Skip to main content
US Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes 30-Year Eagle Take Permits
Federally-Protected Bald and Golden Eagles at Risk from Proposed Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The US Fish and Wildlife Service resurrected a draft rule yesterday that would allow the wind industry to apply for thirty-year permits to disturb or kill federally-protected Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles. This is a six-fold increase from the previous allowance of five years. In response, the National Audubon Society issued the following statement:
“A thirty-year permit is an unacceptably long green light to give the wind industry,” said Mike Daulton, Audubon’s vice president of policy and strategy. “We can protect America’s birds and transition away from fossil fuels at the same time—clean energy does not need to come at the expense of protected Bald and Golden Eagle species.”
Audubon strongly supports properly sited wind power as a renewable energy source that helps reduce the threats posed to birds and people by climate change. However, Audubon also believes wind farms can and should be properly sited and operated in ways that minimize harm to federally-protected species. Audubon advocates wildlife agencies strongly enforce existing wildlife protection laws such as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act.
To read the complete National Audubon Society position on wind power, please click here.
To read about the threat posed to birds by climate change, please visit www.audubon.org/climate.
The National Audubon Society saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.
###
Contact: Nicolas Gonzalez, ngonzalez@audubon.org, 212-979-3068.