No Birds For You! House Passes Provision to End All Migratory Bird Protections in the United States (UPDATED) | Andrew Wetzler’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

thegreenwolf:

CONGRESS JUST VOTED TO END THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT.

No, the Senate hasn’t voted on it yet. But this is a dangerous precedent.

First of all, most people have no clue the law exists, let alone what it does: protect the vast majority of wild birds in the United States by making it illegal to buy, sell or possess live or dead birds, their eggs and nests. Our birds are already showing declining numbers due to a host of problems; this would make it even more difficult to protect the ones that are left. People are willing to protect the Endangered Species Act because they know about it; few people know that the MBTA is even more effective.

For those who complain about the MBTA, especially vultures who wish they could use the feathers and other parts in their collections or art, listen up: The law is there for a good damned reason. You remember hearing about the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon when the last individual died in 1914?

You remember hearing how that species, just twenty years before, you could find flocks of them numbering in the millions? That drastic drop happened because there was no law in place to protect them.

We almost lost a LOT of other species of bird at the same time. Not only were people hunting and eating all sorts of birds, but the feathered hat trade was HUGE. You know great egrets, these gorgeous birds?

Yeah, we almost lost those. People wanted the beautiful white plumes they grow. What they didn’t realize was that those plumes ONLY grow during mating and young-rearing season, so you would have hunters go in and kill one or both parents, after which all the babies would starve to death, and for the sake of a few feathers four, five, or more birds died all by the hand of one hunter. The egrets almost went extinct, and the ONLY thing that saved them was the MBTA.

You know what else the MBTA helps prevent when it’s applied properly, and what it could be further leveraged to prevent? Habitat loss, spraying of chemicals, over-hunting and poaching, and other stresses on already stressed species. Without it, conservationists will have one less tool to use to keep people from decimating wild bird populations for selfish means.

You want to see the MBTA revised so you can have your found blue jay feathers or that robin skull for your collection? Great–support revisions. But don’t celebrate this devastating move on the part of Congress. Contact your Senator–yes, even if you can’t vote–and contact President Obama. Tell them we need the MBTA. Tell them we need our birds protected.

And reblog this–pass it on so others can help.