DON'T WEAKEN THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT!

No Free Passes to Corporations that Kill Migratory Birds

 The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to scale back the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a law protecting most American wild birds, despite warnings from a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director and independent scientists that billions of birds could die as a result.

Wild bird populations are coming under increasing pressure from pesticides, habitat loss and climate disruptions. Now is not the time to reduce protections.

A preliminary comment period on the proposed scale back was met with 45,000 public comments voicing opposition. On June 5th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) approved the change in law and opened a final public comment period.  

Under the weakened law, corporations will no longer be penalized if their activities lead to so-called unintentional killing of migratory birds. Unfortunately, without accountability, the plan will likely result in less responsibility on the part of industry operating in and around the habitats or flight paths of these birds. In 2010, British Petroleum paid $100 million in fines, not a small figure, for the loss of over a million birds during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Without enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, British Petroleum would have gotten away with paying nothing. With no penalties at all, companies are even less likely to behave responsibly.

A one sentence summary from a 2019 report released by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology says it all: “Cumulative loss of nearly three billion birds since 1970, across most North American biomes, signals a pervasive and ongoing avifaunal crisis.”

The Cornell study further defines the crisis for migratory birds: “A total of 419 migratory species experienced a net loss of 2.5 billion individuals. Shorebirds, most of which migrate long distances to winter along coasts throughout the hemisphere, are experiencing consistent, steep population loss. Population loss is not restricted to rare and threatened species, but includes many widespread and common species that may be disproportionately influential components of food webs and ecosystem function.”

Of the total loss of three billion birds, 2.5 billion were migratory species... the very birds targeted to lose protection by the change in law.

With all the damage being done to wild bird populations by pesticides, habitat loss and climate disruptions, we must not give corporations permission to recklessly endanger migratory birds. It's critical that we, the people, speak out against granting corporations free passes that abscond them from punishment. The Trump administration and USFWS must reverse their bird-killing plans.

TELL THE USFWS: REINSTATE THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT. NO FREE PASS FOR CORPORATIONS THAT HARM MIGRATORY BIRDS.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT BY JULY 20, 2020.

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