Date: 5/22/25 7:28 am From: Cliff Cook <ccook13...> Subject: [Arlington Birds] Fwd: [NHBirds] Fwd: URGENT CALL TO ACTION - Tell your people. Call your representatives. Raise your voice. Take action.
Have received this message from a couple people this morning. The situation
appears to be urgent.
Cliff Cook
Watertown
This is an important call to action about something that affects all of us
who value birds. Take it from Scott Weidensaul via his email below. The US
Bird Banding Program is slated for elimination as early as this week. A
virtual rally organized by some of the nation’s biggest conservation
organizations is scheduled for Noon today (Thursday). Link to register is
in Scott’s email below.
Thanks,
Jonathan Doherty
Hopkinton NH
*Subject:* Tell your people. Call your representatives. Raise your voice.
Take action.
From: SCOTT WEIDENSAUL
Subject: The federal Bird Banding Lab needs your support, now
As some of you may be aware, there are reports that the federal Bird
Banding Lab, which runs the entire U.S. bird banding program, has been
slated by DOGE for elimination as soon as this week, along with the rest of
the vital Ecosystems Mission Area at USGS. The U.S. Geological Survey
Ecosystems Mission Area is responsible for many of the programs that serve
millions of birders, hunters, anglers, gardeners, biologists, ecologists,
and wildlife enthusiasts around the country–and importantly, the wildlife
we treasure.
The consequences of such a move on birds and bird conservation would be
incalculable. The BBL is the only source for bands and the federal permits
that allow us to do the work we do; the loss of the banding lab would mean,
frankly, an end to nearly 30 years of Northern Saw-whet Owl research. But
the ramifications go far beyond one species of small owl. Without it, we
will lose the backbone of environmental and ecological monitoring in the
United States. This includes research that enables states to set hunting
seasons, allows conservationists to understand and respond to declines in
birds, bees and other wildlife, and tracks dangerous wildlife diseases and
environmental pollutants that impact people and biodiversity. For example,
most of the birds banded in North America are waterfowl, and banding and
band return data are central to properly managing our waterfowl populations
by setting scientifically defensible hunting seasons and bag limits. No
data, and wildlife managers are working half-blind.
A serious concern is that defenders of the BBL manage to salvage the
waterfowl management aspects of its work, but that the nongame banding and
research is done away with. This has cross-border consequences since the
BBL single-sources all the bird bands used in North America, so nongame
banding in Canada overseen by the Canadian Wildlife Service would also
cease if those elements of its work are eliminated.
On Friday "Field and Stream" magazine - hardly a left-leaning publication -
reported that the cuts could come as early as this Friday, with EMA staff
told to draft plans for disposing of vehicles and supplies. The BBL has
already seen significant cuts to its already small staff from long-serving
employees who took early retirement offers.
What can you do? There will be a virtual rally to support the EMA this
Thursday, May 22, at noon, organized by some of the largest and most
important conservation NGOs and professional societies, including the
National Wildlife Federation, American Bird Conservancy, Ecological Society
of America, the Xerces Society, and the Wildlife Society. The response has
been huge; when I signed up this morning to attend the confirmation
indicated some 1.5 million Americans have said they will take part. The
link is:
