Migratory Bird Treaty Act

 

Judge Restores Migratory Bird Protections. According to E&E News, “The Trump administration’s controversial approach to migratory bird safeguards runs afoul of the law, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down the Interior Department’s 2017 interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) that removed penalties for activities or hazards, such as power line electrocutions, that result in the accidental taking of a bird. ‘It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime,’ wrote Judge Valerie Caproni, citing a famous excerpt of the 1960 novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ ‘That has been the letter of the law for the past century. ‘But if the Department of the Interior has its way,’ she continued, ‘many mockingbirds and other migratory birds that delight people and support ecosystems throughout the country will be killed without legal consequence.’ Interior Solicitor General Daniel Jorjani wrote in a 2017 legal opinion that ‘[i]nterpreting the MBTA to apply to incidental or accidental actions hangs the sword of Damocles over a host of otherwise lawful and productive actions’ (E&E News PM, Dec. 22, 2017). Caproni, an Obama appointee, scrapped the Jorjani opinion and remanded the issue to Interior. ‘Yesterday’s opinion undermines a commonsense interpretation of the law and runs contrary to recent efforts, shared across the political spectrum, to decriminalize unintentional conduct,’ said department spokesman Conner Swanson.” [E&E News, 8/13/20 (=)]

 

Endangered & Protected Species

 

Piping Plover Chick Dies After Tourists Remove It From Beach. According to E&E News, “A piping plover chick taken by vacationers from a Rhode Island beach died at a wildlife center on Cape Cod, Mass., despite efforts to save it. Piping plovers are a protected species, and removing the birds from the wild is illegal. People from Massachusetts visiting a beach in Westerly, R.I., thought the bird was orphaned and took it home, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement. The chick’s health worsened, and it was eventually transferred to the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Mass., where it died, the agency said. ‘While wild animals may appear to be ‘orphaned,’ they usually are not; parents are often waiting nearby for humans to leave,’ the Fish and Wildlife Service said. The wildlife center posted photos of the chick last week on Facebook saying it was in critical condition and had ‘a long road ahead.’ Piping plovers were designated a protected species in 1986 under the Endangered Species Act. Piping plovers on the Atlantic coast are considered threatened, meaning the population would decline without ongoing protection, the Fish and Wildlife Service says on its website.” [E&E News, 8/12/20 (=)]

 

 

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