Please take steps to help protect migratory birds like this Wood Thrush
As a birdwatcher and bird lover, do you ask yourself what you can do to help ensure that populations of the birds you take so much pleasure in seeing survive and thrive? Well here is the perfect opportunity for you to act. With very little effort, you can make a real difference for birds.
Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), has introduced legislation (S. 3490) in the Senate to reauthorize the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). This bill is companion legislation to H.R. 5756, which was introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD). Both bills reauthorize the NMBCA at significantly higher funding levels to meet the growing needs of our migrants, many of which are in rapid, long-term decline. You can help these bills pass by taking action in the Act for Songbirds Campaign.
The NMBCA is the only federal U.S. grants program available throughout the Americas that is specifically dedicated to the conservation of our migrant birds. The NMBCA was originally passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000, and establishes a competitive matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These programs promote and foster the long-term conservation of Neotropical migratory birds and their habitats.
NMBCA has a proven track-record of success, having supported 225 projects in 44 U.S. states/territories and 34 other countries since the first grants were distributed in 2002. More than $21 million in NMBCA grants have leveraged over $97 million in required matching partner contributions. Projects involving land conservation have helped improve about 3 million acres of bird habitat.
The Act originally passed with an authorization of $5 million per year, but initial appropriation was set at only $3 million. In 2006, Congress reauthorized the Act, and increased its authorized funding from $5 million to $6.5 million over the next five years, but appropriation is still well below that at $4.5 million for 2008. Currently, many more grant applications are received than can be funded, and so many worthwhile projects go unsupported. A significant increase in NMBCA funding is therefore crucial in helping achieve international bird conservation goals.
In response to this need, American Bird Conservancy and other members of the Bird Conservation Alliance including North Fork Audubon Society have formed a coalition that is working in a coordinated effort to achieve early reauthorization of the NMBCA funding levels to reach $20 million per year by 2015. In addition, the coalition will work to secure future appropriations the maximum amount. You can take part in this campaign by going to http://www.actforsongbirds.org/ and, through the automated system, telling your representatives to support the proposed legislation in the House and Senate. This is one thing everybody can do for birds, so Act for Songbirds today - visit www.actforsongbirds.org.
Please view the video below for more information and thank you for your help with this important initiative.
Prairie Warblers nest here on the North Fork and will be helped by the NMBCA