HEMET - The U.S. Forest Service's annual winter bald eagle count in the San Bernardino National Forest will wrap up Saturday, and volunteers are needed.

Forest rangers will conduct the fourth and final eagle count of the season between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. at Lake Hemet, Baldwin Lake, Big Bear Lake, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Gregory, Lake Silverwood and Little Green Valley Lake.

Volunteers don't need prior experience -- just some warm clothes and a pair of binoculars, according to the Forest Service.

Eagles generally nest around the lakes in the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains between November and April, providing an opportunity to gauge their numbers, officials said.

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[ Chatton and Associates ] In the past two decades, eagle populations in the region have fluctuated between a half-dozen and 40, according to Forest Service spokesman John Miller.

Because of hunting and habitat destruction, the American Bald Eagle was nearly driven to extinction and declared endangered in the 1970s.

With some 10,000 breeding pairs identified across the continental United States, they were removed from the Endangered Species List in 2007. However, under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, it is a crime to trap

eagles, keep them as pets or sell them.

Anyone interested in taking part in the eagle survey was encouraged to call Ranger Matt McDonald at (909) 382-2933.