MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File
In this file photo, Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Director P.J. Hahn rescues a heavily oiled bird from the waters of Barataria Bay, La.
BILLINGS, Mont. The Trump administration has finalized changes that weaken the government’s enforcement powers under a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species, brushing aside warnings that billions of birds could die as a result.
Federal wildlife officials have acknowledged the move could result in more deaths of birds such as those that land in oil pits or collide with power lines or other structures.
Millions of birds will now die without so much as a slap on the wrist to the industries responsible. Any federal protection that they previously received has been overturned, thanks to one final push from the Trump administration. Demand that the government renew these protections and implement real penalties for industries found at fault.
Lester Graham
The federal government will no longer prosecute companies and landowners who unintentionally kill migratory birds.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service changed part of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which has protected birds for more than 100 years.
“So what this means, in essence, is that companies and farms and a lot of other instances will no longer be under the threat of criminal prosecution for killing large mass numbers of migratory birds,” Sean Hammond with the Michigan Envrionmental Council said.
Starting next month, industry and landowners won t be held responsible for any unintentional or accidental bird deaths.
Federal proposal to kill double-crested cormorants in Ohio latest in series of attacks on protected waterfowl
Updated Jan 09, 2021;
Posted Jan 09, 2021
Cormorants on the west channel of the Cuyahoga River on May 6, 2019. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)
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AKRON, Ohio – Once endangered in the Great Lakes region, double-crested cormorants – dark, long-necked waterfowl often spotted in Lake Erie’s western basin – are facing a new threat of potential extermination authorized by the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service is seeking public comments through Jan. 15 on whether to authorize killing unspecified numbers of the birds, which are native to Ohio and now protected, and destroying their nests and eggs.