Bulldozing bird nests-names for complaint

Hi gang. A number of you asked for names, etc on the Box Elder County, Utah bulldozing of hundreds of nests of migratory birds. County Commissioners are: Royal Norman, chairman. R. Lee Allen, road dept chair. Jay Hardy.

The phone number of their office is (801) 734-3347 and the address is #1 South Main St., Brigham City, UT 84302.

What happened ruined the hatch for a whole segment of the migrating bird population, guesstimating at 600+ nests based on one small area I had mapped out for watching to get hatching photos.

Right now I am getting some flack & pressure to "keep it down" as adverse publicity could cause a rift with the county & refuge.

If nothing is said, it will probably happen again. This county commission has donated $5000 to the association of counties to fight the new National Monument & sue Pres. Clinton. All without so much as a peep to us poor residents & voters.

Is this nature photography? Well, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge sure is the place for it. White Face Ibis, American White Pelican, Bald Eagles, Herons, Grebes, Avocets, Stilts, Godwits, Ducks, Geese and Swans all over the place depending on the season.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. Also, if you want another opinion on whether or not this is a good location for shooting birds, Don Baccus has been here. Both during the great nesting & after the county guys bladed it. He can probably give a more unbiased opinion. Thanks.

Unfortunately I can't give a more unbiased opinion, because I share your bias, Dan...

 

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(sounds like one of those "I share your pain" speeches, huh?)

 

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It is one of the two most significant wildlife refuges in the Great Basin, Malheur NWR being the other.

 

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When writing, keep in mind that it might've been a communication problem. My understanding from Dan's earlier post was that discussion s had been held between the County and USF&W, agreement reached that only the middle would be graded, then the whole thing got graded anyway.

 

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So, it's possible the grader operator just didn't get word, or on his (or her) own decided to trash both sides.

 

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My suggestion is to simply point out that this is the kind of action which aids wildlife, is easily avoidable, and in the long run helps prevent expensive and controversial mitigation. Point out that this gives the County a negative reputation in the nature photography and birding world, and that we tend to travel a lot and spend lots of money when we do, eating the best food, staying at the most expensive motels, buying premium gas...oh I'm joking. We do tend to be low-rent travellers, but nature photographers and bird photographers do spend a lot on travel nonetheless.

 

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And nature photographers are a source of free publicity for their tourist attraction activities...

 

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So, point all that out, but try not to dump on them in any hostile sense, just stick to the fact that it's an unfortunate event that shouldn't be repeated without calling them Utahn anti-conservation slime or whatever (even though it's actually true :)

Oh, a factual point (correct me if I'm wrong, here, Dan):

 

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The road in question is a county road outside the refuge, not in the refuge. USF&W involvement comes because they're migratory birds, and the importance refuge-wise is that high water this year forced many of these birds to nest along this road just outside the refuge rather than areas within the refuge which were under water this year.

 

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So, don't imply or state that the county did this deed within the refuge itself...

Yes, the road is County on the way to the refuge, with the sections of nesting on the edge. The refuge actually borders the road on both sides where much of this happened. Sorry I didn't make that clear. Dan

I'm wondering if you contacted the law enforcement divison of

the USFWS (the URL is in the previous thread on this topic). They

would seem to be the only agency empowered to take any direct

action in this matter. Clearly the county violated the Migratory

Bird Treaty Act, the only thing in question is if it was an

"accident" and if that is a defense against prosecution under the

act.

There's not much point in seeking prosecution vs. getting them to understand they should never do it again. You must understand that in the rural West, that federal agencies are almost universally hated among much of the population. Heavy-handedness simply fuels the fires of hatred and, especially in the case of local governments, is reserved largely for ongoing, intentional abuse or violation of law.

 

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I mean, there's not much point in bringing things to the point where the sons and daughters of refuge employees are beaten in school, or employee pick-ups are shotgunned, as happened in Burns, Oregon after a local rancher was busted by USF&W over something far more blatant (he was busted after running his cows illegally on the refuge for many years, then tearing down the fence USF&W put up to keep his cows out, then driving an old tractor into a refuge pond and draining the gas tank during nesting season).

 

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Which is why I suggested writing the local Commission. Most years, it doesn't flood to this extent, and the birds involved are a common species. So, though their callousness angers me, it's not like they plowed up sixty snowy plover nests. If they'd done that, USF&W would be there without prodding, believe me!

Don, I can see your point, but it's sad that these guys get away

with whatever they want to. So they get a few letters that they

throw in the trash, and they aren't prosecuted under a federal

law because they would then intimidate the federal officials and

their families. Hey, what's a few common birds. Sad. Very sad.

Guess those laws only apply to "the rest of us".

a fellow photo.netian wrote"

"they aren't prosecuted under a federal law because they would then intimidate the federal officials and their families."

 

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About 50 years ago some of my ancestors did the same thing. They were called the Mafia. Enough said?

I want to simply reiterate that it isn't clear "they" "got away" with anything intentional. We don't know for sure if the Commission lied to the Refuge folks when they promised to only grade the center of the road. It could very likely be just a communications error, perhaps a note was made that wasn't passed on, or perhaps not read by the supervisor in charge.

 

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In that case, stressing the importance of not doing it again seems far more productive. We aren't bringing those nests back, after all.

 

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On the other hand, if they told USF&W one thing then went ahead and in essence said "fuck them, we're trashin' it anyway!" my feelings would be a bit different. I'd sure like to see some indication that this was the case, though, before coming down on them like a brick shithouse with a federal case.