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Latest News and Updates from Audubon in California
California Condor. Photo: Scott Frier/USFWS
For nearly 100 years, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has served as one of our country's bedrock environmental protections, but a recent ruling by a federal court of appeals could greatly limit its power to safeguard birds. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) in September ruled that the Act only applies if the killing of birds is intentional. Regulatory agencies have use the Act to regulate environmental impacts at a variety of locations, including oil fields and wind energy sites. The Department of Justice is considering an appeal.
Audubon California testifying in Washington about the drought's affect on birds. Audubon California Director of Public Policy Mike Lynes is on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to talk about the drought's impacts on birds and habitat. Here he is at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Despite bipartisan support for the 50-year-old program that has preserved more than 7 million acres, Congress last week allowed funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund to expire without reauthorization. And prospects for reallocating those funds are grim.
The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board is unequivocal today, saying that now is the time for state legislators to take action to prevent an environmental and public health disaster at the Salton Sea.
The drought is making things hard for California birds. The Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge in California's Sacramento Valley typically supports wintering populations of over 300,000 ducks and 100,000 geese. This year is going to be rough. Let's hope that El Nino comes through.
Our friends at the National Park Service and Los Angeles Audubon Society are hosting a viewing of Vaux's Swifts in downtown Los Angeles at the Ace Hotel (929 S. Broadway) tonight at dusk. Hopefully the birds will be on hand. Between 4 and 7 pm at the rooftop bar. Park Ranger Anthony Bevilacqua will be on hand to guide the viewing. Right after sunset the Vaux Swifts will start to gather in large numbers, sometimes up to 20,000 birds, and then they begin swirling like a school of fish before finally descending into the chimney. It is quite a sight, nonetheless to be taking place in the middle of Downtown LA. The video above is from 2013.
California is a global biodiversity hotspots, with one of the greatest concentrations of living species on Earth.
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