A regular roundup of important news on birds and their habitats. Check back often for updates.
7/17/07
Supreme Court Deals a Blow to Endangered Species Protections
Birders and other environmentalists feared that the appointments of John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court would move the Court to the right on issues concerning clean water, clean air, wetland preservation, and protections for endangered birds and animals.
Their worst nightmares have come true.
In 2006 both Alito and Roberts voted to weaken federal regulations of wetlands. In June 2007 the two new justices were part of the majority in the case National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife which ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have to consider endangered species before handing over Clean Water Act regulatory authority to states that request it.
The Environmental Protection Agency had given regulatory authority to the state of Arizona to approve building permits under the Clean Water Act. The legislation gives the EPA the authority to hand regulatory oversight to a state if the state meets nine specific criteria. But the protection of endangered species is not one of those nine provisions.
Defenders of Wildlife filed suit claiming that the state should not be granted regulatory authority because the state does not consider the impact of housing development on endangered species, including the pygmy owl. The Ninth Circuit Court agreed with Defenders of Wildlife saying endangered species were not given adequate protections under the EPA guidelines.
But in a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court decision. Writing for the majority Justice Alito noted that the Clean Water Act states that the EPA “must” give states control if they requested it and complied with the nine provisions. This one word “must,” according to the majority opinion, gave the Court no leeway to decide in favor of Defenders of Wildlife.
Waiting for the Democrats, Part II
Several months ago Birders United noted that many of the leading candidates who hope to be the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party in 2008 had been slow to put the environment at the top of their agendas. We noted at the time that most of the major Democratic candidates appeared to be sidestepping the issue. When environmental issues were mentioned in their campaign materials it was usually related to lessening our dependence on foreign oil in order to put the brakes on global warming or to decrease our dealings in the Middle East.
Nothing has changed. Traditional “green” policies of conservation, expanding open space, protecting endangered species, and making sure we have clean air and water are still not at the top of the Democratic candidates’ agendas. A survey of the major Democratic candidates’ Web sites shows that not one lists the environment as one of their top concerns.
The fact that environmental issues are not deemed important by the major Democratic candidates is extremely disappointing, especially after the very serious damage that has been done to bird habitats during the six and a half years of the Bush presidency.
Doubtful If GOP Presidential Hopeful Tommy Thompson Is a Champion of the Environment
On his presidential campaign Web site, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson champions himself as a leader in environmental protection. He states:
“I built one of the strongest environmental legacies in Wisconsin history, preserving more land than any Governor in state history. My initiatives also cleaned Wisconsin’s water, reduced pollution, restored species that had disappeared from the state (elk and trumpeter swans), and removed species from the state’s endangered species list, including the bald eagle.
I proved definitively that it is possible to enhance the environment and build a strong economy simultaneously.”
Unlike almost all the Democratic presidential candidates and most of the GOP contenders, Thompson addresses issues of concern to birders on his presidential campaign Web site. Although he talks the talk, would Thompson be a protector of birds if he were elected president?
Birders United has asked leaders of several environmental and birding groups in Wisconsin if they agreed that, as governor, Thompson was “bird friendly.” A leader of one group told Birders United, “Thompson had a HORRIBLE environmental record, not terribly different from Bush’s record. Thompson was governor for 16 years and he basically gutted our Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which had a strong national reputation prior to 1986 when he was first elected.”
Good News in Recovery Efforts for the Kirtland’s Warbler
The prime habitat for the endangered Kirtland’s warbler is the jack pine forests of the northern part of Lower Michigan. Kirtland’s warblers winter in the Bahamas and return to northern Michigan each spring.
In fact, since 1940, when the bird was seen in Ontario, there have been no sightings of the Kirtland’s warbler outside of Michigan during the summer months.
But in early June a birder in central Wisconsin reported seeing a nest, indicating a breeding pair of the bird in that state. Since that time two other nests have been reported with female birds at each nest.
Hillsborough County, Florida, Disbands Wetlands Protection Program
For the past 22 years the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) of Hillsborough County, Florida, which includes the city of Tampa, has had the authority to regulate development of wetlands of a half-acre or less. These regulations were stricter than those imposed by the state or federal government and obliged developers to gain county approval for any projects that involved wetlands.
Now the county commission has disbanded the wetlands management division of the EPC giving developers free rein to do what they want with wetlands on a half-acre or less. Hillsborough County Commissioners Brian Blair, Ken Hagan, Jim Norman, and Kevin White voted to disband the wetlands management program.
Birders United supporters in Florida should remember this vote when these commissioners come up for reelection.
Mariella Smith of the local Sierra Club called the decision by the county commissioners “the lowest moment in our county’s history.”
The Four Commissioners Who Voted to Abolish Wetlands Regulatory Authority in Hillsborough County, Florida
Unique Program in Rhode Island Looks to Help Restore Bobolink Populations
The University of Rhode Island and the Natural Resource Conservation Service have established an innovative new program to help recover the dwindling populations of the bobolink. The bird, which has seen drastic drops in its population in New England, nests in grasslands. Often farmers in Rhode Island harvest their first crop of hay during the season when the bobolink is nesting. The harvesting operations disturb the nests of the bobolink in the tall grasslands. Eggs and chicks are often destroyed in the process.
Under the new program, farmers are paid a fee to hold off on harvesting their hay until after the bobolink nesting period. Funds are raised by asking local residents to invest in protecting the bird’s habitats. Local investors chipped in between $5 and $200 to pay farmers to delay their harvest.
Taxpayers in Illinois Can Volunteer to Help Endangered Birds
Tax filers in the state of Illinois can choose to make a voluntary contribution to the state’s Wildlife Preservation Fund. Over the 24 years that the program has been in existence, nearly $5 million has been raised for wildlife preservation efforts. These funds have been used to support more than 1,000 projects. The contributions are tax deductible.
Projects funded with money from the check-off this year include wetland acquisition and restoration programs, educational and conservation efforts, a census of short-eared owls, and the creation of birding trails.
Two Rare Birds Found in Colombia
In 1709 villagers near Ocana, Colombia, found what they believed to be an image of the Virgin Mary in a tree root. The Vatican declared the image a miracle and a shrine was built on the site. The surrounding area has been preserved in its natural state by the Church ever since.
The forest surrounding the shrine is teeming with bird life. Recently photographers for Fundacion ProAves, a conservation partner of the American Bird Conservancy, took pictures of two birds that had never before been photographed in the wild.
The recurve-billed bushbird uses its unique beak to break open bamboo shoots to extract grubs. There were no confirmed sightings of the bird from 1965 to 2004. The Perija parakeet is thought to be extremely rare. Both birds are threatened by a loss of forest habitat to agricultural development.
400 Bird Species Imperiled in Ethiopia
Officials at the Awash National Park in Ethiopia warn that many of the park’s 400 bird species are in danger of becoming extinct. Only one third of the acreage in the park is a preserve for wildlife and the remaining habitat for many of the bird species has been shrinking due to development and agricultural use. Overgrazing by local herders in park areas has eroded much of the grasslands which are home to many of the bird species.
House Committee Will Probe Dick Cheney’s Intervention in Endangered Species Act Decisions
Nick Rahall, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, plans to hold hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney’s role in influencing various Interior Department decisions on endangered species. Cheney has been accused by a group of House Democrats of pressuring mid-level bureaucrats at the Interior Department to manipulate agency decisions to benefit political supporters of the Bush administration. Rahall has called Cheney’s interference “alarming.”
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