INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The bald eagle population in Indiana has grown over the past two decades thanks to a 30-year-old statewide conservation effort.

The state Department of Natural Resources says Indiana currently has more than 240 eagles, with around 300 eagle nests. That’s up from a 1991 federal survey that counted 88 bald eagles in the state.

Bald eagles have come a long way since habitat destruction, poaching and contamination from the pesticide DDT pushed them to the brink of extinction about 50 years ago.

The Indianapolis Star reports only 417 pairs of bald eagles were nesting in the 48 continental United States in 1963. They were designated an endangered species in 1967 and were no longer endangered by 1995.

At least 9,700 bald eagle nests were found nationwide in 2006.