There are new signs each day that the COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally altering public life in America. Many schools will be closed for the rest of the academic year. Several states have postponed presidential primaries. State and federal courts have put trials on hold. But the coronavirus crisis is not stopping the U.S. Department of […]
Tag: Migratory Bird Treaty Act
In Virginia, a Race to Ready New Nesting Sites for 20,000 Returning Seabirds
Every spring since the 1980s, tens of thousands of seabirds have made their way from their South American wintering grounds to Virginia’s South Island to nest. Once there, raucous masses of Gull-billed Terns, Royal Terns, Common Terns, Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls, and others combine to create the state’s largest breeding colony. But this April, when […]
Trump Administration Moves to Relax Rules Against Killing Birds
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday moved to drop the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally,” arguing that businesses that accidentally kill birds ought to be able to operate without fear of prosecution. Conservation groups said the proposed new regulation from the United […]
A Trump Policy ‘Clarification’ All but Ends Punishment for Bird Deaths
WASHINGTON — As the state of Virginia prepared for a major bridge and tunnel expansion in the tidewaters of the Chesapeake Bay last year, engineers understood that the nesting grounds of 25,000 gulls, black skimmers, royal terns and other seabirds were about to be plowed under. To compensate, they considered developing an artificial island as […]
A Whooping Crane’s Killer Got Off Easy, Frustrating Conservationists
Last month, a Louisiana man was sentenced in a federal district court to 120 hours of community service and two years on probation for shooting and killing a Whooping Crane, one of the most endangered birds in the world. The decision was far lighter than conservationists had hoped and advocated for. According to court documents […]
Petition: Uphold the Migratory Bird Treaty Act!
Least Tern birds are on the Federal Register for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This act is intended to protect migratory birds, making it “illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except […]
Alabama Beachgoers May Have Killed Hundreds of Protected Birds
Beachgoers in Alabama who descended on the breeding ground of a threatened seabird species this summer scared adults away from their nests and used the eggs to decorate the sand, most likely killing hundreds of chicks, wildlife experts say. The exact number of least tern birds that died in Mobile Bay is unknown, but it […]
POLL: Should cormorants be culled to protect local fisheries?
The House Natural Resources Committee met in Alpena, Michigan for a field hearing on double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) management. Cormorants are migratory birds and are therefore regulated under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. However, recreational and commercial fishermen around the Great Lakes say growing populations have negatively impacted local fisheries. Previously, managers were allowed to […]