Anyone but Bush in 04
In May 2004, the Bush administration proposed lifting federal environmental regulations, such as the Migratory Bird Treaty, which protect migratory birds from the adverse effects of Department of Defense military activities.
The amendment makes the Department of Defense responsible for determining whether bird populations are being harmfully affected by military actions. The Department was temporarily exempted from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 2002, because the military needed to conduct bombing practice on an island in the Pacific that is a key nesting site for migratory birds, including frigatebirds and Pacific golden plovers. However, that exemption was never lifted, and will become permanent with the administration's new rules.
The new rules were partially justified in a Pentagon legal brief by Judge William Haynes II, who said that the military's killing of birds means "bird watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do spotting a common one."
Bush later placed Haynes on a federal appellate court.
(Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service press release, May 28, 2004, Center for Biological Diversity v Pirie, 191 F. Supp. 2d 161)
The amendment makes the Department of Defense responsible for determining whether bird populations are being harmfully affected by military actions. The Department was temporarily exempted from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 2002, because the military needed to conduct bombing practice on an island in the Pacific that is a key nesting site for migratory birds, including frigatebirds and Pacific golden plovers. However, that exemption was never lifted, and will become permanent with the administration's new rules.
The new rules were partially justified in a Pentagon legal brief by Judge William Haynes II, who said that the military's killing of birds means "bird watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do spotting a common one."
Bush later placed Haynes on a federal appellate court.
(Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service press release, May 28, 2004, Center for Biological Diversity v Pirie, 191 F. Supp. 2d 161)