Photo: Bald Eagles, Randy Streufert
Tom Blackburn
“It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime.” With those words, referencing Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a federal court judge has invalidated a U.S. Department of the Interior memorandum that eliminated more than 100 years of protection for migratory birds. Prior to the DOI memorandum, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 had been interpreted as making it illegal to take actions that resulted in the killing of birds. The memorandum would have applied the law only to actions that intentionally killed birds. The court’s decision ensures that environmental disasters such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which killed more than 1 million birds, will continue to be subject to penalties.
The lawsuit that led to the court’s decision was brought by the National Audubon Society, among other plaintiffs. It is a reminder that Audubon chapters, including ASNV, are not simply organizations of bird watchers. Women established the first Audubon Society at the end of the 19th century to stop the killing of egrets for their plumes and to protect birds from market hunting for food. We have come a long way from the days when hundreds of millions of Passenger Pigeons were killed, leading to their extinction; and the days when millions of songbirds, and particularly robins, were killed for food. Advocating to protect birds and the environment is still a core mission of all Audubon Society chapters.
Most of ASNV’s advocacy efforts focus on environmental issues that affect Northern Virginia and matters of statewide importance, but we also urge Virginia legislators to take action on Federal environmental issues. Most recently, we helped draft a joint letter from the National Audubon Society and other Virginia Audubon chapters urging the Governor and the General Assembly to preserve budgetary language providing for compensatory mitigation in connection with actions that cause harm to birds or other wildlife. We also urged the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to support provisions for natural landscaping at county facilities and we are working on letters urging Virginia senators and representatives to support Federal legislation to reduce the amount of pollution from plastics.
Protecting the environment requires constant vigilance. The loss of 3 billion North American birds in the last 50 years, nearly 30% of our bird population, is stark evidence of the importance of environmental advocacy. ASNV is committed to its mission – to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.