BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized changes that reduced the government’s enforcement powers under a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species.
A U.S. District Court judge in August had blocked the administration’s prior attempt to change how the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is enforced.
The Trump administration argues that the act has been wielded inappropriately for decades, to penalize companies and other entities that kill birds accidentally.
More than 1,000 species are covered under the migratory bird law.
Conservationists said Tuesday they would push President-elect Joe Biden to reverse the Interior Department rule, which blocks officials from bringing criminal charges unless birds are specifically targeted for death or injury.
Industry sources kill an estimated 450 million to 1.1 billion birds annually, out of an overall 7.2 billion birds in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 1918 migratory bird law came after many U.S. bird populations had been decimated by hunting and poaching — much of it for feathers for women’s hats.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials said the latest proposal was meant to match up with a 2017 legal decision that effectively ended criminal enforcement under the act during most of Trump’s presidency. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a statement that the change finalized Tuesday “simply reaffirms the original meaning and intent of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.”
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not prosecute landowners, industry and other individuals for accidentally killing a migratory bird,” he said.
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January 06, 2021 at 06:13PM
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Administration scales back liability for accidental wild bird deaths - Rome Sentinel
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