ACTION

Florida Environmental Commission Approves Clean Car Rules

Under intense pressure from automakers, the Commission delayed the vote last month until December 2. Following testimony and wide support for the rule, Commissioners voted six to one today in favor of adoption of what are known as the California Motor Vehicle Emission Standards.

Floridians call for action has been heard, and we congratulate the Commission for putting Florida first in the effort to combat climate change,=94 Audubon Deputy Director Eric Draper said, following the vote. =93This overwhelming approval of clean cars is good for Florida's birds and beaches, and for healthy communities and a vibrant economy.=94

The rules will now move to the State Legislature for approval, according to a provision in Energy Bill HB 7135. They require motor vehicles brought to Florida for sale, lease or rent to meet vehicle emissions standards for greenhouse gases. The Florida Energy and Climate Change Action Plan assumed that adoption of the rule will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the principal driver of global warming, by 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Audubon thanks Commissioners John Miklos, Don Ross, Paul Parks, Cari Roth, Anthony J. Clemente, and Rhoda Glasco-Foderingham for voting in favor of adopting the rules. Thanks to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for their important support of adoption for these rules. Audubon sends a huge thank you to all of you who participated in this effort to bring clean cars to Florida.  More than 800 people signed the Audubon petition to the Commission and thousands of Floridians engaged in supporting adoption of this important rule. Thank you. Your support has helped Florida take another step toward leading the nation on climate solutions.

More eyes needed to tally state birds

Ithaca, NY - Bird watchers in Florida are fortunate to have an amazing diversity of birds to observe, from the stunningly beautiful, rainbow-colored Painted Bunting to exotic parrots from South America. Many of these species readily visit bird feeders, and may be attracted to your own backyard. Scientists are asking Florida bird watchers to report what they see through Project FeederWatch.

“We need to hear from more bird watchers in Florida to get an accurate picture of what’s happening with bird populations from year to year,” says project leader David Bonter from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Scientists learn something new from the project each year, whether it’s about the movements of common backyard birds or unusual sightings of rarely seen species.”

For example, Florida is at the epicenter of the recent colonization of the United States by a dove originally from India. The Eurasian Collared-Dove can now be found throughout the state, and researchers are examining FeederWatch data from Florida to better understand how this species will spread and affect native species.

The 2008-09 season of Project FeederWatch is underway and runs through April 3. Participants can sign up at any time. FeederWatchers track the numbers and kinds of birds at feeders each week and then send the information to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The information they provide helps generate the world’s largest database on feeder-bird populations.

“Participating in Feeder Watch has helped me pay more attention to the birds at my feeders. It gives me a good excuse to sit at the kitchen window and watch birds,” says FeederWatcher Alice Smith of McAlpin, Florida. Smith has been participating in the project 20 years.

FeederWatchers across North America submitted more than 115,000 checklists during the 2007-08 season, documenting unusual bird sightings, winter movements, and shifting ranges­information scientists use to monitor the health of the birds and of the environment.

Project FeederWatch welcomes participants of all ages and skill levels. To learn more and to sign up, visit www.feederwatch.org or call (800) 843-2473. In return for the $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) participants receive the FeederWatcher’s Handbook, a bird-identification poster, a calendar, instructions, and the FeederWatch annual report, Winter Bird Highlights, which summarizes the season’s findings.

Join Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, Inc., Sprint and ReCellular in recycling retired cell phones in celebration of America Recycles Day. Together, everyone can help recycle the 130 million cell phones sitting unused in drawers and closets across America. The Cell Phone Round-Up campaign will surround Nov. 15, America Recycles Day. The goal of the Round-Up is to raise awareness about cell phone recycling and collect retired cell phones to benefit Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, Inc., a local Keep America Beautiful affiliate. Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, Inc. will be joining other Keep America Beautiful affiliates across the country in leading local and regional events to promote the Round-Up, passing out free postage-paid recycling envelopes, and collecting retired cell phones. Another way to support the Cell Phone Round-Up, visit www.KHCBonline.org and click on the "Cell Phone Round-Up" banner at the bottom of our homepage to print a free postage-paid shipping label for your own old cell phone(s). KHCB also has boxes of postage-paid shipping envelopes to display in offices/businesses. If you'd like one, please call us at (813) 960-5121! "The goal of the Cell Phone Round-Up is to provide a fun way to show people how easy it is to recycle a retired cell phone," said Matthew McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. "The best part of this program is virtually everyone has one or two unused, retired cell phones that could be recycled. With more than 130 million retired cell phones each year, we think it is vitally important to provide an easy-to-use, free solution to safely recycle cell phones." It is estimated that there are tens of millions of phones currently unused, and the available supply of unwanted cell phones will continue to increase. The average consumer retires his or her cell phone approximately every 18 months. The Cell Phone Round-Up is a November promotion of Keep America Beautiful's year-round "Wipe Out Wireless Waste" campaign, which is conducted with the support of Sprint and ReCellular. "The Cell Phone Round-Up is an easy way to recycle old cell phones and do something to benefit our environment," said KHCB executive director Christine Commerce. "KHCB is currently ranked in the top six affiliates for collecting cell phones. The top four receive $5,000 from KAB so we're looking to the community to help reduce waste and support our organization at the same time." For additional information on this cell phone recycling project, call (813) 960-5121 or visit www.KHCBonline.org.

