“Conserving Wild Birds and Their Habitats throughout the Americas”

BIRD CONSERVATION NEWS TIP-SHEET 5/31/07

, 202/234-7181 ext. 216, www.abcbirds.org

1. Wind Energy Regulations Needed to Protect Birds
2. Pending Legislation Could Control Mountaintop Mining
3. Recovery Plan Plays Politics with Spotted Owl’s Survival
4. ESA Opponents Attempt Death by a Thousand Cuts for America’s Rarest Species
5. IPCC Report: Global Warming Threatens Many Bird Species
6. New Glass Windows May Help Reduce Bird Collisions
7. Funding Secured to Keep Voracious Snake Out of Hawaii
8. Ivory Gull: North America’s Fastest Declining Bird?
9. St. Lucia: Paradise Lost for Endangered Bird
10. Bird Briefs

1. Wind Energy Regulations Needed to Protect Birds

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee held a hearing May 23 on H.R. 2337, The Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act and has scheduled a vote for the bill in committee June 6. H.R. 2337 includes language requiring new regulations for the siting, construction and operation by wind projects to avoid or minimize impacts to birds and bats. ABC supports the intent of this language and believes that the safeguards provided for by the bill are long overdue.

Bird protection measures must become mandatory for wind energy projects because voluntary steps are being ignored by the wind energy industry. This was the message American Bird Conservancy’s (ABC) Dr. Michael Fry delivered in his May 1 testimony before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans. “Voluntary efforts to address the impacts of wind projects on birds and wildlife have been a failure,” said Dr. Fry. “There has been much discussion and almost no real action on the part of the wind industry to resolve bird collision issues.”

In addition, the House Ways and Means Committee is currently considering an extension of tax breaks for wind energy production. Tax credits for the industry should only be renewed if these bird protection measures are implemented. To keep the wind industry growing, its advocates are aiming to push Congress to extend a tax credit worth 1.9 cents per kilowatt-hour or approximately $4 billion per year. Currently, there is no requirement for any action on behalf of the wind energy industry to mitigate its impacts on federally protected migratory birds in order to get this tax break. “Any renewal of the production tax credit for wind energy should include provisions that require developers to follow best management practices to minimize bird and wildlife impacts,” said Dr. Fry.

According to a 2005 Worldwatch Institute Report, the United States led the world in wind energy installations. But according to the National Wind Coordinating Committee, this growing alternative energy source is already killing between 30,000 and 60,000 birds per year, including Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Burrowing Owls, Mourning Doves, and over 50 species of migratory songbirds. Given the projected growth rate of the wind industry, between 900,000 and 1.8 million birds will likely be killed per year by wind turbines by 2030 unless protective measures are implemented.

ABC believes that with proper siting, operation, and monitoring, wind energy can provide clean, renewable energy for America’s future with minimal impacts to birds and bats. ABC emphasizes that before approval and construction of new wind energy projects, potential risks to birds and bats should be evaluated through site analyses. Sites requiring special scrutiny include areas that are frequented by federally listed endangered species, known bird migration pathways, places where birds are highly concentrated, and locations that have landscape features known to attract large numbers of raptors. Once in operation, monitoring for migrating birds can allow facilities to be temporarily turned off to avoid major impacts. For more information contact .

2. Pending Legislation Could Control Mountaintop Mining

Mountaintop removal mining is an extremely destructive form of coal mining where entire tops of mountains are removed and dumped in neighboring valleys, threatening birds such as the Cerulean Warbler that depend on interior forests. The practice has already permanently buried more than 1,200 miles of streams, mainly in West Virginia and Kentucky. Members of Congress are responding to the environmental hazards created by mountaintop removal mining by backing legislation that protects streams from being buried under tons of rock and debris.

The Clean Water Protection Act, (H.R. 2169), was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives. This bipartisan bill, championed by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), aims to re-establish the original intent of the Clean Water Act prior to a 2002 rule change that redefined “waste” to exclude mountaintop debris. This change cleared the way for coal companies to dump millions of tons of rock and rubble into nearby streams. HR 2169 would reclassify the debris and require disposal to be regulated. ABC is supporting the Clean Water Protection Act and is urging all bird conservation activists and organizations to contact their Representatives in support of this important legislation.

