I thought every birder or bird lover should know about this! (Copied from
Carolina Birds)
Jackie B. Elmore
near Stanford, KY.
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Lena Gallitano <lbg@xxxxxxxx>
Date: June 12, 2015 at 12:15:23 PM EDT
To: Carolinabirds <carolinabirds@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Birds & Legislation
Hello Carolinabirders,
This week there has been considerable discussion on the legislation and
rule-making surrounding the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. ABA, ABC and Audubon
are working hard to get the word out to the birding community. It is painful
to me to learn that it started with a Congressman from South Carolina and I
hope birders across the Carolinas will make their voices heard. We are
notoriously silent on many issues – this is NOT one to take lightly so please
contact your legislators.
Here is the latest from Audubon:
Last week, during debate and consideration of the House FY 2016 Commerce,
Justice, Science Appropriations (CJS) bill, Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC)
offered and prevailed on an amendment attacking the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
(MBTA). His amendment, which was included in the House passed version of the
bill would prevent the Justice Department from prosecuting under the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Fiscal Year 2016. Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA)
took the floor in opposition to the Duncan amendment.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their version of the Commerce,
Justice, and Science FY16 bill yesterday (6/11) without the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act language. Next, the bill will be brought up for consideration on
the Senate floor. Audubon does not have the schedule for this discussion but
will provide it when available. It is possible the same language could be
reintroduced by the Senate. Now is the time to contact your senators. The
following link gives you the roster of the Senate CJS Subcommittee in the
Senate.
http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/subcommittee/commerce-justice-science-and-related-agencies.
Putting in a call to your Senator’s office on this would be helpful even if
they are not on the Subcommittee, especially in South Carolina.
An action alert for comments is here:
https://secure.audubon.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=AE72F5DF0C87DBB55C9795982C51E3AE.app312a?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1939&autologin=true
Note: The President issued a veto threat for the House bill that included
the amendment. While there hasn't been a veto threat for the Senate bill, it
has the same funding problems that would likely cause a veto for this bill as
well. But this is not an excuse for no action on our part!
If this provision is put back into the Senate bill and is signed into law,
violators of the MBTA will be free to kill migrating songbirds, raptors,
waterfowl and other species with complete impunity!
This attack on the MBTA is part of an ominous pattern on Capitol Hill.
Extremists have introduced a multitude of provisions to gut other keystone
conservation laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the Bald and
Golden Eagle Protection Act. These efforts together pose the greatest threat
to America’s commitment to birds and habitat in decades. We all need to
speak up now!
Apart from the legislative process, the USFWS has initiated a plan for
strengthening the MBTA for the challenges of the 21st Century. You can send
support for the plan through this link:
https://secure.audubon.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1829
Thank you for reading this long email. I’ve lots of birds in my yard and one
migrant is nesting – Great-crested Flycatcher but I’ll share my observations
another time.
Lena
--
Lena Gallitano
Raleigh, NC
