13
Jan
Take Action: Help Restore Protections for Migratory Birds
(Beyond Pesticides, January 13, 2020) Birds are facing an existential crisis. Three billion birds have disappeared since 1970. Two out of three birds are threatened by climate change. In spite of this crisis, our nation’s most important bird protection law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) is being weakened by the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior.
Songbirds Threatened. The poisonous farm fields that migratory birds forage reduce their weight, delay their travel, and ultimately jeopardize their survival, according to “A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds,“ published in the journal Science. Like their effects on insect pollinator populations, neonicotinoid insecticides generally do not cause acute poisoning and immediate death, but instead precipitate a cascade of sublethal impacts reducing their fitness in the wild. As the authors told Environmental Health News, the study is a call not simply to ban neonics or one class of chemical, but to change the entire farming system toward more sustainable bird and bee-friendly practices.
Bird Habitat Threatened in Arkansas. A citizen science monitoring project of Audubon Arkansas found evidence of contamination from the weed killer dicamba far from the genetically engineered soybean and cotton fields, documenting nearly 250 observations of dicamba symptomology across 17 Arkansas counties. Community scientists were trained by Audubon to detect dicamba symptoms. Dan Scheiman, PhD, bird conservation director for the organization, after launching the project this spring, said, “Spraying dicamba on millions of acres of soybean and cotton is an uncontrolled experiment that puts sensitive habitats at unacceptable risk. In a landscape full of genetically engineered crops, the atmospheric build-up of volatized dicamba may result in significant damage to our state natural areas, wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, family farms, and the wildlife they harbor.”
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) adds protection to migratory birds that are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. The MBTA makes it unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill any migratory bird without a permit. The MBTA covers not only hunting, trapping and poaching activities, but extends to other activities that kill migratory birds. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials use the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines, and by other industrial hazards. The MBTA has been applied to prosecute farmers who inadvertently poison migratory birds by use of pesticides.
Yet in 2017, the Department of the Interior issued a policy that relieved industries of the requirement to protect birds, and they will no longer be held accountable for bird deaths. In addition, the agency is expected to propose rules to make this policy change permanent.
On January 8, U.S. Representative Alan Lowenthal and 18 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Migratory Bird Protection Act (H.R. 5552) to restore the critical protections removed by the Trump Administration.
Letter to request cosponsorship
I am writing to ask you to restore important protections for migratory birds by cosponsoring H.R. 5552, the Migratory Bird Protection Act.
Birds are facing an existential crisis. Three billion birds have disappeared since 1970. Two out of three birds are threatened by climate change. In spite of this crisis, our nation’s most important bird protection law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) is being weakened by the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior.
Songbirds Threatened: The poisonous farm fields that migratory birds forage reduce their weight, delay their travel, and ultimately jeopardize their survival, according to “A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds,“ published in the journal Science. Like their effects on insect pollinator populations, neonicotinoid insecticides generally do not cause acute poisoning and immediate death, but instead precipitate a cascade of sublethal impacts reducing their fitness in the wild. As the authors told Environmental Health News, the study is a call not simply to ban neonics or one class of chemical, but to change the entire farming system toward more sustainable bird and bee-friendly practices.
Bird Habitat Threatened in Arkansas: A citizen science monitoring project of Audubon Arkansas found evidence of contamination from the weed killer dicamba far from the genetically engineered soybean and cotton fields, documenting nearly 250 observations of dicamba symptomology across 17 Arkansas counties. Community scientists were trained by Audubon to detect dicamba symptoms. Dan Scheiman, PhD, bird conservation director for the organization, after launching the project this spring, said, “Spraying dicamba on millions of acres of soybean and cotton is an uncontrolled experiment that puts sensitive habitats at unacceptable risk. In a landscape full of genetically engineered crops, the atmospheric build-up of volatized dicamba may result in significant damage to our state natural areas, wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, family farms, and the wildlife they harbor.”
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) adds protection to migratory birds that are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. The MBTA makes it unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill any migratory bird without a permit. The MBTA covers not only hunting, trapping and poaching activities, but extends to other activities that kill migratory birds. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards. The MBTA has been applied to prosecute farmers who inadvertently poison migratory birds by use of pesticides.
Yet in 2017, the Department of the Interior issued a policy that relieved industries of the requirement to protect birds, and they will no longer be held accountable for bird deaths. In addition, the agency is expected to propose rules to make this policy change permanent.
Please cosponsor the Migratory Bird Protection Act (H.R. 5552) introduced by Representative Alan Lowenthal and 18 bipartisan cosponsors to restore the critical protections removed by the Trump Administration.
Letter to current cosponsors
I am writing to thank you for cosponsoring H.R. 5552, the Migratory Bird Protection Act.
Birds are facing an existential crisis. Three billion birds have disappeared since 1970. Two out of three birds are threatened by climate change. In spite of this crisis, our nation’s most important bird protection law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) is being weakened by the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) adds protection to migratory birds that are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. The MBTA makes it unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill any migratory bird without a permit. The MBTA covers not only hunting, trapping and poaching activities, but extends to other activities that kill migratory birds. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards. The MBTA has been applied to prosecute farmers who inadvertently poison migratory birds by use of pesticides.
Yet in 2017, the Department of the Interior issued a policy that relieved industries of the requirement to protect birds, and they will no longer be held accountable for bird deaths. In addition, the agency is expected to propose rules to make this policy change permanent.
Thank you for cosponsoring H.R. 5552, the Migratory Bird Protection Act.
RESTORING THIS BILL IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. I HATE WHAT THIS ANTI-ENVIRONMENT ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE TO DESTROY SO MANY EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS LAWS. TRUMP AND HIS FOSSIL FUEL AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FRIENDS ARE THE WORST. THEY VALUE NOTHING BUT GREEN MONEY AND STOCK MARKET PROG FITS.
January 15th, 2020 at 7:21 pmNow, more than ever, we need to protect all wild life.
January 16th, 2020 at 1:22 pmTO MY Representative support and cosponsor the Migratory Bird Protection Act. Thank those who are already cosponsors.
January 16th, 2020 at 2:27 pm