“I’m proud to have reintroduced this bill, which protects streams and watersheds, and addresses a serious environmental justice concern,” said Representative Frank Pallone. “The federal government should protect the environment and the people living around mountaintop mining operations, not give massive mining companies a free pass to dump fill into waterways.”

3. Recovery Plan Plays Politics with Spotted Owl’s Survival

The administration has released a draft recovery plan for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl that has scientists who worked on the recovery team crying foul. In testimony before the House Resources Committee, Dr. Dominick DellaSala, a member of the Spotted Owl Recovery Team, stated that administration officials had interfered with the scientists’ work and that the preferred option in the draft plan that makes habitat protection optional was not the product of the recovery team.

The Owl Recovery Team’s original draft was a science-based plan which largely maintains the management requirements of the Northwest Forest Plan that protects 7.7 million acres of old growth forests. However, administration officials on the team’s oversight committee rejected it and ordered the group to devise a second alternative that ignores the best available science to refocus Spotted Owl recovery away from habitat protection.

The new alternative, imposed by administration political appointees with no expertise in Spotted Owl management including Julie MacDonald (see next story) requires no fixed habitat protection. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management would have discretion to determine if any habitat protection is necessary. This alternative would likely lead to the elimination of the old growth reserves created under the Northwest Forest Plan because they would no longer be deemed necessary for owl recovery.

“We repeatedly expressed our opposition to the administration’s oversight committee’s preferred option to the point we felt we were banging our heads against the wall,” said Dr. DellaSala to the Medford Mail Tribune. The public can view the draft plan at www.fws.gov/pacific. You can submit comments until June 25 at http://audubonaction.org/campaign/spottedowl.

4. ESA Opponents Attempt Death by a Thousand Cuts for America’s Rarest Species

The last national election results ended one of the most aggressive assaults on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) seen to date. However, the Administration is still seeking to weaken this landmark act, now through administrative rule changes rather than legislation. The Administration has pursued a rule change all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that would exempt the Environmental Protection Agency from complying with provisions of the ESA when taking action under the Clean Water Act. If the court decides in favor of the rule change, it would significantly erode the ESA requirement that all federal agencies must consult with FWS to ensure their actions do not harm endangered species or destroy their habitat.

In another attempt to erode the ESA, the U.S. Department of Interior Solicitor’s Office recently issued an opinion that seeks to narrowly limit the definition of an endangered species to only those on the brink of extinction throughout their entire range. It is unlikely that the listing and subsequent recovery of the Bald Eagle would have occurred in the Lower 48 States if this policy had been in effect because of thriving populations in Alaska. The Center for Biological Diversity has stated that they believe adoption of this new policy would effectively remove 80% of the nearly 1,300 currently listed species because most have at least one population stronghold that is doing well. Several members of Congress have threatened to block the Administration’s effort by prohibiting the use of federal funds to carry out the new provision.

Finally, an Inspector General’s investigation of Julie A. MacDonald, Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, found she failed to both designate new species as endangered, and to protect imperiled animals’ habitats by diluting or deleting the scientific conclusions and recommendations of government biologists. In one example, Ms. MacDonald changed the radius of the nesting range of the endangered Southwest Willow flycatcher from 2.1 miles to 1.8 miles. The investigators noted in their report that this change would keep the nesting range from extending into California, where her husband maintained a family ranch. Ms. MacDonald resigned her post on April 30.

5. IPCC Report: Global Warming Threatens Many Bird Species

Between 20 to 30 percent of all species are threatened by an increased risk of extinction if average temperatures increase more than 1.5-2.5°C., according to the report Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. The analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also found that an important way to mitigate the impacts of global warming is to protect existing forests, grasslands, and wetlands, which store carbon and provide essential habitat for imperiled wildlife.

“Two of Earth’s most serious environmental problems, global warming and the loss of species, have a common solution: stopping the loss of Earth’s forests and other natural carbon fixing habitats,” said George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy. “At least 20% of greenhouse gas emissions result from deforestation which causes carbon stored in forest biomass, deadwood, litter and soil to be released to the atmosphere.”

