In September 2003 President Bush nominated William J. Haynes II to a key judicial seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a Harvard-trained lawyer for the Department of Defense, Haynes argued that the bombing of an island in the Marianas, an important haven for many rare species of birds, would actually be beneficial for bird watchers. Haynes and his team of Defense Department attorneys contended that the bombing would disperse the birds to other islands so many more people would be able to see the rare species.

After three years of a Senate stalemate, on January 9, 2007 Haynes asked the president to withdraw the nomination. With the Senate in Democratic control, the Haynes nomination had no chance of confirmation.

In the past few years, the Bush administration has engaged in a systematic campaign to cripple the Clean Water Act, to remove the federal protection of a third of America's wetlands that are vital for 50% or more of our nesting birds, and to undermine legislation protecting endangered and threatened species of birds.

America's 15 million adult bird enthusiasts have been passive bystanders to the severe destruction of bird habitats caused by the express policies of the current administration in Washington.

As many political commentators have observed, it is possible today for a small band of citizens voting a common interest to be a decisive, if not deciding, force in an election. Possibly the time has come when 15 million angry birders will decide to emulate their British cousins and organize to use their huge voting numbers.

 

 

 

Regulators appointed by President Bush to the Federal Communications Commission are set to approve a plan that would make it far easier for telecommunications firms to construct cell phone towers without extensive reviews designed to protect the venues around historic properties.

Previously, cell phone companies were required to identify any historic property or any structure more than 50 years old within a one-mile radius of the proposed site. Such reviews sometimes took years to process. About 25 percent of all cell towers constructed in recent years had to undergo such reviews.

Now, only those towers proposed in areas near sites that are included in the National Historic Register would have to be reviewed by the FCC before construction begins.

The bottom line is that telecommunications firms will now have the green light to build far more cell towers in order to improve service for customers. Cell towers can have a devastating impact on bird populations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 5 million migratory birds die each year after crashing into tall man-made structures. Some ornithologists put the figure at close to 50 million. The American Bird Conservatory estimates that dozens of species of songbirds are being depleted because of widespread collisions with communications towers and the guide wires that support them.