Help Stop USDA Wildlife Slaughter at Airport
Action Alerts From Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)

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Help Stop USDA Wildlife Slaughter at Airport

From: Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)
March 25, 2015

MEETING: April 22, 2015 - 7 PM [This meeting was originally scheduled for March 25...]

Airport Terminal Conference Room, 240 Airport Rd, White Plains, NY 10604

If you drive to the airport and park in the garage,  bring your ticket in and they will validate it for you.

As you may recall, we were granted a meeting with officials from Westchester County Airport on August 21, 2014, for the purpose of ending the slaughter of wildlife there by USDA/Wildlife Services.

See
Group asks Westchester Airport to Stop Killing Birds
and
Westchester County Airport mulls more non-lethal options to keep birds away, prevent airstrikes

At that time, the emphasis was on updating equipment to include avian radar and drones as non-lethal deterrents; however, the fact was brought out that the airport is in violation of FAA rules for not allowing open bidding for 'wildlife management' there; and that the USDA is actually prohibited from the 'qualifying' process.

We are calling for the airport to terminate the USDA/Wildlife Services contract because of these issues.  We will be attending a meeting of the Westchester Airport Advisory Board on March 25, 2015 at 7 PM.

The public is allowed to speak at this meeting.  We will be reading a prepared letter into the record, concerning these facts, which reads in part:

It has come to the attention of Westchester4Geese that Westchester County Airport has contracted with the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services (“USDA /Wildlife Services”), for, among other things, a Wildlife Hazard Assessment that is required pursuant to Federal Aviation Regulations Part 139, and to carry out a Wildlife Hazard Management Plan.

Under 14 C.F.R. § 139.337(c) Wildlife Hazard Assessments must be prepared by qualified wildlife damage management biologist.  In order to comply with Federal Aviation Regulations, FAA Program Guidance Letter (PGL) 09-01, dated July 17, 2009, Program Information Memorandum #3 (PIM #3)[1] (copies of which are attached to this letter) state the USDA/Wildlife Services, as a governmental entity, is not a firm and may not be considered in the qualification selection process for the development of Wildlife Hazard Assessment.  See, PIM #3, p.1. According to the FAA, only private sector firms may be used in developing a Wildlife Hazard Assessment pursuant to its regulations and guidance.  Id.

The press will be invited and the public is allowed to speak. We are attempting to get the airport to recognize its duty to cancel its contract with USDA/Wildlife Services in lieu of a lawsuit. Wildlife Services is slaughtering wildlife all over the country; they are heavily entrenched in similar illegal govt activities, paid for with our tax dollars. 

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