Do you have a position on poisoning birds?
I was reading the paper this weekend and one headline caught my eye: “Easley opposes poisoning birds.” Now there’s a campaign position you don’t see every day. Imagine scrolling through a candidate’s webpage and you find a list of the candidate’s positions on major issues:
Candidate John Doe on the Issues:
Lottery: Yes
Death Penalty: No
Iraq War: No
Smoking Ban: Yes
Poisoning Birds: No
If Gov. Easley runs for another office (like the U.S. Senate), do you think his opposition will try to paint him as “weak on killing birds?” Sadly, the article is no joke. Gov. Easley has had to take a position against bird poisoning because the US Navy wants to scare, poison, or kill migratory birds so that it can build a jet landing strip right beside the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in eastern NC.
From the Raleigh N&O:
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report done as part of the Navy's new environmental study recommends driving away birds that pose a risk by taking away the food crops they eat, scaring them with dogs and fireworks, and using poison and guns if scare tactics don't work.
There was a particular outcry from wildlife experts about the possibility that tundra swans, snow geese and other migratory waterfowl would be poisoned. The response from the Navy:
Federal agriculture officials who wrote the report said poisons could be used if necessary on smaller species such as blackbirds, starlings, pigeons and gulls. They said if lethal measures were required to control migratory waterfowl, the birds would be shot, not poisoned.
This is one bad idea. Help speak out against bird poisoning and protect the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge by writing a letter to the Navy and your Congressional delegation.