Snowy Plovers are state listed- threatened in Florida , and recent surveys suggest this species is continuing to decline in parts of their range in the state, particularly the Southwest. Research determining the underlying reasons for these declines is ongoing, and one important aspect of this work is gaining a better understanding of the annual movement and distribution patterns of Snowy Plovers in Florida . To this end, biologists have individually marked Snowy Plovers throughout Florida with unique color-band combinations, and we need your help re-sighting and reporting observations of these individuals as we continue to build a better picture of where and when Snowy Plovers move. If you see a banded Snowy Plover… 1. Approach the bird slowly, and please try to avoid any disturbance to the bird (Life is rough enough for a plover!) 2. Record the following information: a) BAND COMBINATION- please write a detailed description of the bands, the i) color and ii) relative position to other bands, and iii) position on each leg (left or right, and upper leg-tibia or lower leg-tarsus). See examples of band combos and colors at the Florida Bird Conservation Initiative website: http://www.floridaconservation.org/FBCI/docs/FBCI_SNPL_Banding_key.pdf Types of bands used: metal (aluminum) and color bands. Colors: possible colors include red (R), orange (O), yellow (Y), dark green (G), light green (g), dark blue (B), light blue (b), white (W), and black (K). No bands are bi-colored/tri-colored (2/3 colors on one band). Sometimes two bands of the same color are placed over each other on a leg (this may look like one very tall band). Remember that bands can discolor, and occasionally fall off. Please specify if you are unsure of any of the bands or if you failed to see all parts of the leg clearly. b) LOCATION- use a GPS unit, find your lat and long on a map (http://www.getlatlon.com/), or write a detailed description (please include common place names that we can use to plot your location on a map). c) DATE/TIME d) NOTES- i) describe any injuries, ii) with a flock? (if so, flock size and composition) 3. If possible, get photo-documentation. 4. Please report your observations to the following emails: rpruner@ufl.edu; bsmith@sccf.org; wendy.bear@myfwc.com; chris.burney@myfwc.com

Please take five minutes to write the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at peregrine@myfwc.com and let them know what you think about:

1. allowing the harvest of wild Peregrines for use by hobbyist falconers
2. the likelihood that this harvest will be at taxpayer expense
3. the request by falconers to trap Peregrines in coastal state parks, wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, and other publicly owned conservation lands
4. the possibility that your past Peregrine sightings and monitoring efforts may be used to target them for harvest in the future.

The FWC is working on its first draft of the Peregrine Falcon management plan right now, and you comments are needed to demonstrate the abundance

Background:
The Peregrine Falcon has enjoyed a significant recovery as a result of its protections under the Endangered Species Act and was declared “recovered” and removed from the federal list in 1999; removal from Florida ’s imperiled species list will be completed within the next year. At the request of hobbyist falconers, the USFWS is expected to issue a decision in the next few weeks on the number of Peregrine Falcons they would allow each state to permit for falconry harvest. It is anticipated that Florida will be assigned approximately 30 birds that the state can allow to be trapped from the wild. It will be up to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to decide how many Peregrine Falcons they will actually allow to be captured—the agency has the discretion to mandate a range of options from no trapping in Florida to permitting the maximum allowable number under the USFWS’ directive.

A few things birders should know:

1. Captive-bred Peregrines and other falcons are readily available to falconers, but they say they would prefer wild-caught birds because (a) they are less expensive (captive-bred birds cost around $3000), (b) some falconers consider wild birds to be better hunters and (c) the thrill of catching the falcon and training it is not possible with captive-bred birds.
2. Permit fees for Peregrines are unlikely to cover the costs of administering the program, so the administration of the permitting program and law enforcement related to the harvest of these birds will likely have to be subsidized by taxpayer dollars. If it is not, enforcement/compliance checking will likely suffer.
3. Trappers would target first-year migrating Peregrines in Florida , and would likely focus on coastal areas where the birds naturally concentrate during migration. Falconers have expressed an interest in getting access to trap on publicly owned conservation lands, such as state parks, wildlife management areas and national wildlife refuges, where the birds are known to concentrate. Much of the information that is known about these concentration points is because of the dedicated monitoring efforts of Audubon chapters, sighting reports of birdwatchers, and research projects like the Florida Keys hawkwatch.
4. At the Peregrine management plan public meeting on October 8th, FWC reported that only two letters were received raising concerns about Peregrine trapping (including the one on behalf of Audubon of Florida’s 32,000 members) and these two letters were outnumbered by the several dozen letters from individual falconers. Accordingly, it is important that if birders and conservationists have an opinion on this proposal, they write to the FWC at peregrine@myfwc.com to be sure the state recognizes the abundance of concern on this issue.

While peregrine numbers have shown a remarkable recovery, monitoring efforts in Florida are limited, the mixing of breeding populations in Florida on migration makes it difficult to track what the harvest impacts will be on the breeding grounds, and the demand for peregrine take in Florida will likely be very high due to the ease with which the birds could be captured at coastal migratory concentration points in our state. Moreover, many birders and conservationists in Florida value the Peregrine Falcon as an emblem of American wildlife and place a premium on these birds remaining wild and free.

