JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s capital city has removed protections for eagle nests from its land use code.

KTOO-FM reported Tuesday that some city officials say the protections have become difficult to enforce because there are not enough federal biologists to plot the nest locations.

The protections created a no-building buffer spanning from 50 to 350 feet from an eagle’s nest depending on the time of year and other factors.

Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl said he is concerned with the decision to lift protections because bald eagles often use the same nests their entire lives. But Deputy Mayor Jerry Nankervis disagreed, saying tree work in recent years near the State Department of Transportation facility seemed to invite even more eagles to roost.

The motion narrowly passed 5-4.

A similar effort to scrap the protections failed in 2012.

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