The by-product of a global program to reduce greenhouse emissions through forest conservation would be the protection of large numbers of Earth’s threatened species, and preservation of ecosystem services such as watersheds. “Avoided deforestation”, in which payments are provided to countries or projects that protect existing forest, can be financed by carbon taxes, a global trust fund, or by carbon credits purchased by polluters to offset emissions.

ABC’s fact sheet on global warming details seven North American warbler species whose ranges have already shifted significantly farther north in the last two decades. Seabirds such as the Sooty Shearwater have shifted their migration route towards the cooler waters of the Pacific in response to rising sea temperatures off the coast of California, and 20 species of migratory birds are arriving ever earlier at their U.S. breeding grounds as temperatures rise. This includes long-distance migrants such as the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Barn Swallow. Similarly, Tree Swallows are now nesting up to nine days earlier than 30 years ago, corresponding with an increase in average spring temperatures.

6. New Glass Windows May Help Reduce Bird Collisions

Organizations and individuals across the globe are working to address the problem of millions of bird deaths at windows. Two initiatives are showing great promise: The “Lights Out” efforts in Toronto, New York, and Chicago have a proven track record of saving birds and saving energy, and the introduction of a new type of glass that is more visible to birds could further dramatically reduce the number of collisions.

The Bird-Safe Glass Working Group is promoting the development and use of a new type of glass that will be transparent to people but visible to birds. The group includes bird advocacy and conservation organizations from across North America, as well as architects, planners, scientists, and glass engineers working to find funding for the cutting-edge science that will produce a long-term solution to this major threat to migratory birds. The Bird Safe Glass Foundation and New York Audubon Society published Bird-Safe Building Guidelines that address new building construction as well as retrofitting old buildings to be bird safe. It is available at www.nycaudubon.org.

Toronto is a leader in mitigating bird collisions with glass—over 80 buildings are participating in the “Bird-Friendly Building Program.” In January 2006, the Toronto City Council unanimously adopted a resolution that will protect migratory birds through controlling light from buildings, public education, and bird rescue. For all new buildings in Toronto, the resolution specifies “that the needs of migratory birds be incorporated into the Site Plan Review process with respect to facilities for lighting, including floodlighting, glass, and other bird-friendly design features.” For more information, visit www.flap.org.

7. Funding Secured to Keep Voracious Snake Out of Hawaii

Thanks to the efforts of Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the Air Force and Navy will temporarily continue funding inspections to prevent the spread of the Brown Tree Snake to Hawaii. An unfortunate result of efforts to reign in congressional spending was that funds paid to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to search military cargo and crafts departing Guam for Hawaii for brown tree snakes were cut. ABC raised the alarm with Congress and at the highest levels of the Pentagon, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and will continue to work with these agencies to find a dedicated source of funding to ensure the continued inspection of aircraft leaving Guam for Hawaii.

The brown tree snake, whose secretive behavior predisposes it to stow away in ships and airplanes was accidentally introduced to Guam in the 1950s. The impact of the brown tree snake has been the utter devastation of the island’s bird life, as well as major disruptions of electric power transmission, telephone service, military operations, computers, and tourism. Like Hawaii, the indigenous birds of Guam evolved in a snake-free habitat and consequently lacked the protective behaviors of other birds, making them easy prey for the brown tree snake. Preying on eggs and birds alike, the snake has caused the extinction of nine of the 11 native land bird species on Guam.

In a comprehensive report on the brown tree snake, FWS held out far more hope of preventing dispersal to other islands of the Pacific than of eliminating the snake once it establishes a foothold. According to the report, as well as most experts, if the snake were to become established on one island, its spread to the other islands in the chain would likely be inevitable given the snake’s behavior and the heavy traffic between the islands. For more information contact ABC Policy Director .

8. Ivory Gull: North America’s Fastest Declining Bird?

The delicate, pure white Ivory Gull is without doubt one of the most beautiful of all North America’s birds. Alarming recent data also indicate that it is North America’s fastest declining bird species; reasons for this decline are unclear. Aerial surveys by the Canadian Wildlife Service indicate that the species has undergone a decline of approximately 90% since the mid 1980s, with the Canadian population dropping from an estimated 2,400 birds to no more than 200 in 2005. Many previously occupied colonies have also been abandoned, and Inuit residents at Resolute Bay, a small outpost in the Canadian Arctic which bills itself as the “gateway to the North Pole,” report that Ivory Gulls have disappeared from the area where many birds were banded in the early 1980s.

