[BCNnet] ABC & BCA meetings

[DRD]

BCNnet friends,

 

Last week I was in Washington for meetings of the Bird Conservation Alliance
and the Pan-American Roundtable.  The agendas for the 2 meetings follow.

 

BCA Meeting November 9, 2005

 

8:45 - 9: 10 Coffee/Registration 

 

9:10- 9:30 Introductions/Welcome/Minutes from last meeting/BCA Elections

 

9:30 - 10:00 BCA Task Force updates

 

10:00 - 10:20 Avian Flu and wild birds - Scott Newman DVM, Ph.D. Senior
Staff Scientist,

Wildlife Trust

 

10:20 - 10:50 Endangered Species Act - Michael Bean Attorney, Chair of the
Wildlife Program,

Environmental Defense

 

10:50 - 11:15 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act - Doug Ryan, U.S.
FWS Division of Bird

Habitat Conservation

 

11: 15 - 12:15 Farm Bill - Randall L. Gray National Wildlife Biologist, NRCS
Ecological Sciences Division

 

12:15 - 1:00 Lunch/Discussion of member issues

 

1:00 - 1:20 List of Birds of Conservation Concern and Focal Species, Paul
Schmidt

Assistant Director, U.S. FWS

 

1:20 - 3:00 Human Hazards to Birds panel

Communication Towers - Joelle Gehring, Ph.D. Department of Biology, Central
Michigan University

Pesticides - Michael Fry, American Bird Conservancy

Buildings - Heather Ray, Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)

Horseshoe Crab, Overfishing & Red Knots - Eric Stiles, New Jersey Audubon

Mountain Top Removal - Melinda Welton, Tennessee Ornithological Society

 

3:15 - 4:00 The Ivory-billed Woodpecker Quest - James Tate Science Advisor
to the Secretary, Gale Norton.

 

 

 

Pan American Roundtable  November 10, 2005

 

8:45-9:15 Coffee/Registration

 

9:15- 9:30 Introductions/Welcome/Housekeeping remarks

 

9:30 - 10:30 Migratory Bird Issue Panel

Marina Sansostri Ratchford-USFWS - Western Hemisphere Migratory Species
Initiative

Paul Schmidt - NABCI Trinational Committee

Dave Mehlman - Wintering Cerulean and Golden-winged Warbler conservation
efforts and initiatives

Ian Davidson - Conserving Neotropical Migrants in the Tropical Andes

 

10:30 11:45 BCA International Project Mexican Grasslands Appeal - Special
presentation by Pronatura Noreste

 

11:45 - 12:00 Mindo Cloud Forest - Special presentation by Brian Douglas
Krohnke

 

12:00 - 1:00 lunch

 

1:00 - 1:30 AZE - Michael Parr, American Bird Conservancy

 

1:30 - 3:30 Central/South America - panel - Action for birds in Latin
America A panel of Latin America's leading bird conservationist's present
progress on action for birds: Moderator - Hugo Arnal, American Bird
Conservancy Tino Aucca Executive Director, ECOAN, Peru Sara Lara Executive
Director, Fundaci6n ProAves, Colombia Javier Robayo Southern Reserves
Manager, Fundacion Jocotoco, Ecuador Fito Steiner Executive Director,
Fundaci6n Pico Bonito, Honduras Juan Esteban Martinez-Gomez Executive
Director, Endemicos Insulares, A. C.

 

3:30 - 4:00 Adjourn

 

 

 

If any of you has an interest in any particular area please let me know and
I can provide additional detail.  Meanwhile I will expand on a few key
issues that wee covered at the meetings.

 

TESRA

 

Michael Bean of Environmental Defense described the recently passed House
Bill, Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act, TESRA, sponsored
primarily by Congressman Richard Pombo.  A complaint commonly voiced over
the current ESA is that very few species have been removed from listing.
However, Bean pointed out that there has never been adequate funding to
allow for complete recovery.  For example, the recovery plan for the Atwater
Greater Prairie Chicken has been funded at 10% of the recommended amount.
Meanwhile more than 99% of listed species have been saved from extinction.

 

Here are just a few of the problems of the new bill, which will:

 

*        Allow the property owner to be compensated for alleged losses as
well as lost profits for any 'taking'.                   

*	Eliminate the government's ability to designate a creature's
"critical habitat".
*	Suspend pesticide reviews
*	Mandate complex new 'science requirements' to enable listing
*	Include new economic and national security aspects of listing
*	Enable a developer to proceed with a project if an Endangered
Species determination cannot be made within 180 days, thus allowing project
approval by default.

If you believe this legislation is harmful to BCN's mission please contact
your US Senator, Dick Durbin at (202) 224-2152 and Barack Obama at (202)
224-2854 and express your opinion.  

Avian Flu

Scott Newman, DVM, of the Wildlife Trust spoke on the very topical issue,
avian flu.  For more detail on this go to the ABC website for its policy
statement, http://abcbirds.org/flu.htm or
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/OC/birdflu.html. 

Bird Pac

A new political organization, Bird Pac has been formed to help elect
candidates that will support wild birds and the habitats they need to
survive.  This is the first time a birding organization has been organized
specifically to provide political muscle for the millions of Americans who
care about birds and bird habitats.  See www.birdpac.org
<http://www.birdpac.org/>  for more details.  

Horseshoe crab ban

Because of the plummeting decline of Red Knot populations ABC and other
birding and conservation groups have brought heavy pressure to severely
limit or stop the harvest of horseshoe crabs in and around Delaware Bay.  As
a result the states of Delaware and New Jersey have proposed a 2-year ban on
any harvest of horseshoe crabs in state waters.  A final decision will be
made after a public comment period.  

Mexican Saltillo Grasslands

This project was selected as the single international bird conservation
issue for which all members of the Bird Conservation Alliance will be able
to engage in fundraising efforts.  By focusing BCA member fundraising
potential on a single project the hope is to achieve vital bird conservation
goals in one year.  Saltillo is a 7,000 acre grassland/prairie dog colony
that is the wintering ground for 50% of the world's population of
Long-billed Curlew, sizable numbers of the critically endangered Mountain
Plover, the endemic Worthen's Sparrow, and a variety of other bird species.
The American Birding Association immediately contributed $5,000 to this
effort.  For more information visit
www.birdconservationalliance.org/saltillo 

 

These meetings cover the gamut of key bird conservation matters nationwide
and if your schedule allows, I urge your attendance.

 

Kind regards,

 

Donnie  

 

Donnie Dann 

President, on behalf of the Executive Committee

Bird Conservation Network

847-266-2222 (O) 847-997-1011 (M)

donniebird at yahoo.com  

 

 

 

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