Audubon Vermont: Peregrines, forest health, and MBTA victory

Audubon Vermont Overall the 2020 Peregrine Falcon breeding season was a very successful one. Of the 55 pairs that were monitored by community scientists and Audubon Vermont and Vermont Fish & Wildlife staff, at least 48 nested, and at least 36 were successful.

Audubon’s “Woods, Wildlife, and Warblers” program grew this week thanks to a $200,000 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation award to expand bird conservation into the 16 counties which encompass the Lake Champlain Basin in New York, and all of Vermont.

“Our work to advance bird-friendly forest management keeps forests as forests, allowing for the sustainable harvest of forest products, while promoting excellent habitat for birds and wildlife,” said Steve Hagenbuch of Audubon Vermont. “This work is particularly vital at a time when we are seeing disturbing declines in forest bird numbers, and while our region’s rural forest economy is struggling.”

"As I learned during my time as a student at Vermont Law School, it has long been a feature of American law that wildlife is held in trust by our government for the benefit of the public. Private actors should not be allowed to profit from killing wildlife like birds without consequence. The strength of the MBTA has been a recognition, codified in our laws for over a century, that we have a shared obligation to steward our land and water and to protect the amazing creatures which inhabit it, including beloved Vermont species like the Hermit Thrush, Barred Owl, and Peregrine Falcon. As noted by Judge Caproni in a nod to the classic Harper Lee novel, “It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime.” The United States led the world in committing, over a century ago, to protecting the birds that make such incredible journeys across the globe. The court decision overruling Interior’s flawed opinion restores America’s commitment to fulfill our promise to protect migratory birds."