Ivory Gulls depend on pack ice for roosting close to their foraging sites. Scientists report that Arctic sea ice declined by as much as 3% per decade between 1978 and 1998. The gulls may also depend on the declining polar bear, as they are regular scavengers at polar bear kills of seals and small whales such as belugas.

A recent report from Environment Canada of elevated mercury levels in Ivory Gull eggs also gives cause for serious concern. Airborne mercury, generated by coal-fired power plants, waste incineration, and mining, is now approximately three times natural background rates. When mercury enters the food chain, it is converted to toxic methyl mercury, which bioaccumulates and can cause neurological degeneration and other problems. Although mercury occurs naturally in many fish species, the increasing levels found in Ivory Gull eggs are among the highest detected for any Arctic seabird. It is too early to determine whether Ivory Gull declines are resulting from this newly identified threat however, as some marine organisms that Ivory Gulls consume also carry a high selenium load which can neutralize toxic methyl mercury.

9. St. Lucia: Paradise Lost for Endangered Bird

A sprawling development project is underway on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia that is destroying habitat for the largest surviving population of the globally endangered White-breasted Thrasher. The thrasher, locally known as le Gorge Blanc, is almost entirely restricted to St. Lucia. Of the 1,122 individuals that occur on the island, one third are found within the proposed development site for the Le Paradis Hotel and Golf Course complex, being constructed by DCG Properties for the Westin chain.

In 2005, the project was put on hold due to concerns over the destruction and fragmentation of thrasher habitat. The developers then undertook an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) which recommended mitigation measures including leaving some vegetation corridors and creating habitat elsewhere to be set aside as nature reserves.

Construction has resumed, (click here to view dramatic photos) and despite the EIS, significant amounts of forest essential for the species’ continued survival are being destroyed. Several forest patches remain in between the golf course fairways, but DCG plans to build residences in many of these, resulting in further habitat loss. A graduate student studying the project under Dr. Robert Curry of Villanova University is already recording a rise in the thrasher population in marginal areas just outside the development zone, as birds move away from their now fragmented former habitat. Dr. Curry has also reported a very high nest failure rate in these outlying areas that will certainly have long-term consequences for the species.

“We strongly doubt claims that this globally important population of the thrasher will be anything but seriously harmed by the vast hotel and recreational complex at Praslin Bay,” said , Director of ABC’s International Programs. Contact Paul Salaman for more information.

10. Bird Briefs

Land Manager’s Guide Now Available for Rainforest Birds in the Pacific Northwest

A new guidebook, published jointly by ABC and the U.S. Geological Survey, assists land managers interested in conducting conservation and management activities to benefit breeding birds associated with young conifer forests in the Pacific Northwest. Audiences targeted by the guide include land trusts, watershed councils, non-commercial private land owners, forest products companies, land-managing conservation organizations, government agencies, tribes, and First Nations. The guide provides information on the suitable habitat conditions and response to management of approximately 90 breeding bird species associated with young conifer forests, including priority species such as the Band-tailed Pigeon, Hermit Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Sooty Grouse. The guide will also be a valuable tool to support any of the variety of reasons to manage for bird habitat in young conifer forests (for example, regulatory, biodiversity, bird conservation, and forest certification standards). You can download a copy at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/sir20065304/.

G8 Endorses Alliance for Zero Extinction

Environment Ministers of the G8 countries and the five major developing nations met in March to discuss climate change and the loss of biodiversity. The ministers agreed to endorse measures to reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010, including protection of sites identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction. National targets and strategies to achieve the 2010 target will now be developed and implemented. The meeting’s conclusions are available at http://unfccc.int/files/application/pdf/g-8_potsdam_conclusion.pdf.

Arizona Cats Indoors Brochure Published

The Arizona Game & Fish Department recognizes that free-roaming cats can be significant predators of birds and other wildlife. A new brochure, Keeping Cats Indoors–Good for Cats, Good for Arizona’s Wildlife, developed by the department’s Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative in conjunction with ABC’s Cats Indoors! Campaign, is available at Arizona Game & Fish offices and online at www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/w_c/abci/KeepingCatsIndoors.pdf.