A century-old law to protect migratory birds is no longer being applied to energy and other industries for incidental deaths, after having been used to prosecute significant cases in northwestern Colorado in previous years.
The change comes as a result of an Interior Department legal opinion issued late last month.
"I think we have to apply the law that Congress gave us," Gary Lawkowski, counselor to the Solicitor at the Interior Department, told reporters in a conference call last week.
The legal opinion by Daniel Jorjani, principal deputy solicitor for the Interior Department, and Lawkowski said it is binding on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It concludes that the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act's prohibition on hunting, taking or otherwise killing migratory birds applies only to direct and purposeful actions to do so, and not to "incidental takings."
Jorjani's conclusion is the polar opposite of an Interior Office of the Solicitor opinion issued a year ago in the final days of the Obama administration. It also runs counter to how past administrations and the Fish and Wildlife Service have interpreted the law for decades...
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The legal opinion referred to is embedded below:
https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/m-37050.pdf
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