Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

Palo-Santo-Candles

Action Alert

Migratory Birds Threatened by Rule Change

A coalition of national environmental groups led by the National Audubon Society filed a lawsuit in may against the u.S. Department of the Interior challenging the federal administration’s move last December to eliminate longstanding protections for waterfowl, raptors and songbirds under the 100-year-old migratory Bird Treaty Act (mBTA). The intent is to weaken enforcement on businesses, municipalities and individuals to prevent “incidental” deaths of birds, which would lessen requirements for their protection from electrical power lines, towers, buildings and other hazards.

The risk of liability under the mBTA has provided incentives for the oil and gas industry, wind energy development companies and power transmission line operators to work with the u.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to minimize bird deaths. The new policy eliminates these incentives to reduce and mitigate foreseeable impacts of operations on migratory birds.

“One of the first conservation laws, the mBTA sparked 100 years of conservation leadership in this country,” says Sarah Greenberger, Audubon’s senior vice president of conservation policy. “It defies all facts for the Department of the Interior to suggest that this law is somehow broken when we have a century of evidence that says otherwise.”

 

Urge senators and other representatives to uphold the MBTA via an easy form and single click under the Take Action tab at Audubon.org.

Image: BLFootage/Shutterstock.com

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Upcoming Events Near You
Follow Us On Facebook