Priscilla Feral,
FOA Friends of Animals
October 2017
DEC is in the business of establishing hunting seasons for swans and other birds, and it’s taking a stab at that by maligning them as a non-native species. True, they are exotics, but they are not invasive. House sparrows, pigeons, ring-necked pheasants and starlings are immigrants, too, all of whom cluster in and around New York in numbers far greater than those of mute swans.
The truth is “business” is down for the DEC, and the agency is desperate. New York is no longer one of the nation’s top five hunting states. Numbers of hunters nationwide have fallen to 5 percent, yet in New York, hunters number only 2.8 percent of residents – and the majority of those shooters live upstate.
DEC is keen on pumping up those numbers by ultimately offering mute swans
–as their clients would say — as “one more bird for the bag.”
Please submit written comments on the revised management plan by writing to:
Bureau of Wildlife – Mute Swan Plan
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4754
[email protected] (subject
line – “Mute Swan Plan”)
The public comment period will close on December 6, 2017.
Mute swans harm no one. They contribute beauty and grace to our parks
lakes and other waterways, bringing joy to wildlife watchers wherever they
are.
It isn’t surprising, however, that New York’s Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) is back with a vengeance trying to demonstrate that mute
swans damage the environment or other species, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
support of the passage of legislation last November, which Friends of
Animals provided input on, that put a 2-year moratorium on any management
plan and requires the agency to provide scientific evidence.
Despite the fact that the legislation requires the agency to provide
scientific evidence of damage, hunter-bureaucrats are back with attitude–
minus good science– calling for a control scheme. That’s why FoA testified
on October 18 at a public hearing in in New Paltz, N.Y., to sound off
about it the newest version of the same misguided plan.
New York’s 1,700 mute swans constitute less than one-quarter of one
percent of the 502,336 waterfowl counted in the state in 2016. Ducks, geese
and other swans also consume aquatic vegetation. Why, then does the DEC want
to hammer these snow-white, long-necked, attractive birds that that so many
wildlife-watchers enjoy seeing?
DEC’s original 2013 plan called for eradicating all mute swans, but the
agency faced intense backlash against the plan. Its revised plan seeks to
“control,” not eliminate swans, yet its undermining drum beat
remains—accusing swans of damaging the environment, and being too aggressive
to anglers, boaters and other birds. DEC proposes reducing their growth
through molesting 100 nests downstate and killing 100 swans a year upstate
to supposedly make more room for other waterfowl craved by hunters. DEC
treats hunters like clients and in its plan says it will evaluate public
attitudes about hunting. Clearly their brand of mute swan education hopes to
turn swan-watchers into haters.
Overall, DEC’s efforts to hunt, control or eradicate mute swans are not new.
In 1992, DEC adopted a Draconian policy declaring them undesirable, too
numerous, and gluttonous— tearing up and gulping down copious pounds of
submerged aquatic vegetation.
The DEC always fails to talk about how the loss of aquatic vegetation has to
do with runoff containing significant concentrations of nitrogen and
phosphorus from fertilizers, pesticides, and industrial and animal waste.
It’s not up to mute swans to improve and upgrade sewage treatment plants
that are overwhelmed by storm runoff. We must curb pollution of waterways
rather than scapegoating swans.
DEC is in the business of establishing hunting seasons for swans and other
birds, and it’s taking a stab at that by maligning them as a non-native
species. True, they are exotics, but they are not invasive. House sparrows,
pigeons, ring-necked pheasants and starlings are immigrants, too, all of
whom cluster in and around New York in numbers far greater than those of
mute swans.
The truth is “business” is down for the DEC, and the agency is desperate.
New York is no longer one of the nation’s top five hunting states. Numbers
of hunters nationwide have fallen to 5 percent, yet in New York, hunters
number only 2.8 percent of residents – and the majority of those shooters
live upstate.
Of 19.75 million New York residents, 8.55 million live in New York City and
most swans reside downstate. There are 44,800 migratory bird hunters in New
York, which means only .23% of resident hunters are inclined to shoot birds
to death.
Thank you for everything you do for animals!
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