Good evening,

 

Sharing some good news tonight that a federal court has just overturned the Trump administration’s rollback of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, throwing out Interior’s 2017 legal opinion that has given industries a free pass for bird deaths by reinterpreting the law to no longer prohibit incidental take.  

 

The lawsuit was brought by conservation groups and eight states in 2018, and today the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its ruling in our favor, vacating the M-Opinion, and finding that the legal opinion is contrary to the plain language and intent of the MBTA. The administration is currently attempting to codify this opinion through rulemaking.

 

For more information, here is Audubon’s press statement and social media, along with a coalition statement, and a Washington Post article here:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/11/quoting-kill-mockingbird-judge-struck-down-trumps-rollback-historic-law-protecting-birds/

 

Let us know if there are questions or any additional information or material that would be helpful. Thank you!


Regards,

 

Erik


Erik Schneider
Policy Manager

630.306.4023

 

National Audubon Society

www.audubon.org