enthusiast from Minnesota, spearheaded the effort to officially designate the bald eagle as the national bird of the United States after discovering the oversight. His passion for eagles led him to donate a vast collection of eagle-themed items to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota, where he now resides.
Read more »
Bald eagle soars to national designation on Minnesota man's wingsThe United States has used the bald eagle as a national symbol since George Washington was president. But it only became the national bird recently, and only after a Minnesota man caught the oversight.
Read more »
Minnesota Man Makes Bald Eagle the Official National BirdPreston Cook, an eagle enthusiast, campaigned for years to make the bald eagle the official national bird of the United States. His persistence finally paid off when President Biden signed the bill into law.
Read more »