AR-News: (US-CA) Editorial: Why Make Killing Birds Easier?

[Michael Markarian]

http://www.santabarbaranewspress.com/editorial/052104edit.htm?now=10582&tref=1 


Santa Barbara News-Press

Editorial News

Why make killing birds easier?

Our Opinion

5/21/04

Should it be easier to kill particular species of birds just because 
some people consider the species to be "non-native" to the United 
States? Or should the approval process come down on the side of making 
people go through the proper environmental procedures before any 
shooting begins?

The answer to the last question is yes, of course, absolutely.

But a Maryland Republican congressman wants to stamp out a court 
decision on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and make it easier to kill 
birds that have thrived in California and the rest of the United States.

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest took on this crusade against nature after a federal 
court ruled against people who wanted to kill "non-native" mute swans 
living in the Chesapeake Bay region. The D.C. District Court decided in 
2001 that no justification exists to exclude these birds from the act's 
safeguards.

The Bush administration has not appealed the decision.

As an end run around the court ruling and instead of pursuing appeals, 
the losing side wants Congress to "clarify" the law and rein in an 
"activist" judiciary that supposedly has overstepped its bounds.

One list from the federal government contains 94 bird species possibly 
implicated by the bill, including the spotted dove and Eurasian collared 
dove (both found in Santa Barbara County), zebra dove, Mandarin duck, 
white-rumped shama, yellow-billed cardinal, red-crested cardinal, 
saffron finch, spot-breasted oriole, common canary and yellow-fronted 
canary, all of which experts say have established populations in the wild.

Any bird under the protection of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act still can 
be killed. The law only sets up a process to decide whether people can 
kill the birds. Notes Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer at the 
Humane Society of the U.S.: "H.R. 4114 could have far-reaching 
consequences for dozens of bird species in the U.S. and abroad. The MBTA 
already includes provisions for dealing with birds who cause specific 
damage in specific locations -- Congress should not write a blank check 
to kill dozens of species at any time and any place, regardless of 
whether they are causing any actual problems."

Yet some so-called naturalist groups are content to provide that blank 
check if it will lessen oversight of "restoration" projects they support 
or species they disfavor.

One, sadly, is the National Audubon Society. This shouldn't surprise 
anyone in light of the Santa Barbara Audubon chapter's support of 
killing golden eagles on Santa Cruz Island as an option, although this 
legislation doesn't involve golden eagles.

Rep. Lois Capps could begin to try to clean up her spotty environmental 
record by voting against this bill.