When it comes time for Independence Day celebrations this year on Whidbey, one type of firework will be missing from the mix.

In January 2024, Island County commissioners approved a ban on the personal use of mortar fireworks in unincorporated parts of the county which went into effect this year. These are commonly referred to as mortar shells, festival balls, canisters, ball shells, reloadable shells and onion balls. Fines of up to $250 may apply but if the infraction is recorded near an eagle’s nest, it will be even pricier.

Violation of the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act can result in a $100,000 fine and/or one year of imprisonment. According to the act, it is illegal to “take” bald or golden eagles, which is defined as “pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb.”

The regulations further define “disturb” as “to agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on the best scientific information available, 1) injury to an eagle, 2) a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior, or 3) nest abandonment, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding, or sheltering behavior.”

Concerned South Whidbey residents have shared sightings of eaglets that could be affected by neighborhood Fourth of July celebrations and as a result fall out of their nests. Linda LaMar, a Freeland resident who has a cabin near Goss Lake, photographed an eaglet in its black juvenile plumage June 8 with its mother standing protectively nearby.

“People around the lake didn’t even know there was a baby there, because he’s quiet compared to other babies,” she said.

Last year, LaMar also kept tabs on an eaglet in the same nest around the holiday. She was glad to see it survived, but wondered just how traumatized it might have been from the celebratory explosions.

She said it is discouraging to see that county leaders haven’t made more of an effort to advertise the new prohibition on mortar fireworks.

“I think the bigger issue is people aren’t going to remember or know that mortars aren’t allowed this year,” she said.

To spread awareness, the Whidbey Audubon Society has started a new program offering to lend signs warning of an eagle nesting area and that fireworks are prohibited. Borrowers are encouraged to post their signs within a half-mile distance of a known eagle’s nest with a fledgling.

The National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines provides guidance on addressing common situations where eagles could be impacted including “blasting and other loud, intermittent noises” and recommends avoiding blasting and other activities that produce extremely loud noises within a half-mile of active nests, unless greater tolerance to the activity (or similar activity) has been demonstrated by the eagles.

This recommendation applies to the use of fireworks classified by the Federal Department of Transportation as Class B explosives, which includes the larger fireworks that are intended for licensed public display.

The signs, which measure 18 by 24 inches, from the Whidbey Audubon Society include a phone number for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to report violations. To borrow a sign during the week leading up to the Fourth of July, send an email to conservation@whidbeyaudubonsociety.org.

Kurt Licence, a biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, speculated that there are dozens of eagle nesting territories on Whidbey. The exact number is unknown because the species recovered and was removed from the list of endangered species in the early 2000s.

Last year, he didn’t receive any reports of negative impacts to nesting eagles in spite of a number of communities monitoring nest sites in areas of concern.

“Which could arguably indicate a ‘greater tolerance’ to the activity from some nesting pairs of eagles on the island,” he said.

As Licence explained, if blasting occurred within a half-mile of a nest but the eagles paid no attention to it and there is no evidence of “disturbance” or any of the issues outlined by the eagle act, then there would be no violation.

In the unincorporated parts of Island County, personal fireworks usage is limited to 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 3 and 9 a.m. to midnight on July 4.

Within the city of Oak Harbor, fireworks can be set off on private property from noon to 11 p.m. on June 28, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. June 29 through July 3, 9 a.m. to midnight on July 4 and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 5. Missile-type rockets, sky rockets, firecrackers and chasers are all prohibited under state law.

Perhaps following in the footsteps of the county commissioners, the Coupeville Town Council recently voted to ban mortar fireworks, but it will not go into effect until the 2026 holiday. According to the town’s municipal code, fireworks can only be discharged from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Independence Day.

Fireworks of any sort have been banned in the city of Langley since 2021.

And of course, there are exceptions to these regulations with permitted public displays.