Time running out on parrot bill
Lawmakers still hope to save monk parakeets from eradication
HARTFORD — With less than a week remaining in the legislative session, a bill that would spare southwestern Connecticut’s monk parakeet population from capture and death is languishing in the General Assembly. It has been ready for House action since April 18 but could get lost in the flurry of late-session wrangling as the Legislature speeds toward its midnight adjournment next Wednesday.
At the start of the 12-week budget-adjustment session in February, the bill was a legislative priority of Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, co-chairman of the Environment Committee.
Roy was reacting to the local, state and regional uproar over The United Illuminating Co.’s surprise autumn monk parakeet eradication program, in which 179 birds were captured in 103 nests on utility poles in West Haven, Milford, Stratford and Bridgeport. They then were put to death by U.S. Department of Agriculture crews.
Roy said Thursday that he still wants the bill to succeed, but a proposed Republican amendment on Sunday hunting has been attached that could stir contentious debate. “I’ll have to speak with the speaker and the guys in screening and find out where we can go with it,” Roy said of the majority leaders, who review pending bills and approve them for floor debate.
Roy said the General Assembly as a whole “has a lower priority on it than I do,” so he has to promote it in the waning days.
“I think the Sunday-hunting issue will certainly slow down the bill,” Roy said. “I don’t know how much support or opposition there is to it. Certainly, there is a contingent here that would like it to pass.”
Last week, the Senate approved a bill that would allow Sunday bowhunting for deer on private property along the coast and throughout Fairfield County.
But Speaker of the House James A. Amann, D-Milford, said he doubted it would be debated in the House because of opposition in the 99-member majority. The hunting amendment was put on several pieces of pending legislation in an attempt to keep the issue alive in the House, Rep. Kevin DelGobbo, R-Naugatuck, one of the sponsors, said Thursday.
It remains to be seen whether House majority leaders would rule that the Sunday hunting measure is closely related to the parrot bill, which is included in legislation dealing with euthanizing rogue dogs.
Amann said Thursday that he supports the parrot-protection bill, which would overturn 2003 legislation that classified the gregarious, nest-building birds as invasive. Amann said there’s still time to approve the legislation and get it to the Senate.
Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, co-chairwoman of the Environment Committee in 2003, said the state Department of Environmental Protection, which promoted the 2003 legislation, misrepresented its effects.
“They never said anything about exterminating the birds,” Mushinsky recalled. Mushinsky said she will join Roy in getting the bill to a floor vote.
Priscilla Feral, president of the Darien-based Friends of Animals Inc., which has a lawsuit pending against UI over the parrot issue, said she is discouraged and disgusted with the legislative process. “It’s an outrage that Sunday hunting is tacked on to a parrot bill,” Feral said.
UI spokesman Albert Carbone said the utility opposes the bill because it doesn’t allow “the flexibility” if UI were to again to seek to dismantle the stick nests that some parrot colonies have built in utility poles.
Milan G. Bull, director of science and conservation for Connecticut Audubon Society, said the organization does not have a position on the legislation. “Could we do with fewer monk parakeets?” Bull said. “Yes.”
Source: http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_3761637
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5 Comments
On April 28, 2006, Ken Bernacky wrote:
Do we need to make a last minute push of communications; email, telephone calls, etc. to key people to hopefully get this over the hump? We all know about writing our local representatives, but other than my local legislator who are the other key people we should be contacting? Looks like it may be now or never. A list with email addresses and phone numbers would be ideal.
[Blog editors’ note: Key people are: Jim.Amann@cga.ct.gov and Richard.Roy@cga.ct.gov
Phone: 860-240-8585 for both House leaders. ]
On April 30, 2006, kathy ruggiero wrote:
I would hope that we could focus our energies as a society upon redirecting the nesting habits of these birds. We cannot hold a bird responsible for the foibles of humans who have put them out of their homes, thus, forcing the birds to habitate in areas that they are not indigenous to. I would like to encourage legislature to stop the killing of these birds..this is heart breaking for a “monk” lover like myself…
{Blog editors’ note: The Monk Parakeets have graced Connecticut’s environment for more than three decades; they’ve found a niche. Thank you for appreciating them. What’s needed is to prevent their capture and killing. They nest in trees and other platforms. Privatizing them for the bird trade is a terrible idea, and Connecticut’s bill would continue to prohibit such captures. ]
On May 1, 2006, PO wrote:
Its all DIRTY POLITICS that is going on here!! By attaching the deer killing bill to the monk parakeet bill. There should be no hunting on Sundays and Pass the Monk Parakeet bill. It amazes me the people out there who find killing to be the answer. The legislature is full of hunters I’m sure as are all of the other politicians out there, except some which have a heart and are kind people. Milan Bull, DEP,UI etc are people who think they can control the animal world by killing everything, as if they know it all. Its an OUTRAGE what is going on here. It’s a sad day in Connecticut. I’m sure there is money involved with all of these issues. It all comes down to who knows who and the connections they have. Its all DIRTY.
On May 1, 2006, Abbe Ruggiero wrote:
I would love to know who had the brilliant idea of lets just kill all of the monk parakeets since they bother our community in more than one way. Not only does killing a species of bird sound impossible to me because they are so wide spread, but since when are we not on the animal’s side anymore? They are living things just like us and we need to respect their space just like they do ours. There are plenty of animals out there that inconvenience us - the stray cats that go through our garbage, the mice that get into our homes, etc. What we must remember is that they are innocent creatures just trying to survive. As a bird owner and lover, I strongly urge the people to find a better answer.
On June 7, 2006, Rachel wrote:
I am doing a report on parakeets at school.When I came across this through GOOGLE I had to menchion it in my report. All my freinds asked me why people are creul and all I said was that “we all would like to know, wouldn’t we?”