A Trump Policy 'Clarification' All but Ends Punishment for Bird Deaths

[Swordsmyth]

As the state of Virginia prepared for a major bridge and tunnel expansion in the tidewaters of the Chesapeake Bay last year, engineers understood that the nesting grounds of 25,000 gulls, black skimmers, royal terns and other seabirds were about to be plowed under.To compensate, they considered developing an artificial island as a safe haven. Then in June 2018, the Trump administration stepped in. While the federal government “appreciates” the state’s efforts, new rules in Washington had eliminated criminal penalties for “incidental” migratory bird deaths, administration officials advised. Such conservation measures were now “purely voluntary.”
The state ended its island planning.
The island is one of dozens of bird-preservation efforts that have fallen away in the wake of a policy change in 2017 that was billed merely as a technical clarification to a century-old law protecting migratory birds. Across the country birds have been killed and nests destroyed by oil spills, construction crews and chemical contamination, all with no response from the federal government, according to emails, memos and other documents viewed by The New York Times. Not only has the administration stopped investigating most bird deaths, the documents show, it has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking precautionary measures to protect birds.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-policy-clarification-ends-punishment-201439580.html

[TheTexan]

The only bird we should be caring about is the American Bald Eagle. It's the only bird species worth protecting.

[kpitcher]

Liability for hurting a shared resource should be upheld. At least in my part of the world bird hunting is common. The feds letting people walk away without even liability for problems they caused is one thing. The feds encouraging states to abdicate state rights is another.

[Swordsmyth]

Liability for hurting a shared resource should be upheld. At least in my part of the world bird hunting is common. The feds letting people walk away without even liability for problems they caused is one thing. The feds encouraging states to abdicate state rights is another.
This is the feds abdicating a usurpation of power.

Punishing people who kill birds is not a federal Constitutional power.

[kpitcher]

This is the feds abdicating a usurpation of power.

Punishing people who kill birds is not a federal Constitutional power.

sure, but the article says the feds are urging states to stop precautionary measures to protect birds. The feds shouldn't care what a state does for something outside their purview. If a state wants to find someone liable for destroying a shared resource then by all means they should. That's also the classical libertarian viewpoint of strong liability / tort laws.

[Swordsmyth]

sure, but the article says the feds are urging states to stop precautionary measures to protect birds. The feds shouldn't care what a state does for something outside their purview. If a state wants to find someone liable for destroying a shared resource then by all means they should. That's also the classical libertarian viewpoint of strong liability / tort laws.
They only thing they are encouraging them not to do is to report things to the feds etc., they are not telling them not to do things on the state level.
And libertarians would be pleased to see less government intervention at the state level interfering with private property rights.
There is simply no way you can spin this that is bad for Trump.

[kpitcher]

There is simply no way you can spin this that is bad for Trump.

Not only has the administration stopped investigating most bird deaths, the documents show, it has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking precautionary measures to protect birds.

"Discourage" while relating to the feds is like a father with a shotgun discouraging someone from dating a daughter. The administration is overreaching to put their connected swampy agenda ahead of the states, not surprising with the authoritarian in charge.

[Anti Globalist]

The only bird we should be caring about is the American Bald Eagle. It's the only bird species worth protecting.
I like this style of thinking.