Fearing flight hazards, bill would end some habitat protections at Maine airports
A grasshopper sparrow. (Photo by Karen Parker/Florida Fish and Wildlife)
A grasshopper sparrow has made itself a home at the Eastern Slope Regional Airport in Fryeburg. While the presence of that particular bird is precious given its status as an endangered species in Maine it's also become somewhat of a nuisance for the airport.
Maine Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) said he considers himself a champion of the environment, but the situation with that sparrow has prompted him to propose certain wildlife regulations be rolled back because of the risk animals can pose to pilots and passengers at airports.
The environmental community, on the other hand, worries the change would set a dangerous precedent for eroding conservation and environmental protection standards elsewhere in the state.
Bennett's bill, LD 138, seeks to exempt airports from certain habitat protections for animals on Maine's endangered and threatened species list. During a hearing Monday, he spoke of the safety risks birds and other wildlife can pose at airports, specifically mentioning the federal database that tracks all wildlife strikes to aircraft. It lists more than 1,000 strikes reported in Maine since 1990.
'While we have a duty to protect threatened and endangered species, we also owe it to the people flying throughout Maine to ensure their flights are as safe as possible,' Bennett told the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee during a public hearing on the bill.
Airports, the municipalities that run them and the federal agencies that regulate them work to reduce safety hazards, said Rep. Ann Fredericks (R-Sanford), who co-sponsored the bill. However, Fredericks argued state laws work against this by encouraging habitat conservation at airports.
Airports occupy about 8,000 of the more than 22 million acres that make up Maine, Fredericks said in her testimony before the committee, calling the proposal a 'small exemption for human safety.'
There are currently 57 threatened or endangered species in Maine, according to the list kept by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Bennett's bill is specifically intended to protect aviation, he said, so the committee should narrow the language if necessary to ensure the exemption doesn't extend to entities other than airports.
Nate Webb, who serves as wildlife division director for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said while the agency appreciates the intent of the bill, it would set a concerning precedent of exempting certain developments from conservation laws.
Webb said the department has reviewed about 100 permit applications for airports since 2012 and has never recommended that the developments not proceed due to wildlife concerns. Rather, he said the department has recommended steps to avoid or minimize impacts to threatened species.
Concern over a slippery slope of exemptions was echoed by environmental organizations including the Maine Audubon and Natural Resources Council of Maine, which testified in opposition because of the bill's potential to erode conservation standards amid documented biodiversity loss.
Bangor International Airport Director Jose Saavedra spoke in support of the bill, saying he is concerned about the safety of the more than 740,000 passengers and crew members who rely on the airport each year. According to the federal database, there were seven aircraft-wildlife collisions reported at the Bangor airport last year.
Saavedra said the airport supports the goals of the Maine Endangered Species Act but they are not the 'appropriate environment to foster endangered species habitats, as doing so creates unnecessary risks for passengers, pilots and crews.'
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