Birds Heading South Find New Landscapes
10/12/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Birds Heading South Find New Landscapes
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 12, 1999
WASHINGTON, DC, October 12, 1999 (ENS) - Birds migrating south this
fall across Canada and the U.S. will encounter an altered political
landscape, legalizing subsistence hunting by native peoples in Alaska
and northern Canada. The physical landscape is also beginning to
change, as federal funds help protect more than 200,000 acres of
important habitat in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Last Thursday, U.S. officials reached a formal agreement with the
Canadian government that will permit regulated spring hunting by the
native peoples of Canada and Alaska. The agreement amends the 1916
Migratory Bird Convention, a conservation and management treaty for
birds that migrate between the two nations - everything from
hummingbirds to geese to hawks.
The amendments to the Migratory Bird Convention will allow the U.S.
and Canada to recognize and cooperatively manage game bird hunts by
native peoples for food. Many indigenous peoples in the far North
depend on traditional subsistence hunting for their survival, and
such hunting is guaranteed by the Canadian Constitution and protected
by established U.S. policy.
"The implementation of these amendments is an important step forward
in our relationships with native and indigenous peoples, and in the
conservation of these priceless resources. While protecting a
centuries old way of life, they also give native peoples their
rightful voice in the management process and recognize their crucial
role as stewards of countless migratory bird populations," said
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
The Migratory Bird Convention with Canada, signed in 1916, is North
America's oldest international wildlife conservation pact. The U.S.
and Mexico signed a similar treaty in 1936. The treaties provide
protection for all species of migratory birds in North America, while
permitting regulated hunting seasons for game birds.
"This, the latest step in a long process, takes us closer to making
the Migratory Birds Convention reflect and respect existing
aboriginal and treaty rights while ensuring the conservation of
migratory birds," said Canadian Environment Minister David Anderson.
"We will be better able to continue the meaningful partnerships which
we have developed with aboriginal peoples and will be better able to
work with them in continued migratory bird conservation."
By barring all migratory bird hunting between March 10 and September
1, the original treaties did not permit traditional harvests of
migratory birds by northern native peoples. These harvests have gone
on for centuries, and continued despite the treaty prohibitions. In
many cases, the birds are a vital food source.
"The Service has long recognized the need to include subsistence
hunting in our migratory bird planning process, and to give
indigenous communities a voice in protecting the resources on which
they depend," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) director
Jamie Rappaport Clark. "These amendments reflect years of
negotiations, and are a testimony to the commitment of both nations
to migratory bird conservation."
U.S. bird conservation groups, including the American Bird
Conservancy and the National Audubon Society, say they do not object
to the amendments, which are not expected to increase hunting. In
fact, there is a chance that the amended treaty could prove
beneficial to some species.
Certain species of geese that migrate through the U.S. Midwest have
seen population booms in recent decades. During fall migration, the
geese gorge themselves on grain left in mechanically harvested
fields, leading to a much higher survival rate. In the spring, these
geese return to their Arctic breeding grounds, where they decimate
their fragile tundra habitat. This habitat is crucial to other bird
species including the American golden plover, Arctic tern, and short
eared owl, and to several plant and insect species.
"In fact, more take by subsistence hunters of mid-continent geese
would be a very good thing," says Gerald Weingradt of the American
Bird Conservancy. "These Canadian and Alaskan hunters could help
control the geese on their breeding grounds." Increased hunting was
one measure recommended by the Arctic Goose Habitat Working Group, an
international team of scientists studying the goose population
problem. The U.S. Congress passed a bill this summer to permit
increased hunting of mid-continent geese.
The U.S. and Canada will each establish specific harvest regulations
for the spring and summer seasons. The treaty amendments, which are
effective immediately, include exceptions for certain species at
particular risk.
Spectacled and Steller's eiders and emperor geese will remain
protected from hunting and egg collecting at all times. During the
nesting and brood rearing periods, cackling Canada geese, black
brant, and certain populations of Pacific white fronted geese will
also be protected.
Similar amendments to the U.S.-Mexico Convention for the Protection
of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals were approved by the U.S. Senate
in 1997, and may be ratified soon.
$22M Will Protect Wetlands in the U.S., Mexico and Canada
Meanwhile, the U.S. Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has
approved nearly $22.8 million in federal grants for thirty separate
wetland habitat projects in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The federal
grants are made possible under the 1989 North American Wetlands
Conservation Act, and through partnerships with private landowners
and conservation organizations.
In the U.S., 15 projects in 15 states will receive more than $13
million in matching grants to conservation organizations. An
additional $9.7 million will go to 11 projects in Canada and four
projects in Mexico, to protect habitat for migratory birds that spend
part of their year in the U.S.
The $13 million in grants for U.S. projects will be matched by more
than $58 million raised by project partners. The projects will
protect more than 186,000 acres of wetlands in areas that are
experiencing steep declines in wetland habitat. Canadian projects
will be matched by $12.8 million in other funds, and the $611,000
in grants for Mexican projects by more than $700,000 from project
partners.
"These joint ventures truly represent the future of wetland
conservation," said Clark, who noted that every grant dollar spent on
these projects in the U.S. will be matched by at least three dollars
raised from other sources.
The grants will go toward land acquisition and habitat restoration,
providing immediate and tangible benefits to North American birds.
$13M for National Wildlife Refuge Additions
The Commission also approved the acquisition of more than 20,000
acres to be added to 16 separate National Wildlife Refuges in 10
states. More than $13 million in federal funds will be spent to
acquire the land, much of which is located along one of the four
migratory waterfowl "flyways" that birds follow on spring and fall
migrations.
"The land acquisitions approved by the Conservation Commission will
protect important migratory bird habitat, ensuring that the National
Wildlife Refuge System continues to provide vital nesting, breeding,
feeding and resting places for migratory bird populations," said
Clark.
The funds will come from the Migratory Bird Conservation
Fund, supported by revenue collected from Federal Duck
Stamp sales, import duties collected on arms and
ammunition, fees from right of way payments to the refuge
system and receipts from national wildlife refuge entrance
fees.