NC Governor Opposes Navy Plan to Poison Protected Birds

On Friday March 16^th, Governor Mike Easley reiterated his opposition to the U. S. Navy building a practice landing strip near a national bird refuge.

According to an article in the Raleigh News and Observer by staff writer Wade Rawlins, Governor Easley "strongly objected to any use by the Navy to control birds at the proposed airstrip near the national wildlife refuge."

On March 20th, in another article by Rawlins, Dale Hall director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is said to have voiced strong opposition to the Navy's plan to build an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) close to one of the nation's premiere bird sanctuaries. Director Hall manages five hundred refuges nation wide.

Dale Hall is quoted as saying, "We have a national wildlife refuge whose mission is to pull the birds in. The mission of the outlying landing field is to push birds away."

Hall said that he saw flocks of swans during an airplane tour of the lake on Monday March 19^th.

Regarding the Navy's plan to use of poisons, Hall is quoted as saying "We have certainly let the Navy know that we don't believe it is a viable option to use chemicals to kill animals near the refuge."

The Navy likes the site because it is located near both Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia and the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point in North Carolina.

The site for the proposed landing site is located next to the Pososin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge houses several rare birds including Snow Geese and Tundra Swans.

The proposed landing strip is five miles from the refuge and would have pilots practicing aircraft carrier landings. It is reported that the tens of thousands of birds would pose an extreme risk to the pilots during about half of the year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is credited with suggesting that the Navy drive off the birds that pose a hazard. They suggest removing food crops from the area to deny birds food to eat. To further reduce the risk they recommend scaring the birds with dogs and fireworks. Then if these tactics don't work the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends the Navy poisons and shoots the birds.