Recently, the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans held a hearing on exotic birds and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), in response to the ongoing controversy over the presence of mute swans in the Chesapeake Bay.
Despite the fact that mute swans are federally protected under the MBTA and are extremely small in number, several environmental groups–including the American Bird Conservancy and the Audubon Society–are pushing to exterminate the birds from the Bay. This comes under the notion that doing so would help restore underwater Bay grasses.
As the U.S. District Court recently held, however, the state and federal wildlife agencies have no scientific evidence that mute swans are harming the Bay.
At the Subcommittee hearing, Chairman Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) expressed an interest in introducing an amendment to the MBTA to remove federal protections for non-native birds like mute swans. Such an amendment would not only be disastrous for thousands of swans and would not address any of the real and serious environmental threats to the Bay.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Contact Representative Gilchrest and tell him, "Don't mess with the MBTA!" Encourage him instead to address the real environmental threats to the Chesapeake Bay — such as excessive nutrients and sediments leaching into the Bay from intensive agriculture (including poultry factory farms), residential and commercial development, and sewage treatment plants — rather than place all the blame on a tiny population of mute swans.
Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest
Committee on Resources
1324 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
You can also send an automated letter on this issue at: http://action.fund.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=5103
2. Contact your U.S. Representative and ask that s/he take a stance against changing the MBTA in any way that would shed protections for mute swans. All Reps can be reached through the Congressional switchboard at: 202-224-3121. You can look up their names online through: www.Congress.org or by calling The HSUS at 202-955-3668.
Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.