Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 - Impact On Private Property Owners

Impact On Private Property Owners

Migratory birds may seek respite within trees or on buildings considered private property. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 prohibits the removal of all listed species or their parts (feathers, eggs, nests, etc.) from such property. However, in extreme circumstances, a federal permit might be obtained for the relocation of listed species (in some states a state permit is required in addition to a federal permit). Pursuant to the spirit of the treaty, it is not trivial to obtain a permit; the applicant must meet a certain criteria as outlined in Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 21.27, Special Purpose Permits.

The permit applicant is generally a contractor who specializes in wildlife relocation. When hiring a contractor to trap and relocate any animal from one's property, the private property owner is well advised to attain proof of such permits before any trapping activity begins, as trapping without the necessary paperwork is common in the United States.

Most wildlife management professionals consider relocation actions undue harm to the birds, particularly since relocated birds (being migratory) often return to the same property the next year. In the case of trapping and relocation, harm is brought on by or can result in:

  • Breaking, a term describing increased susceptibility to disease brought on by the stress of capture and relocation
  • Difficulty in establishing territory at the new location
  • Separation of family members and the stunting of juveniles' natural progression into adulthood

Read more about this topic:  Migratory Bird Treaty Act Of 1918

Famous quotes containing the words impact on, impact, private, property and/or owners:

    Too many existing classrooms for young children have this overriding goal: To get the children ready for first grade. This goal is unworthy. It is hurtful. This goal has had the most distorting impact on five-year-olds. It causes kindergartens to be merely the handmaidens of first grade.... Kindergarten teachers cannot look at their own children and plan for their present needs as five-year-olds.
    James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)

    Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.
    David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)

    All the events which make the annals of the nations are but the shadows of our private experiences.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Man was born rich, or inevitably grows rich by the use of his faculties; by the union of thought with nature. Property is an intellectual proposition.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    O, these naughty times
    Puts bars between the owners and their rights!
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)