National Audubon Society: Journal Articles

Policy Watch
Audubon - The Journal - Vol 2, No. 1 - Summer 2005 

There’s no doubt about it, we are in one of the toughest eras for conservation policy since the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts were passed by Congress in the 1970s. At the chapter, state and national levels, Audubon is working hard to minimize slippage in the many gains in environmental policy made over the past thirty years.

The National Wildlife Refuge has a rich history with Audubon – a heritage Audubon is still fighting to protect. "Since the days of Theodore Roosevelt, Americans...have shared a common ethic to protect our country's most beautiful places for future generations. There simply are some places that should be off limits to oil drilling and industrial development, and the Arctic Refuge is one of them," said Carol Browner, Chair of the National Audubon Society Board, at a Capitol Hill rally on February 2nd calling on Congress to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from harmful oil and gas drilling.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been a key Audubon priority for more than two decades. Audubon has worked diligently as the issue of drilling there has come up in Congress repeatedly. We have worked with chapter members who spoke out at constituency meetings of lawmakers in their home districts, we have partnered with other conservation organizations in directly contacting lawmakers, and we have also questioned some lawmakers’ inconsistent stance on supporting drilling in the Arctic while seeking environmental protections for their home states. Alas, at the end of the day, on March 16, 2005, the Senate narrowly voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. “We are disappointed, but we won’t stop working to protect the Arctic Refuge for future generations. We will win in the end,” stated John Flicker, president of Audubon.

The protection of the Everglades continues to bring national attention to the immediate effect of ecosystem restoration on bird populations and their habitats. Since July, Audubon has been a witness in a Congressional Hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives in defense of the Everglades, has led a petition to the President urging his help in authorizing key Everglades projects and has drafted an op-ed letter for former Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), at his request, which was published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. These actions generate attention, creating grassroots and political momentum enabling Audubon to take a leadership role not only on the Everglades, but also on other important ecosystem projects such as the Mississippi River and the Long Island Sound.

By advocating for a bird specific conservation agenda, Audubon plays an instrumental role in wildlife legislation relating to birds. Throughout 2004, Audubon mobilized thousands of Audubon advocates who sent over 20,000 letters to the Fish and Wildlife Service on maintaining protections for the Western Snowy Plover, protecting critical Bald Eagle habitat in Alaska, and trying to get the Cerulean Warbler included on the Endangered Species List. Audubon advocates wrote letters in support of the Migratory Bird Treaty Reform, which was passed into law on December 8th.

Audubon is also a leader on budget and appropriations work. Budget and appropriations, which are at the top of the Congressional agenda every year, are important for our signature programs and ultimately determines the effectiveness of environmental law. Audubon has worked with Members of Congress to provide funding for several Audubon signature programs, including $500,000 for Audubon at Home, $100,000 for the Bent of the River Audubon Nature Center in Connecticut, and $75,000 for the Mill Grove Audubon Center in Pennsylvania. Each year Audubon submits to Congress a list of priority sites in need of funding, and this year Congress included Land and Water Conservation Fund Money funding for nine Audubon nominated sites. Audubon has also worked closely with numerous coalitions and has advocated for adequate funding for such conservation funds as the Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund and State Wildlife Grants. In March, Audubon also persuaded members of the House Budget committee to offer a $1.9 billion amendment to restore the cuts in the environmental budget.

To get more information on how to become involved in Audubon’s public policy work, please visit www.audubon.org and click on the “Issues and Action” link. 

Follow Up On Orkney and Shetland
Audubon - The Journal - Vol 2, No. 2 - Fall 2005 

Although not quite as catastrophic as 2004, this past breeding season for Scottish Seabirds in Orkney and Shetland demonstrated that there is an ongoing problem. The good news is that the availability of plankton, the diet staple that supports the food chain that feeds breeding birds, seems to have improved. This improvement made it possible for some species such as the Arctic Terns to produce at least 400 young in the Shetland Islands, as observed by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), as opposed to zero in 2004. There also was good news for Guillemots, whose breeding success had plummeted to a productivity rate of 3% in 2004, but bounced back to 42% in 2005.

Fulmar chicks had an improved survival rate, up 60% in 2005 from 27% in 2004. One reason this species fared so badly during last year’s food shortage was that eggs were abandoned after the bird sitting on the egg had been left too long by the mate who was searching for food.

Arctic Skuas produced at least 16 chicks, as opposed to none last summer. It’s something, but not enough: “Although breeding success of the birds (Skuas) that did appear is decidedly better than last year, this species is in trouble and is going to take a long time to recover,” said Eric Meek, Area Manager for Orkney for the RSPB.

Solutions are predictably global and local. “If this problem is due mainly to seas temperature rise and global warming, all we can do is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” observed Pete Ellis, Area Manager for Shetland for the RSPB. “However, industrial fishing for sandeels needs to be heavily controlled as this has also played a part in reducing sandeels stocks.” His colleague Eric Meek simply says, “The one-enormous Orkney Colonies are now but a shadow of their former selves and don’t show much sign of recovering.”