Killing Migratory Birds Has Been a Crime for Decades. Not Anymore

[douglas9]

Under Republican and Democratic presidents from Nixon through Obama, killing migratory birds, even inadvertently, was a crime, with fines for violations ranging from $250 to $100 million. The power to prosecute created a deterrent that protected birds and enabled government to hold companies to account for environmental disasters.

But in part due to President Donald Trump’s interior secretary nominee, David Bernhardt, whose confirmation awaits a Senate vote, the wildlife cop is no longer on the beat. Bernhardt pushed a December 2017 legal opinion that declared the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act applies only when companies kill birds on purpose.

Internal government emails obtained by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting provide evidence of federal wildlife agents opting out of investigations and enforcement, citing that policy change as the reason.



https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/04/killing-migratory-birds-has-been-a-crime-for-decades-not-anymore/

[Bayard]

1. Bastards!

We are starting to have Canadian geese flying back across again.

[AncientGeezer]

3. You can hunt geese though.

I live in NY...geese fly south every fall and north every spring.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28888.html

[LakeArenal]

2. Geez. And I felt bad picking up a feather in the Nature Conservancy.

[AncientGeezer]

4. Migratory Bird hunting is legal. Has been forever.

Take my state..NY, for example...we have seasons.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28888.html