Virginia steps up for migratory birds in the face of eroding federal protections
As president of American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the news that a large colony of royal terns and other water birds were being displaced by the giant Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project in Virginia had me mentally preparing for another long campaign.
The potential for a lengthy effort was squarely on my mind as I stood up to testify in front of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) public board meeting back on Jan. 23. I was one of a crowd of some 70 or so concerned citizens most of whom were gathered to ask DGIF to accelerate efforts to save the bird colony. The public outpouring of concern on this topic was impressive, and ABC was grateful to the many volunteers who were eager to help. Soon after the DGIF meeting, I met with Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources, Matthew Strickler, and was impressed with the significantly different tone that was forthcoming in comparison to the dozens of prior campaigns we had tackled across the U.S. Virginia was listening, the governor was engaged, and DGIF was already at work on the problem.
Birds are a bit like volcanoes. They show signs of what they'll do, but it’s much easier to predict the specifics after the fact. That’s what was on my mind as the bird conservation expert in the room when the question arose: “if we build a new habitat, will the birds definitely use it?” But all the science pointed to the strong likelihood that if the nearby Rip Raps Island — home of historic Fort Wool constructed to protect the coast after the war of 1812 — were renovated, then the tern colony would readily move house and start anew on the alternate island. In fact, almost all of Virginia's royal terns now nest on artificial dredge spoil islands. Add a cohort of border collies to the mix — which now spend their days tearing around the old nesting colony site and scaring (but not harming) birds — hopefully in the direction of Fort Wool — and the project stood as good a chance of success as any of us could hope for.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/opinion/500659-virginia-steps-up-for-migratory-birds-in-the-face-of-eroding-federal
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