It seems to me that the Audubon societies - whether national, state or local
- need to pick their causes with care. We cannot challenge every issue that
has an impact on birds. The Caspian Terns on Rice Island is one issue that
has the potential to make Audubon look quite foolish.

Caspian Terns are not a threatened or endangered species. Their population
is quite healthy across their breeding range. In some areas their
population is so high they have an actual nuisance. Moving them off of Rice
Island will have little impact on their population now or in the future. If
moving them will help the salmon population, even in a small way, it is a
beneficial move.

Audubon has fought on the side of the salmon for many years. Jumping to the
other side just because of a minor impact on one bird species is unnecessary
and has the potential of weakening the image of Audubon.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA
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* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* osprey at nwinfo.net *
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