hello tweets.

here is yet another message that you might be interested in reading
(what are you all gonna do when i am out of town for a few days?)

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 16:02:40 -0800

> Copyright =A9 2000 Scripps Howard News Service
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> By SANDI GERJEVIC
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> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (March 21, 2000 11:54 a.m. EST
> http://www.nandotimes.com) - In life, the dozen bald eagles must have
> been magnificent - eagles that now lay stiffly on the concrete floor
> of a government warehouse.
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> The sheer size of them was startling. Their singed feathers, missing
> eyes and partially decomposed bodies created a sickening tableau.
> Frozen, wrapped in trash bags, several showed tell-tale black
> markings. In one case, gold talons had been blown off and lay next to
> a bird like grisly talismans.
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> The eagles were collected by Jill Birchell, a special agent for the
> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage. About 75 birds fill four
> freezers in a corner of the agency's warehouse. Birchell collects the
> federally protected raptors as evidence to help prosecute their
> killers.
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> Who slaughtered the birds? They were electrocuted - zapped on power
> lines.
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> Since Birchell began keeping records in Alaska, she's discovered a
> horrific carnage around the state - about 50 eagles killed in the last
> few months alone.
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> In February, an eagle was killed at the Port of Anchorage. The bird
> initially appeared to have been shot, but forensics later determined
> it was electrocuted. And recently, a special agent for Fish and
> Wildlife discovered a fresh eagle corpse at the base of a power pole
> in Eagle River. The huge, beautiful bird still clenched a nicely
> browned turkey wing in its talon.
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> The agent, Jim Fuller, surmised the eagle was the victim of a
> well-meaning Eagle River woman who's been feeding scraps and expired
> grocery meat to wild eagles for the last 11 years, attracting them to
> a residential area. Fuller would not release the woman's name, but he
> did say that after his tragic discovery, she agreed to stop the
> practice.
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> It's not illegal to feed eagles, Fuller said, but it's strongly
> discouraged in order to protect the birds. Last week, eagles remained
> perched in the bird-lover's neighborhood, awaiting a handout.
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> "It will take them a while to get reconditioned," Fuller said.
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> Birchell has worked as a wildlife law enforcement agent in Alaska
> since 1991. About three years ago, she began gathering information on
> where and how often eagles are electrocuted in the state. Agents in
> other communities have shipped dead eagles to her and kept statistics.
> In an effort to stop the slaughter, Birchell has sent letters to
> approximately 120 power companies in the state, putting them on
> notice, urging each to install equipment that would prevent
> electrocutions.
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> "The intent of it was to set sort of a friendly tone to invite them to
> work with us," Birchell said.
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> Eagles are not endangered in Alaska, but they are protected under the
> Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
> Act. Installing bird-friendly equipment is voluntary on the part of
> the electric companies; the government can issue fines or prosecute
> only after the fact.
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> Two years ago, in a first step toward getting tough on the issue,
> Birchell fined the Sand Point Electric Company $500 for killing at
> least a dozen bald eagles a year. The company serves about 325
> customers in the fishing village of Sand Point in western Alaska.
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> Jack Mager, owner, paid Birchell's fine and said he spent $15,000 to
> $20,000 to install preventive equipment.
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> The eagle problem, he said, occurs mainly in January and February,
> when a local seafood processor uses a municipal dump to discard cod
> entrails. Hundreds of eagles are attracted to the area.
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> "We'd have, like 600 eagles out there," Mager said. "And they were all
> fighting to get on our power lines."
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> The Eagle Protection Act has been in place since 1940. While
> accidental electrocution of protected birds is a problem nationwide,
> power companies have been slow to respond with solutions, and the U.S.
> government has been slow to punish. The reason, Birchell said,
> involves time and money.
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> "The sort of effort that I have put into this in Alaska makes me
> realize just how overwhelming it is for one person," she said. "It's
> just about impossible."
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> In the past, power companies have seen that nothing happens to them if
> they don't take action, she said. But that may soon change.
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> Last August, with assistance from the Fish and Wildlife service, the
> U.S. Justice Department prosecuted the Moon Lake Electric Association
> for the deaths of at least 170 birds, mostly golden eagles, on its
> power lines in western Colorado and eastern Utah. It was the
> government's first criminal prosecution of a utility for violation of
> the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
> Act. The company pleaded guilty, received a fine of $100,000 and
> agreed to fit its power poles with bird-friendly equipment.
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> While attorneys for Moon Lake argued the laws were aimed only at those
> who purposefully injure or kill birds, the judge in the case issued an
> emphatic no - electric companies must be held accountable for eagle
> deaths caused by their equipment.
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> The Moon Lake judgment is important because it sets a precedent and
> shows power companies that laws protecting eagles have teeth.
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> "It's been a wake-up call for the industry," Birchell said. "And we,
> the Fish and Wildlife service, need to seize on that momentum."
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> Sandi Gerjevic writes for the Anchorage Daily News.
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