Migratory Birds Get Help

The Trump rule allowing incidental "takes" under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) has gone into effect. The good news is that the Interior Department under new management announced it will begin a new rule making to return to the original understanding of the MBTA that protects migratory birds from all unauthorized deaths, purposeful or incidental. This return to the Acts original intent is important since new science shows that North America has lost 3 billion birds in North America since 1970 and that two-thirds of those birds are at risk of extinction due to climate change.

In August of 2020, in response to a lawsuit filed by Audubon, other organizations, and states, the Southern District of New York ruled that the administration’s 2017 Solicitor’s Opinion excepting incidental deaths did not align with the intent and language of the 100-year-old law, and overturned the policy. The Migratory Bird Protection Act was passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee in the 116th Congress and had a bipartisan group of more than 90 co-sponsors. In January Audubon filed another suit in the Southern District against the ensuing illegal final rule. The organization said it will continue the litigation while a new rule is implemented by the Interior Department. [photo credit: M. Wright]