Trump Administration Auctioning Drilling Rights in Arctic and Gutting Federal Protection of Birds. Within 30 days the US Fish and Wildlife Service will be limited to use federal authority to prosecute industries that kill migratory birds. Source
The rollback would have a “negative” effect on the many bird species covered by the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which range from hawks and eagles to seabirds, storks, songbirds and sparrows.
The move scales back federal prosecution authority for the deadly threats migratory birds face from industry — from electrocution on power lines, to wind turbines that knock them from the air and oil field waste pits where landing birds perish in toxic water.
Industry operations kill an estimated 450 million to 1.1 billion birds annually, out of roughly 7 billion birds in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and recent studies.
The administration has continued to push the migratory bird regulation even after a federal judge in New York in August rejected the administration’s legal rationale.
In the last 50 years (since 1970), bird populations have declined by 25% or 3 BILLION birds. Forests have lost 1 billion birds and grassland birds have declined by 53% or 720 million birds. 90% of the losses have come from 12 families including sparrows, warblers, finches and black birds as well as juncos (down 168 million), white throated sparrows (down 93 million), meadowlarks down by 139 million and the red winged blacked down by 92 million.
