March 5, 2011 TOS Action Alert: Threat to Cerulean Warblers and other songbirds. The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is holding three public hearings in Tennessee to discuss the Stateâ??s proposal to protect over 500 miles of Tennessee mountain ridgelines on public lands on the northern Cumberland Plateau from mountaintop removal coal mining. The proposal covers ridgelines in the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area and the Emory River Tracts Conservation Easements. These mountains are important recreational areas, and they provide vital habitat for wildlife, including the Cerulean Warbler and other vulnerable migratory and resident songbirds. The area is also upstream from the Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area (NRRA). TOS supports the State of Tennesseeâ??s petition (Alternative 1) to designate all of the petition area as off-limits to future surface mining. The petition area is essential Cerulean Warbler breeding habitat, and habitat for other rare migrant and resident bird species. The petition area supports the highest nesting densities of the Cerulean Warbler found anywhere in its breeding range. This species and other forest-interior species are dependent on large tracts of mature forest to breed successfully. The Cerulean Warbler is facing a high risk of extinction, stemming from its rapid population decline due to continuing loss and fragmentation of habitat. Cerulean Warblers also favor the steep slopes and mountain ridge tops that surface mining destroys. By clearing the forested ridge tops and fragmenting the contiguous tracts of old growth forest, surface mining in the petition area will threaten the continued survival of the Cerulean Warbler and other rapidly declining songbirds. TOS further believes surface coal mining on these ridgelines would destroy forests, wildlife habitat and scenic views, and contribute to substantial water quality degradation, threatening aquatic life, including numerous federally threatened or endangered aquatic species found in the Big South Fork River. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must address these serious, long-term impacts of coal mining on the large blocks of mountain forests that Cerulean Warblers and other wildlife require. Public hearings will be held: March 8th, Huntsville Middle School at 6:30 PM (EST). March 10th, LaFollette Middle School at 6:30 PM (EST) March 15th, Oak Ridge High School at 6:30 PM (EST) Please consider attending one of these public hearings. OSM particularly desires to hear from people who use the petition area or adjacent or downstream resources, such as Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area, Big South Fork NRRA, or the Cumberland Trail. Consider mentioning the activities you enjoy doing in these areas and the qualities of these resources that are important to you â?? bird watching, hiking, scenic views, hunting, biological integrity, etc. and state how surface mining would effect your enjoyment of these activities and resources. Public comment is vital. Thanks to the TOS Conservation Policy Committee for their diligence in following this issue. Dick Preston President TOS Munford (Tipton Co.) =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA -------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan Clarksville, TN __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________