Bird enthusiasts are calling on the Obama administration to cease its devastating war on birds and reverse an obscure mining rule killing possibly a million or more birds a year.
A Bureau of Land Management rule requiring operators to mark their mining claims with tall, white PVC pipes is responsible for significant bird mortality and decreases in populations, the American Bird Conservancy says.
The American Bird Conservancy website reports:
Small birds apparently see the opening of PVC pipes used to mark mining claims as a hollow suitable for roosting or nesting or possibly gathering to pool body heat during migration. The birds may enter the holes, only to become trapped because the walls are too smooth to allow them to grapple their way up the sides and the pipes are too narrow for the birds to extend their wings and fly out. Death from dehydration or starvation follows.
"This is a very significant bird mortality threat, likely accounting for a million or more bird deaths each year," said Darin Schroeder, Vice President for Conservation Advocacy for ABC. "Many of the birds tragically found dead in these pipes are also experiencing declines in their populations. American Bird Conservancy believes the agencies must act quickly and require mining companies to replace their uncapped PVC pipe-markers with solid, high-visibility stakes when they seek claim re-registration in order to prevent further unnecessary bird deaths."
The Free Beacon’s Andrew Stiles previously reported on how the Obama Administration’s "mean green killing machines" are decapitating golden eagles, threatening to kill hundreds of baby tortoises, and disrupting protected kit fox populations in California.