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>Date: Tue, 03 Jun 97 09:08:25 -0500
>From: "TODD TUCCI"<ttucci at audubon.org>
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Precedence: bulk
>Sender: owner-audubon-nbs at igc.apc.org
>Subject: Migratory Bird Treaty Act Under Attack
>To: <audubon-nbs at igc.apc.org>
>
> To: All Interested
> From: Todd Tucci, Wildlife Policy Coordinator
> National Audubon Society
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ATTENTION
> ALL EDUCATORS, ECOLOGISTS, CONSERVATIONISTS,
> AND ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS:
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
> We Need Your Organization/Name+Title
> on the Following Letter Denouncing Recent Decision to Downgrade
> Protection for Migratory Birds!
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
> The Administration has recently decided to exempt all federal agencies
> from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act's regulations and prohibitions. On
> May 7th, John Flicker, President of the National Audubon Society, sent
> a letter to both Vice President Gore and Interior Secretary Babbitt
> urging the Administration to rescind their decision (see following).
>
> Please take a moment to read the letter. If you or your organization
> would like to sign on, send your name, title/ organization, and
> contact information to me, Steve Daigneault, via email
> <sdaigneault at audubon.org>, voice mail (202)861-2242, or fax
> (202)861-4290. I will collect names until 6/6/97. If you'd like to
> send your own letter, consider sending us a copy to the above fax
> number/email address, or to: 1901 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, #1100;
> Washington, DC 200009.
>
> National Audubon Society Chapter Presidents have been sent a hard copy
> of this letter via mail.
>
> Thank you for your support.
>
>
> **********************************************************************
> **********************************************************************
>
>
> We the undersigned are writing to state our strong
> opposition to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's (FWS) Guidance
> Document on "Take Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act." We urge you
> to direct the FWS to rescind this guidance document and to initiate a
> rulemaking process to create an effective procedure to insure federal
> government compliance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).
>
> The Guidance Document represents a sweeping reversal of
> the FWS's long standing interpretation of the MBTA. It exempts the
> federal government from the MBTA's regulations and prohibitions,
> overturning a policy that had been the cornerstone of the government's
> management of migratory birds for more than 80 years. Since the
> enactment of the MBTA, the FWS has never taken the position that the
> MBTA does not apply to federal agency activities. Instead, the FWS
> has regularly issued permits to federal and quasi federal agencies
> whose activities would have resulted in the "take" of migratory birds.
> For example, the Department of Defense annually receives permits for
> a wide variety of activities. The Department of Agriculture receives
> permits for avian pest control. And the Federal Aviation
> Administration receives permits for taking migratory birds at airports
> and airfields.
>
> Working under this regime, the FWS has been able to
> approve a wide array of federal agency activities, while at the same
> time carrying out its responsibilities to protect migratory birds.
> The permitting program allows the FWS to monitor "takes" of migratory
> birds, and to assess the impact of federal and private activities on
> bird populations. Although chronically underfunded, the permitting
> program is neither burdensome nor complicated.
>
> We understand that the Guidance Document was developed
> so that the FWS's permitting program would be consistent with the
> position that the Justice Department was taking in other federal court
> proceedings regarding the applicability of the MBTA to the Forest
> Service. We believe that the Justice Department, in defending the
> Forest Service, erred when it asserted that the MBTA does not apply to
> the Forest Service or any other federal agency. This position is
> simply inconsistent with historic implementation of the MBTA, and does
> a disservice to all those concerned about the conservation of
> migratory birds. Although the Eleventh Circuit recently ruled that
> the MBTA does not apply to the federal government, we intend to urge
> other Circuits to find that federal agencies are bound by the Act's
> provisions.
>
> For almost 80 years, the MBTA has provided the FWS with
> the authority to protect migratory birds and to monitor the "take"
> activities of federal agencies and individuals alike. To alter such a
> fundamental regime without any public comment or review is
> particularly troubling. Moreover, granting a special exemption to
> federal actions while requiring private citizen compliance is equally
> unjustified.
>
> We look forward to working with you on this important issue.
>
> Sincerely,
>

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html