Chicago Tribune (May 6)
The Migratory Bird Treaty was enacted to prevent other birds from following the fate of passenger pigeons. Now, however, “the Interior Department has announced a sharp change in how it interprets the law,” which will essentially create a huge loophole that will “excuse any bird deaths that result from accidents, no matter how large or preventable, and limit penalties to cases of deliberate killing. So if a company sprayed pesticides with the purpose of killing a lot of birds, it would be guilty. But if it sprayed the same pesticides to get rid of insects and killed a lot of birds in the process, it would be in the clear.” This is clearly “a new threat to migratory birds.”
Tags: Accidents, Birds, Deliberate, Interior Department, Killing, Loophole, Migratory, Passenger pigeons, Penalties, Pesticides, Preventable, Treaty, U.S.
