Dear Audubon Advocate,

The administration has just announced its most serious attack yet on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and the billions of birds protected by America’s most important bird law.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a new regulation to gut enforcement of the essential law that has protected birds for decades by letting industries off the hook for bird deaths from oil spills, oil waste pits, toxic mining ponds, and more.

This attack comes at a time when bird populations are facing a crisis, with new reports documenting a decline of 3 billion birds in North America since 1970, and Audubon’s climate report finding that two-thirds of the continent’s birds are threatened by climate change.

Take action and tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that you strongly oppose their plan to gut the MBTA and give industries a free pass for avoidable bird deaths.

Passed in 1918 after tireless advocacy by Audubon, the MBTA protects nearly all of America’s native birds. It ended the slaughter of birds that decimated Great Egrets and other species at the turn of the century, and for decades, the MBTA has helped reduce avoidable industrial hazards that birds face from oil and gas activities, electricity transmission, wind energy production, toxic chemicals, and more. Because of the law, industries have adopted practices that limit these hazards, and are held accountable for bird deaths and recovery efforts after oil spills.

BP was fined $100 million under the MBTA for its role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill—money that is now being used to restore habitat for impacted species. Under the proposed rule, companies responsible for future oil spills won’t owe a dime in MBTA penalties for any bird deaths.

Birds need your voice now more than ever!

Submit a public comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to oppose MBTA rollbacks that put nearly all of our nation’s beloved birds at greater risk.