National Audubon Society: Audubon Advisory June 2011

Audubon Advisory
June 9, 2011
Vol 2011 Issue 6


Brown Pelicans depend on a healthy Gulf Coast ecosystem. Credit: Gerry Ellis

House Gulf Caucus Moves to Secure Gulf Restoration
A bi-partisan group of legislators has come together as the new House Gulf Coast Caucus. The group of eleven lawmakers from the Gulf Coast region is co-chaired by Reps. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Kathy Castor (D-FL). The group met for the first time last week to discuss how to best secure Clean Water Act penalty money for the Gulf of Mexico region. Currently in the House of Representatives there are several legislative proposals aimed at directing the billions of dollars BP is expected to pay in penalties. Gulf Coast lawmakers are concerned that unless they act, the penalty money—perhaps as much as $21 billion, given the size of the spill—will flow into the U.S. Treasury and be spent elsewhere.

Although its first priority is securing the oil spill penalty money, the caucus is sure to find a variety of other issues to tackle in short order. Over the past decade, the Gulf Coast has withstood a battery of hurricanes, suffered a massive oil spill, served as center-stage in a nationwide controversy over offshore oil drilling, and is the stage for some of the largest environmental restoration projects in the world, including efforts to bring back the River of Grass in the Everglades, and more recently, the Mississippi River Delta.


To be Smart from the Start, offshore wind projects must not harm seabirds like Atlantic Puffins. Credit: USFWS

Offshore Wind Impacts to Birds Scrutinized
As the federal government looks to develop offshore renewable energy resources, assessing impacts to wildlife is an important part of the planning process. Both the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are assessing existing and emerging scientific knowledge and identifying research priorities to support science-based planning that minimizes environmental conflicts—what the Department of Interior likes to call Smart from the Start.

Atlantic Wind Energy Area planning and development has proceeded under oversight from BOEMRE and state regulators. Later this month, FWS will be hosting a workshop on marine bird science relevant to the siting of offshore wind, to help guide decisionmaking on leasing and permitting wind power facilities in these Wind Energy Areas. Findings from this workshop will subsequently inform two BOEMRE meetings in June and July with stakeholders and partners to coordinate input on developing the mid-Atlantic Wind Energy Areas. Audubon will be participating in all of this, looking at science needs, advocating for the avoidance of areas most important to sea birds, and monitoring proposed changes to environmental reviews. We fully support the Interior Department's desire to use a Smart from the Start approach to minimize siting conflicts and will work with agencies and other environmental groups toward that end.


Audubon beach stewards watched over this Least Tern chick. Credit: Dustin Renaud

Gulf Coast Stewards Protect Birds and Educate Beach-Goers
With the beach nesting season underway for many Gulf Coast bird species, Audubon chapters, volunteers, and staff are involved in beach stewardship activities across the Gulf. The focus of these programs is to protect colonies of beach nesting birds, such as Least Terns, Black Skimmers and Snowy Plovers, from harm due to ongoing oil spill cleanup, beach-going crowds, especially those with dogs, and off-road vehicle users.

Adult birds flushed from their nests by disturbances leave their eggs and tiny chicks exposed to the hot sun and ever-present predators such as crows, gulls, night-herons and raccoons. Disturbances occur when people are too close, when leashed or unleashed dogs are within sight, from passing motorized vehicles, or when kites or kite surfers close by are mistaken as predatory raptors (hawks, falcons, harriers, owls) by nesting birds. These disruptions can pose challenges to the breeding success of these birds, but it also provides a great opportunity for Audubon to do outreach to the beach-going public, and educate folks about the importance of sharing the beach to minimize impacts to birds during this important time.

Audubon of Florida chapters and staff have led the way with these stewardship programs and have created a great model for others to use. Audubon and our partners are protecting nearly 20 Florida nesting, resting, and wintering sites for sensitive and declining Gulf Coast birds like Least Terns, Snowy Plovers, and Red Knots. Audubon also is doing beach nesting bird census surveys in Mississippi and Alabama and tracking the progress of some of the beach nesting species that are at risk due to oil spill and continued cleanup activities. In addition, Audubon Texas has a well-established bird stewardship program that helps to protect the largest Reddish Egret and Roseate Spoonbill breeding populations in the world and helped the Brown Pelican recover from endangered species status.

WLOX covered the launch of the Mississippi beach steward program:


Credit: Stephen Ting/USFWS

Wyoming Saves Greater Sage-grouse Breeding Habitat
On June 3, Wyoming Governor Matthew Mead issued a new executive order reaffirming and strengthening the core areas strategy for the Greater Sage-grouse that was pioneered and advocated by Audubon. The executive order provides special protections for 15 million acres of Wyoming that is home to breeding populations of grouse. Audubon’s science shows that protection of these 15 million acres, about 24 percent of Wyoming, can safeguard 84 percent of the breeding habitat of the Wyoming population of Greater Sage-grouse. BLM extended the core areas model and strategy pioneered by Wyoming’s former Governor Dave Freudenthal to provide protection for grouse on 57 million acres across 11 western states.

Briefly Noted

House spending bills threaten conservation programs and EPA. Last week the House of Representatives started the annual process of appropriating funds for the upcoming fiscal year. These spending bills fund the important programs that help provide for clean air, clean water, and habitat for birds and wildlife. Even though the process has just started in the House of Representatives and will likely start later in the summer in the Senate, we are already seeing language and funding levels that concern us. The House should have more complete language in the next several weeks. In addition, we expect legislative "riders" will be added to the spending bills, threatening the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Audubon is working hard to ensure the best possible funding and policy for conservation programs and that the EPA maintains its ability to regulate pollution under the Clean Air Act.

Audubon and partners fight invasive species. Invasive species pose a significant threat to birds, wildlife, and habitat, yet Congress has done little to address these threats. In the meantime, millions and millions of dollars are spent in our waterways, the bayous, the Great Lakes, and the marshes of Florida to hold the line—if possible—on invasive animals. From the sea lamprey in the Great Lakes to Asian carp making its way through our nation's rivers to pythons in the Everglades, invasive animals, often imported as pets or to provide some ecological function, can quickly upset the natural order of the ecosystems they invade. With help from Audubon chapter leaders, commissioners from the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, the National Wildlife Federation, Great Lakes United and Save our River, among others, the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species is working to update the Lacey Act, a 100-year-plus law that is unequal to the task of keeping harmful animals out of the U.S.

June Mystery Bird
Ruddy Duck | Credit: Alison Sheehey Congratulations to Walter C., of Bronxville, NY, who was randomly chosen from the entries that correctly identified last month's Ruddy Duck, at right. Good luck with this month's challenge, below. HINT: Audubon's beach stewards help protect colonies of this species, among others. The winner will receive a plush Audubon singing bird and will be chosen at random from all entries received that correctly identify the species (NAS employees can play but not win). One entry per person please. Please email us your entry, being sure the words "Mystery Bird" appear in the subject line. Deadline for entering is Sunday, July 10. Photo credits: Ruddy Duck-Alison Sheehey, Mystery Bird-K. King/USFWS.

Mystery Bird - June 2011 | Credit: K. King/USFWS