[va-bird] Re: Defense Dept. to kill migratory birds?

With respect to what your views may be regarding the Readiness and Range
Preservation Initiative and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), I
would recommend that individuals think closely about this initiative
rather than forming you decision based on what is provided at the World
Wildlife Fund Website.  This text is as follows:

"Migratory Birds at Risk: U.S. activists: Congress is considering
granting the Defense Department broad authority to kill hawks, robins,
owls, and other migratory birds with little or no oversight."


Make your own decisions based on the language sent before committee
below.

=A7 2017.  Military readiness and the conservation of protected species

"(b) MIGRATORY BIRDS.=97 Recognizing the critical importance of military
readiness activities to the United States and the efforts taken by the
Department to avoid adverse impacts on migratory birds, military
readiness activities of the Department are hereby authorized under the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.) without further action
by the Secretary of the Interior; provided, that the Department shall
minimize taking of migratory birds to the extent practical and necessary
to further the purposes of the Act without diminishment of military
training or other capabilities, as determined by the Department."


It is my opinion that this does not give the DoD the authority
indiscriminately go out to kill migratory birds.  Instead, this is a
recognition of all of the substantial programs and initiatives to
conserve migratory birds on federal lands.  Since the DoD has been
implementing ecosystem management based Integrated Natural Resources
Management Plans on all installations with adequate natural resources,
as required by the Sikes Act Improvement Act of 1997, they exceeded the
standards of most environmental laws.  The DoD has a long history of
integrating the environmental mission into that of the military
readiness mission.  Should training activities compromise migratory bird
species, mitigation actions are generally included as part of the
planning process, not just as an assessed penalty.

The legislation would reverse a March 2002 judicial decision applying
the MBTA to training activities at the Farallon de Medinilla (FDM) range
in the Western Pacific that are vital to Operation Enduring Freedom.
The provision would require that the services take practical steps to
prevent injuries to birds in the course of training.   =20
Need for Legislation:  Without clarifying the scope of the MBTA, DoD now
faces the potential for an injunction that would halt military training
if it could result in the death or injury of any migratory birds. In the
FDM litigation, the judge himself stated that Congress should take up
the current inflexible MBTA requirements.

Although DoI may attempt to address this problem by regulation, a formal
rulemaking process would entail at least 18-24 months, and subsequent
litigation is likely since the FDM plaintiffs have already stated that
they do not believe Interior has authority to issue either regulations
or permits for military readiness activities.  (An emergency interim
regulation, by contrast, would be subject to further procedural
challenge.)=20
=20
DoI=92s ability to address the problem by issuance of =93special =
purpose=94
permits is also qualified by the fact that it would be very difficult
administratively to issue site-specific special-purpose permits for the
hundreds of DoD bases and activities implicating the MBTA.  Programmatic
special-purpose permits for categories as broad as =93low-level military
aviation=94 would likely entail at least 24-36 months to complete the
requisite environmental documentation, and a subsequent lengthy legal
challenge would be likely since the FDM plaintiffs have argued to the
court that DoI may not lawfully issue MBTA incidental take permits that
do not conduce to the net benefit of migratory birds. =20

Effect on the Environment:  Neutral to Positive
The legislation merely restores the legal and regulatory status quo as
it existed for over 80 years, until the FDM decision last month.  The
military already undertakes extensive mitigation efforts, not just at
FDM but throughout all our aviation activities, because bird strikes
represent a critical threat to pilot safety.  Our legislation would
expand that by committing to reduce injuries to migratory birds to the
extent possible.


Gino J.M. Giumarro
Wildlife Biologist
engineering-environmental Management (e=B2M)
1109 E. Jefferson Street
Charlottesville, VA  22902

=20

434-244-4976 (office)
434-244-4970 (fax)
703-624-4336 (mobile)

=20
ggiumarro@xxxxxxx
=20
=20


-----Original Message-----
From: va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Michael Shapiro
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 8:42 PM
To: Virginia Bird listserv
Subject: [va-bird] Defense Dept. to kill migratory birds?


To all birders-
    First, thanks to all who responded about Florida birding. It was
very helpful and insightful and very much appreciated. I'll let you all
know what I saw upon my return.

Now, down to business. Congress is planning on voting next month on
whether or not the Defense Department should be completely exempt from
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and thus be allowed to kill any birds any
time. From what I have read, they have provided little authorization for
this, they can already seek exemption if they need to for certain
operations at certain times in certain places, and would fly in the face
of a treaty that involves not only the US, but Canada, Mexico, and
Russia, as well. This would place the US DoD totally above the law as
far as the MBTA goes. Here is a link to a site you can go to in order to
urge Congress to vote "NO" to the DoD's request.

 http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/action.asp?step=3D2&item=3D2244

Michael Shapiro
Richmond (Henrico)

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