The Mountain Times
By Emma Cotton/VTDigger
At the turn of the 21st Century, no bald eagles nested in Vermont. In 2020, the state recorded 41 pairs.
Biologists have been working to reintroduce the iconic birds in the state for around a decade and have succeeded. The result: Bald eagles are likely to be removed from Vermont’s endangered species list, said Jim Shallow, director of strategic conservation initiatives at The Nature Conservancy.
The bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and long before that was a spiritual symbol for Indigenous people.
Shallow is also on the Endangered Species Committee in Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Dept., which voted unanimously in December to lift the designation. The Vermont Legislature is expected to make the move official this summer.
US proposes ending rule that weakened wild bird protections
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BILLINGS, Mont. – Longstanding protections for wild birds would be restored under a proposal unveiled Thursday to bring back prosecutions of avian deaths by industry that were ended under former President Donald Trump.
The Interior Department announcement came as President Joe Biden has sought to dismantle a Trump policy that ended criminal enforcement against companies over bird deaths that could have been prevented.
Hundreds of millions of birds die annually in collisions with electrical lines and wind turbines, after landing in oil pits and from other industrial causes, according to government officials and researchers.
It’s been more than two years since visitors walked the grounds of the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, and the rare and endangered cranes there are ready to welcome them back with their charismatic calls, dances and even a few newly laid eggs.
The ICF, which operates in 55 countries around the world, closed its Baraboo headquarters in November 2018 to undergo a $10 million renovation, with plans to reopen to visitors last summer.
But the coronavirus pandemic put reopening on hold until this year. Now that local and national health guidelines have loosened, the ICF is welcoming visitors back to the only place in the world where you can see all 15 living species of cranes 11 of which are threatened or endangered.
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WHAT THE SOLAR INDUSTRY IS LOOKING FOR: The biggest boost to solar employment growth would be a definitive signal from the federal government that it is demanding clean power, said
Abigail Ross Hopper, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s president and CEO.
“The policy really is a long-term, stable tax regime so that companies understand what the rules of the road are,” Hopper told Abby. That could be a long-term extension of solar tax credits (as President
Special to the Sun-Gazette
PHOTO PROVIDED
This is the 1930 photograph which enraged Rosalie Edge and led to her purchase of the land now known as Hawk Mountain. It is used with permission of the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association (https://www.hawkmountain.org/)
The Hawk Mountain Sanctuary near Kempton is well-known to bird watchers, and especially those who enjoy birds of prey (raptors).
A new book review recently stirred my interest in learning more about the creation of the sanctuary. The popular raptor migration viewing site has existed for nearly 90 years, yet many people know little about the feisty woman who made it all possible. And not only did she enable the creation of the sanctuary, she also challenged, and eventually changed, the raptor protection policies of the Audubon Society.