This op-ed was originally published by Newsweek. The Trump administration and some members of Congress are ready to give oil and gas companies and other industries a free pass to kill birds with impunity by gutting the nation’s most effective bird protection law—a law that has been on the books for a century.
It is the law that saved some of America’s most beautiful and beloved birds from mass slaughter by a fashion industry that prized their plumes for hats and clothing in the early 1900s. At one point, an ounce of egret feathers was worth more than an ounce of gold.
Today’s industrial threat to birds isn’t the trade in fancy feathers, but rather oil pits, gas flares from drilling, oil spills, power lines, communication towers, improperly sited wind turbines and solar arrays and other deadly, but avoidable hazards.
The bird protection law—known officially as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—is more important now than ever. It protects more than 1,000 species of birds by making it illegal to kill or harm any birds not covered by permits.
Stripping the nation’s longest-standing bird conservation law of its authority to protect birds contradicts decades of bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats. If the law is decapitated by the Interior Department and by legislative proposals authored by Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, millions of our most iconic and beloved birds will be at huge risk.
Under either Rep. Liz Cheney’s proposal or the Interior Department’s legal opinion, BP would have been completely off the hook for the one million birds that died in the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon spill. Common sense says no one really wants that.
The penalties under the bird protection law are critical incentives for companies to take common sense precautions to help reduce bird kills, such as covering oil pits with nets and marking transmission lines so they are more visible to migrating birds. The penalties create just enough of an incentive that companies have to think twice about where and how they work.
Manipulation of Crops and Other Vegetation
To enhance dove hunting, one can manipulate natural vegetation, feed crops, and other agricultural crops. The term “manipulation” refers to the process of changing natural vegetation or agricultural crops through processes like burning, chopping, slicing, raking, shredding, disking, rolling, stomping, or trampling. Distributing or scattering seeds, grains, or other feed after removing them from or storing them on the field where they are grown does not constitute manipulation. It should be noted that while hunting doves over manipulated crops is permitted, hunting waterfowl over manipulated crops is not permitted unless the field has undergone a typical harvest and grain removal (i.e., e. , post-harvest manipulation).
The Federal migratory game bird hunting regulations can be found in 50 CFR Part 20. If you have additional questions about dove hunting and the law, contact the nearest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement office or one of the Service regional law enforcement offices. You should also consult State fish and wildlife agencies to determine what State regulations apply. Search
Removing the nation’s oldest bird conservation law’s protection for birds would go against decades of bipartisan Republican and Democratic support. If the Interior Department and legislative proposals written by Wyoming GOP Representative decapitate the law Liz Cheney, there will be a great risk to millions of our most recognizable and cherished birds.
This op-ed was originally published by Newsweek. The Trump administration and some members of Congress are ready to give oil and gas companies and other industries a free pass to kill birds with impunity by gutting the nation’s most effective bird protection law—a law that has been on the books for a century.
Video technology is being used in wind projects in the west to identify eagles as they approach wind turbines by scanning the sky. The system briefly turns off only the turbines in the collision path if the eagle flies too close. Additionally, low-tech fixes that are already in place for communications towers can be as easy as switching the lights on the towers from steady red lights to flashing lights.
Oil pits, gas flares from drilling, oil spills, power lines, communication towers, incorrectly positioned wind turbines and solar arrays, and other deadly but preventable hazards are the modern industrial threat to birds instead of the trade in fancy feathers.
The law prevented the mass killing of some of the most exquisite and adored birds in America in the early 1900s, when the fashion industry valued their plumes for use in hats and apparel. An ounce of egret feathers was formerly valued higher than an ounce of gold.
Overview of Other Regulations
Hunting doves and other migratory game birds is subject to additional Federal and State regulations, which include the following:
- Unplugged shotguns: If your shotgun can hold more than three shells, you cannot use it to hunt migratory game birds unless you plug it with a one-piece filler that is impossible to remove without disassembling the weapon.
- Motorized vehicles: You are not permitted to hunt migratory game birds from or with the assistance of any motor vehicle, motor-driven land conveyance, or aircraft (you may hunt from a stationary car or other stationary motor-driven land conveyance if you are paraplegic or missing one or both legs).
- Shooting hours: During the hours that are designated for shooting, migratory game birds cannot be hunted.
- Closed season: During the closed season, migratory game birds cannot be hunted.
- Daily bag limit: You are only permitted to bring one daily bag limit per day. The amount of doves you are permitted to possess in the field or on the way back to your vehicle, hunting camp, house, or other location is determined by this cap.
- Wanton waste: While in the field, you must make a good faith attempt to recover any doves you kill or maim and retain these birds under your real care. Any injured birds you recover must be killed right away, and their count toward your daily bag limit is applied. While in the field, your birds must stay in your possession. Whether or not your birds are properly tagged, you cannot give them to another person in the field.
- Tagging: If migratory game birds are not tagged with your signature, address, the number of birds identified by species, and the date you killed them, you are not allowed to put them anywhere or leave them in the care of another person.
- Dual violation: Violating a State regulation pertaining to migratory game birds also constitutes a violation of federal regulations.
- Every hunter must register with the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) and maintain documentation of their enrollment.
- Protected birds: According to federal law, it is illegal to kill migratory non-game birds. When dove hunting, you might come across protected birds such as woodpeckers, eagles, vultures, hawks, owls, killdeer, nighthawks, herons, and egrets.
A typical agricultural planting is one that is done with the intention of yielding or gathering a crop. Grain does not typically get planted in piles or other concentrated areas. Plantings must adhere to the guidelines provided by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services. Recommendations for planting dates, adequate seed distribution, preparation of the seed bed, rate of application, and seed viability are all pertinent considerations.
Planting for agricultural soil erosion control or post-mining land reclamation carried out in compliance with State Extension Specialists’ recommendations constitute standard soil stabilization practices.
In many parts of the nation, the planting of wildlife food plots is regarded as a standard agricultural practice. State Extension Specialists in numerous states offer suggestions for planting wildlife food plots. Over wildlife food plots planted in compliance with these recommendations, doves may be hunted. Doves may be hunted over wildlife food plots in states where the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service does not recommend their planting. These plots contain seed that has been planted in accordance with the guidelines for producing a crop. However, newly planted seeds or any other seeds dispersed to attract, lure, or tempt doves within shooting range will be regarded as baiting. Planting wildlife food plots early enough to allow time for the seeds to germinate will help to ensure there are no doubts.
Over cultivated grain crops like corn, wheat, milo, sorghum, millet, sunflower, and buckwheat, you can go dove hunting.
Grain or other feed is dispersed throughout agricultural areas as part of agricultural operations other than planting and harvesting. If the agricultural activity involved is a regular agricultural practice, you are permitted to hunt doves in such areas (i e. , one that raises cattle or crops) and heeds State Extension Specialists’ advice Examples are feedlots, which are small, enclosed spaces where farmers feed livestock to gain weight, and “hogged down” fields, where livestock are permitted to enter fields and graze on standing crops. To enhance dove hunting, however, you are not allowed to hunt in areas where grain, salt, or other feed has been placed.
Hunting doves is permitted on areas planted for pasture development as well as areas planted for pasture enhancement. In both situations, planting needs to be done in a way that complies with State Extension Specialists’ advice.
FAQ
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