13
Jun
Bird Conservation Needs Help from Policy Makers
(Beyond Pesticides, June 13, 2022) Birds are beautiful. They fill our world with color, song, and acrobatics. Most songbirds eat insects during the nesting season, thus contributing to management of insects in crops and gardens. It is no wonder that Rachel Carson chose their absence as an indicator of ecosystem collapse in Silent Spring.
It’s not always easy to be a bird. About half of the world’s bird species migrate up to tens of thousands of miles each year. Whether at home or on the way to warmer climates for the winter, birds face harsh weather conditions, barriers like windows and radio towers, and the problem of storing enough energy for the flight in a tiny body. About 72 million birds are killed by pesticides and other toxic chemicals every year. In addition, pesticide use has contributed to the collapse of insect populations—the source of protein and fat that birds need to raise their young.
Congress has passed laws to help prevent a “silent spring”—including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act. In spite of these laws, birds continue to be at risk. U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have just introduced S. 4187 to enhance the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). The NMBCA is an innovative and cost-effective approach to the conservation of the more than 350 neotropical bird species in the U.S. that travel to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada every year, such as the Scarlet Tanager, Purple Martin, and Baltimore Oriole. It supports the conservation of bird habitat as well as research, monitoring, outreach, and education.
As a matching grant program, it catalyzes funding from a range of sources beyond the U.S. government and will triple the investment NMBCA can make in on-the-ground habitat protection, restoration, education, and research, ensuring that those funds are leveraged by other governments and partners. It will also provide greater capacity to implement the grant program by raising the amount the Fish and Wildlife Service can allocate toward managing it.
Letter to U.S. Senators:
Birds are beautiful. They fill our world with color, song, and acrobatics. Most songbirds eat insects during the nesting season, thus contributing to management of insects in crops and gardens. It is no wonder that Rachel Carson chose their absence as an indicator of ecosystem collapse in Silent Spring.
It’s not always easy to be a bird. About half of the world’s bird species migrate up to tens of thousands of miles each year. Whether at home or on the way to warmer climates for the winter, birds face harsh weather conditions, barriers like windows and radio towers, and the problem of storing enough energy for the flight in a tiny body. About 72 million birds are killed by pesticides and other toxic chemicals every year. In addition, pesticide use has contributed to the collapse of insect populations—the source of protein and fat that birds need to raise their young.
Congress has passed laws to help prevent a “silent spring”—including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act. In spite of these laws, birds continue to be at risk. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have just introduced S. 4187 to enhance the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). The NMBCA is an innovative and cost-effective approach to the conservation of the more than 350 neotropical bird species in the U.S. that travel to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada every year, such as the Scarlet Tanager, Purple Martin, and Baltimore Oriole. It supports the conservation of bird habitat as well as research, monitoring, outreach, and education.
As a matching grant program, it catalyzes funding from a range of sources beyond the U.S. government and will triple the investment NMBCA can make in on-the-ground habitat protection, restoration, education, and research, ensuring that those funds are leveraged by other governments and partners. It will also provide greater capacity to implement the grant program by raising the amount the Fish and Wildlife Service can allocate toward managing it.
Please cosponsor S. 4187 and ensure by your oversight that EPA does not allow pesticides that threaten birds or their insect food supply.
Thank you.
Letter to U.S. Representative:
Birds are beautiful. They fill our world with color, song, and acrobatics. Most songbirds eat insects during the nesting season, thus contributing to management of insects in crops and gardens. It is no wonder that Rachel Carson chose their absence as an indicator of ecosystem collapse in Silent Spring.
It’s not always easy to be a bird. About half of the world’s bird species migrate up to tens of thousands of miles each year. Whether at home or on the way to warmer climates for the winter, birds face harsh weather conditions, barriers like windows and radio towers, and the problem of storing enough energy for the flight in a tiny body. About 72 million birds are killed by pesticides and other toxic chemicals every year. In addition, pesticide use has contributed to the collapse of insect populations—the source of protein and fat that birds need to raise their young.
Congress has passed laws to help prevent a “silent spring”—including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act. In spite of these laws, birds continue to be at risk. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have just introduced S. 4187 to enhance the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). The NMBCA is an innovative and cost-effective approach to the conservation of the more than 350 neotropical bird species in the U.S. that travel to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada every year, such as the Scarlet Tanager, Purple Martin, and Baltimore Oriole. It supports the conservation of bird habitat as well as research, monitoring, outreach, and education.
As a matching grant program, it catalyzes funding from a range of sources beyond the U.S. government and will triple the investment NMBCA can make in on-the-ground habitat protection, restoration, education, and research, ensuring that those funds are leveraged by other governments and partners. It will also provide greater capacity to implement the grant program by raising the amount the Fish and Wildlife Service can allocate toward managing it.
Please ensure by your oversight that EPA does not allow pesticides that threaten birds or their insect food supply. Support S. 4187 when it reaches the House of Representatives.
Thank you.