Please consider writing FWC at peregrine@myfwc.com and let them know what you think about:

1. allowing the harvest of wild Peregrines for use by hobbyist falconers
2. the likelihood that this harvest will be at taxpayer expense
3. the request by falconers to trap Peregrines in coastal state parks, wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, and other publicly owned conservation lands
4. the possibility that your past Peregrine sightings and monitoring efforts may be used to target them for harvest in the future.

Already, over 15,000 of America's outdoor enthusiasts have signed the petition to the U.S. Surgeon General, urging him to promote the benefits of daily outdoor play in nature for all children and families.

If you haven't yet, there's just one week left to sign the petition and get your friends to sign too!

Staying connected to nature is an essential part of protecting wildlife and has numerous health benefits for us all.

Sign the Petition to Help Get More Americans Outdoors:
http://online.nwf.org/GetAmericaOutdoors

In the past five years, more than 700 Alaskan wolves have been brutally slaughtered by gunners in aircraft. Now another season of aerial gunning is underway. With your help, we can stop this awful practice!

Take action now to help save the wolves -- Sign our petition to urge the Bush Administration to put an end to aerial gunning in Alaska.

Easy targets against fallen snow, wolves are gunned down from airplanes or chased to exhaustion, then shot at point blank range. State-licensed marksmen can target entire packs -- even pregnant mothers!

Last year alone, nearly 100 wolves were slaughtered from the skies. Fortunately, the state fell way short of their goals. But this year could be worse. Anxious to make up for last year, hundreds more wolves could be targeted this season.

It’s not wolf management. It’s a wolf massacre.

Tell the Bush Administration to enforce the Federal Airborne Hunting Act, the federal law that could put an end to the killing.

Wolves help the overall health of natural ecosystems. They help keep Alaska's moose and caribou populations healthy and strong. Wolves are also important to Alaska's billion-dollar tourism industry.

Yet the state continues to allow aerial gunning. In fact, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the state legislature have approved spending $400,000 in taxpayer funds to promote the slaughter from the skies -- fearing Alaskans will once again vote to restrict this barbaric practice, as they have twice before.

Please sign our petition right now and help us end aerial gunning in Alaska.

Our wolves are a crucial part of the natural heritage that we’ll leave our children and grandchildren, and we have a real chance to end this terrible practice.

More than half of the birds species that breed in North America and winter in Latin America have declining populations. If we hope to continuing sharing our North American communities with Wood Thrushes, Bobolinks, and other treasured neotropical migratory birds, we must ensure that the birds find food, safety, and shelter in all of the countries where they make stops in along their migration. In 2002, Congress passed the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to help protect these habitats, but now the bill must be reauthorized—and time is running out on the 110th Congress!

E-mail your members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the reauthorization of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (HR 5756/S 3490) to help save our songbirds!

The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act supports conservation programs protecting migratory birds through habitat preservation, education, and research programs. The program is a cooperative, international conservation effort in Canada, the United States, and Latin America. Each year, the number of applicants far exceeds the available funds. At least 29 species of migratory songbirds have experienced population declines of more than 45% since the 1960s. Congress needs to renew and expand this vital and cost-effective conservation program.

We need to act now to save our declining songbirds. The longer we delay, the more irreplaceable habitat will be lost.

Please write to your U.S. Representative and Senators and ask them to support the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to preserve the habitat of America's songbirds.

The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important habitats for migratory birds in the entire Pacific Flyway. But this globally significant wetland is under threat from a new bill (S. 1680/ H.R. 2801), which would remove Wilderness protection for an unnecessary and expensive road through the heart of the Refuge.

Located on the Aleutian Islands of the Alaska Peninsula, the Izembek Refuge provides critical feeding and resting grounds for millions of migratory birds. Hundreds of thousands of geese, federally threatened Steller's Eiders, and the entire Pacific population of Brant rely on the lagoons and wetlands of Izembek. Many mammals use the Refuge as well, including caribou, brown bears, wolves, and wolverines.

Please ask your members of Congress to oppose this misguided bill. Help save this fragile Alaskan wetland.

The proposed bill would "pave the way" for a costly road through Izembek's unparalleled wetlands to connect the small Alaska communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. Proponents claim a road is necessary to meet the health and safety needs of King Cove, but in 1998 Congress allocated $37.5 million to address those needs, funding the purchase of a state-of-the-art hovercraft to provide ferry and emergency medical service between King Cove and Cold Bay. The allocation also paid for an upgrade to King Cove's medical facilities, construction of new marine terminals, and a road between the town and the connecting hovercraft terminal. This law specifically prohibited a road through the Izembek Refuge's federally protected Wilderness.

Now Alaska's congressional delegation wants to overturn that prohibition, throw away taxpayers' $37.5 million investment, and remove Wilderness protection from lands in the Izembek Refuge.

We need your help to protect this globally significant wetland. Please write to your U.S. Representative and Senators, and ask them to oppose any legislation that removes Wilderness protection from the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.