A new category of insecticides, meant to kill bugs that threaten food crops, may also be responsible for the colony collapse disorder that is wiping out our bee population, thereby threatening food crops. The pesticides are called neonicotinoids, and are derived from nicotine. A front page story in today’s New York Times reports that the […]
Blog – Connecticut Audubon Society
Pesticides, Continued: A New Category of Poisons May Be Causing Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Friday, March 29th, 2013Pesticides, Continued: A Lot of Dead Birds
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013Estimated number of birds killed in North America each year by: Feral cats: 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion (source). Insecticide poisoning: 67 million (source). Collisions with buildings: 100 million to 1 billion (source). It’s amazing there are any birds left to sing each spring. — Tom Andersen, director of conservation and community outreach.
Pesticides, Continued: Most Bills Exterminated in Hartford for 2013
Friday, March 22nd, 2013It seems as if the General Assembly in Hartford is following through on something we were told last month: they will act on no major pesticide bills this year and instead will form a task force. The Connecticut Post has an account, here. We were told that the pro-pesticide lobby and legislators were poised to […]
Pesticides, Continued: A Decline in Grassland Birds Is Linked to Agricultural Pesticides
Thursday, March 21st, 2013Aerial insectivores aren’t the only category of common birds that are becoming far less common. As we noted in our Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 report, populations of aerial insectivores such as Barn Swallows, Chimney Swifts, Common Nighthawks, and various flycatchers – birds that eat only insects they catch on the wing – have […]
Coastal ‘Protection’ Bills Would Actually Damage Our Coastal Habitats
Monday, March 18th, 2013In the aftermath of hurricanes Irene and Sandy, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee is rushing to approve bills that would allow the construction of seawalls on the Long Island Sound coast without a permit from either the state or the local government; and would retroactively approve coastal structures, including seawalls, that were […]
We’re Co-Sponsoring This Year’s CLCC Land Conservation Conference
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013My colleague Anthony Zemba and I are looking forward to spending a good part of Saturday, March 23, at the Connecticut Land Conservation Council’s 29th annual conference, which this year is titled “Can Open Space Be Permanently Protected?” Connecticut Audubon Society, which owns 2,600 acres of conservation land, is a longtime member of the CLCC […]
Advocacy in Hartford
Sunday, March 10th, 2013Connecticut Audubon Society is working in Hartford during the 2013 legislative session to help pass several bills that would reduce pesticide use and one that would allow bow hunting on Sundays during deer season. We are opposing a provision of a bill that would result in less money for land acquisition and supporting a provision […]
Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund Is Critical to Habitat Improvement for Birds and Other Wildlife
Thursday, March 7th, 2013Clean water is obviously essential to human health. But our waterways are also wildlife habitats, and the cleaner they are, the better they are for birds, fish and other wildlife. We submitted the testimony below to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding, in support of a bill that would provide money […]
Tracking Legislation in Hartford: 2013
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013Updated June 7, 2013, with results of each bill … Connecticut Audubon Society is working in partnership with several conservation organizations to help pass legislation in Hartford in 2013. Click on each bill in the list below for details. Bills We SupportAn Act Concerning the Application of Pesticides in Municipal Parks, SB 914 (changed to […]
Pesticides: Connecticut Audubon Society Supports Pesticide Reduction Bills in Hartford
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013We testified before the General Assembly’s Environment Committee in Hartford on Monday in favor of four bills, the most prominent of which was a proposal to ban the use of pesticides in Connecticut’s municipal parks. The rationale for pesticide bills in Hartford generally is that they would limit the exposure of people, especially children, to […]
