WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 8, 2019) In an effort to strengthen the 100-year-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act, today a bipartisan group of members of Congress, led by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), introduced , the Migratory Bird Protection Act (MBPA). The new bill would buttress existing protections in the face of Trump administration attempts to weaken them.
In December 2017, the Trump administration issued guidance that the MBTAs protections apply only to activities that purposefully kill birds. Any incidental takeno matter how inevitable, avoidable or devastating the impact on birdsbecomes immune from enforcement under the law. This bill will once again, in plain language, require industry to take proactive measures to avoid incidental bird deaths.
Its no secret that were in the middle of bird emergency, said Sarah Rose, executive director of 勛圖窪蹋 California. 勛圖窪蹋 science shows that two out of three North American bird species could face extinction due to climate change, including the California Quail, the Yellow-billed Magpie and other iconic birds that Californians cherish. We thank Rep. Lowenthal for his leadership and call on other members of Congress to follow Californias lead in protecting the birds we love.
California officials have taken several steps to block the impact of the Trump Administration reversal. In May 2018, California challenging the DOI memorandum, followed that November by from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the state Department of Fish & Wildlife, stating that incidental take remained illegal in California regardless of federal policy. Last September, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 454, by San Jose Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) to further strengthen California protections.
For decades, industry has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to take common sense precautions like covering oil waste pits so birds dont mistake them for safe ponds; insulating small sections of power lines so raptors dont get electrocuted; siting wind farms away from bird migration routes and habitats. The law has also provided accountability and recovery after oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon.
If passed, the MBPA would establish a new fee paid by industry that will increase funding for the conservation of birds impacted by these industrial hazards and an additional fund to establish a new federal research program to study the effects of industry on birds. The new legislation also directs the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a permitting process for incidental take through which businesses would implement best management practices, driving development of technology to further prevent bird deaths.
Congress has the opportunity next week to spread its wings and protect Americas birds, said David Yarnold, president and CEO of the 勛圖窪蹋. More than half of our birds make heroic migrations, traveling thousands of miles from the tropics to Ohio or Maine, but they cant tell an oil waste pit from a lake full of food. For more than a century, low-cost laws protected these birds. And an overwhelming majority of Americans including 500 conservation organizations from every state say its time to reinstate those protections.
勛圖窪蹋 is one of more than 500 conservation groups and other organizations from all 50 states that have joined to urge Congress to defend the MBTA, our country's most important bird conservation law in the United States.
Facts and figures on industrial causes of bird mortality in the United States:
- Power lines: Up to 64 million birds per year (Source: )
- Communication towers: Up to 7 million birds per year (Source: )
- Oil waste pits: 500,000 to 1 million birds per year (Source: )
- Oil spills: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is estimated to have killed more than 1 million birds ()
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Media contact: Jason Howe, jason.howe@audubon.org, 415.595.9245
The 勛圖窪蹋 protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. 勛圖窪蹋 works throughout the Americas using, science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give 勛圖窪蹋 an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, 勛圖窪蹋 believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Learn more how to help at and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @audubonsociety.