[Fwd: RFI: Corpus towerkills]
Tyler Bell (bell@say.acnatsci.org)
Mon, 13 Apr 1998 10:11:32 -0700
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Folks:
I thought this might be of interest to everyone. The first paragraph is
of local (Texas) interest but the rest is of global interest to anyone
who hates to see birds die needlessly.
--
Good Birding! ...and all this science,
Tyler Bell I don't understand, It's
mailto:bell@say.acnatsci.org just my job five days a week.
California, MD Elton John (Rocket Man)
http://www.anserc.org/
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Message-ID: <l03130301b155771e35c7@[207.198.30.51]>
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 15:28:33 -0500
Reply-To: Bill Evans <wrevans@CLARITYCONNECT.COM>
Sender: Audubon birding discussion list for Texas
<TEXBIRDS@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG>
From: Bill Evans <wrevans@CLARITYCONNECT.COM>
Subject: RFI: Corpus towerkills
Comments: cc: tx-general@list.audubon.org
To: TEXBIRDS@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG
I drove down to south Texas yesterday after attending the National
ornithological conference in St. Louis where, amidst one of the largest
ornithological meetings of the 20th century, a resolution addressing the
problem of birds killed at communications towers was passed by the four
major ornithological societies (AOU, COS, WOS, AFO). While passing by
Corpus Christi on route 77, I made the mistake I seem to make every year
of missing the exit for 77 and taking 37 into Corpus. Annoyed, I tried to
backtrack back to 77 via farm roads southwest of Corpus. What I saw out
there blew my mind! There were at least 7 tall communications towers
rising high out of the agricultural landscape. Recent (60th ed.) FAA
sectional aeronautical charts, showing the locations of such towers for
aviation hazard, indicate only one such tower south of Corpus. So,
apparently within the last year or so, at least 6 new ~1000 foot high
towers have sprung up southwest of Corpus. This is shocking. This
size-class of tower has been well documented to kill potentially thousands
of migrant songbirds every year and these towers are constructed in an
especially concentrated and important migration route for our neotropical
migrants - the heart of the Texas Birding Trail! Has anyone ever checked
towers around Corpus for towerkill?
Right now the FCC, the Government body that regulates the communications
industry, seems to be totally unaware of the impact such towers have on
migratory birds. To support the swift development of the new digital TV
medium, which by some estimates may need a thousand new tall towers across
the continent, the FCC has issued a ruling that would permit such
communications towers to be built without environmental review. This
proposed rule, which has the strong backing of the broadcast industry,
would enable the FCC to pre-empt all state and local land use and zoning
ordinances for further tower construction.
The National Audubon Society has petitioned the FCC to perform an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) but the FCC has not yet consented and
will not likely do so unless they receive thousands of letters on this
issue. Please write the FCC asap urging them to do the EIS. Mail FIVE
COPIES of your letter to:
Office of the Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C., 20554
Address your letter as follows:
Mr. William Kennard
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C., 20554
Re: FCC Docket No. 97-296; MM. Docket No. 97-182
The FCC must received all letters by *April 29.*
Also, it would help if you sent a copy of your letter to your Senators and
House Reps, and ask them to support Senate bill 1350 and House of
Representatives bill 3016. Information on these bill can be found at
www.cellulartower.com under the Congress subheading. These bills have been
recently introduced in Congress to counteract the proposed FCC ruling but
they are not currently being supported by the US Senators or House Reps
from Texas.
For more information, check out:
http://www.cellulartower.com
http://www.flap.org
http://www.towerkill.com
References:
Avery, M. L., P. F. Springer, and N. S. Dailey (1980) Avian mortality at
man-made structures: An annotated bibliography (revised). U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Biological Services Program, National Power Plant Team,
FWS/OBS-80/54.
Cochran, William W. and Richard R. Graber. 1959. Attraction of nocturnal
migrants by lights on a television tower. Wilson Bulletin, 70:378-380.
Kemper, Charles A. 1996. A study of birds mortality at a west central
Wisconsin TV tower from 1957-1995." The Passenger Pigeon, 58:219:235.
Larkin, Ronald P. and Barbara A. Frase. 1988. Circular paths of birds
flying near a broadcast tower in cloud. Journal of Comparative Psychology,
102:90-93.
Ogden, Lesley P. 1996. Collision course: the hazards of lighted structures
and windows to migrating birds. World Wildlife Fund-Canada and the Fatal
Light Awareness Program, 46 pp.
Bill Evans
Laguna Atascosa NWR
bill@ornith.cornell.edu
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