NC Governor Opposes Navy Plan to Poison Protected Birds

On Friday March 16^th, Governor Mike Easley reiterated his opposition to the U. S. Navy building a practice landing strip near a national bird refuge.

According to an article in the Raleigh News and Observer by staff writer Wade Rawlins, Governor Easley "strongly objected to any use by the Navy to control birds at the proposed airstrip near the national wildlife refuge."

On March 20th, in another article by Rawlins, Dale Hall director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is said to have voiced strong opposition to the Navy's plan to build an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) close to one of the nation's premiere bird sanctuaries. Director Hall manages five hundred refuges nation wide.

Dale Hall is quoted as saying, "We have a national wildlife refuge whose mission is to pull the birds in. The mission of the outlying landing field is to push birds away."

Hall said that he saw flocks of swans during an airplane tour of the lake on Monday March 19^th.

Regarding the Navy's plan to use of poisons, Hall is quoted as saying "We have certainly let the Navy know that we don't believe it is a viable option to use chemicals to kill animals near the refuge."

The Navy likes the site because it is located near both Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia and the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point in North Carolina.

The site for the proposed landing site is located next to the Pososin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge houses several rare birds including Snow Geese and Tundra Swans.

The proposed landing strip is five miles from the refuge and would have pilots practicing aircraft carrier landings. It is reported that the tens of thousands of birds would pose an extreme risk to the pilots during about half of the year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is credited with suggesting that the Navy drive off the birds that pose a hazard. They suggest removing food crops from the area to deny birds food to eat. To further reduce the risk they recommend scaring the birds with dogs and fireworks. Then if these tactics don't work the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends the Navy poisons and shoots the birds.

The poison they Department of Agriculture recommends is known as Avitrol. This poison causes the birds to give out distress calls and fly in an erratic manner that spooks other birds.

"Under no circumstances should this chemical be used in proximity to tundra swans, snow geese or any other migratory waterfowl." Was the statement Wes Seegars, chairman of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission according to Rawlins.

In an article written by Laura Marciniak, a former Air Force officer, she is surprised by the Navy's insistence on Site C on the Washington-Beaufort county line in North Carolina.

The issue she follows is the potential for a $57 million dollar F/A18 Hornet colliding with a large bird or flock of birds.

According to Colonel Jeffrey Short of the U.S Air Force Reserve; "In 25 years of dealing with military BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard) issues, I cannot recall a worse place to situate an airfield for jet training."

In the March 20^th article in the Raleigh News and Observer by Wade Rawlins with contributions from staff writer Barbara Barrett Senator Dole's most recent actions on the OLF issues was cited.

Senator Elizabeth Dole noted in a letter to Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter, that although the people of North Carolina felt that this was a state wide issue, all of the hearings were scheduled to be held in the Eastern part of the state. She would like the Navy to hold hearings in the Central and Western parts of the state. Senator Dole has said she has "serious concerns" about the Navy's plan for the OLF but has indicated that she will not interfere in the selection process according to the article.

The original environmental impact study was considered flawed by U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle. He ruled the Navy had not addressed environmental issues as required by the National Environmental Act.

The action by the Navy has resulted in alliances being formed across a wide spectrum of political, farming and wildlife interests.

The Red Wolf Coalition has joined the resistance to the OLF along with the Audubon Society, Southern Environmental Law Center, the

Though she has only involved to a limited degree, it was reported by Audubon that Senator Dole has asked the Navy to stop land condemnations for the landing field.

Before the first lawsuit was brought against the Navy, they had begun condemning land for the landing site. Despite the Navy claiming it would only use condemnations as a last resort in took 1,572 acres of farmland by condemnation from a Harry McMullan III of Washington County, N.C. This even after he had informed the Navy he would be willing to sell his land for a fair price. Using condemnation allowed the Navy to pay him $1,803.23 per acre for land that had a market value as farmland of $3,500 to $4,000 an acre.

Sources:

Raleigh News and Observer (Mar 16 and Mar 18, 2007)

US Navy website cffc.navy.mil
Coalition of OLF opponents' website noolf.com
NC Audubon website ncaudubon.org
National Red Wolf website wolf.org
Southern Environmental Law website selcga.org

Navy's full text of the current study is available via the first site listed. (the US Navy website)