Caltrans, USFWS, California Department of Fish & Wildlife: Take down the bird-killing netting under the Petaluma River Bridge

Caltrans, USFWS, California Department of Fish & Wildlife: Take down the bird-killing netting under the Petaluma River Bridge

Started
April 16, 2013
Petition to
Director Distric 4 Bijan Sartipi and 8 others
Confirmed victory
This petition made change with 32,470 supporters!

Why this petition matters

Started by Maggie R

Click here for wildlife photographer George Eade's documentation of trapped and dying birds.

KTVU's news coverage showing trapped birds.

The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) has placed exclusion netting underneath the Petaluma River Bridge. The purpose of the netting is to stop migratory Cliff Swallows from nesting at a site they have flown 6000 miles to reach. A site where they have nested for generations. The birds become caught in the netting and die a slow death as they struggle to get free. The subcontractor, C.C. Myers, Inc., who put up the netting, and CALTRANS, are violating the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty which forbids the killing of migratory birds. Sadly, the agencies tasked with enforcing this law have chosen to "look into it" instead of requiring the removal of the netting while a new solution is worked on. Over 100 birds are known dead, as of April 29, 2013. Many more have died and not been counted because every night the C.C. Myers company uses a "snooper" truck to send its workers out over the Petaluma River, up 100', to remove the bodies and reattach the netting. This is destruction of evidence in a criminal case that they should be charged with. We demand that CALTRANS TAKE DOWN THE NETS NOW! Watching a bird struggling in a net, while surrounded by its dead flock mates, is a heart wrenching sight, and an act of animal cruelty, in addition to the violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty. All attempts to contact CALTRANS have been met with a wall of silence, our enforcement agencies, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and US Fish & Wildlife Service have the power to make this stop and have chosen not to do so. We demand an end to the killing of these beautiful birds who benefit all of us by their copious consumption of flying insects, such as mosquitoes.

A lawsuit has now been filed by a coalition of groups as Caltrans has refused to budge on this issue. The document can be reviewed at www.nativesongbirdcare.org.

It is the wrong material for the wrong structure in the wrong environment for the wrong purpose. Do something right, remove the netting!

Confirmed victory

This petition made change with 32,470 supporters!

Share this petition

Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material.Download QR Code

Decision Makers

  • Bijan SartipiDirector Distric 4
  • Robert HausCaltrans
  • California Dept. of Fish & WildlifeDirector
  • Linda CliffordCFO, C.C. Myers, Inc.
  • Sally JewellU.S. Secretary of the Interior