Audubon New York and Onondaga Audubon stood up for Onondaga Lake's Bald Eagles last night at the NYSDEC public hearing regarding Onondaga County's proposed Murphy's Island trail. 150 people attended and almost everyone was against the trail. Thank you to everyone who attended the hearing and has submitted comments. The deadline to submit comments to NYSDEC is 5 PM today, Thursday, September 26. Comments should be emailed to Trendan Choe dep...@dec.ny.gov<mailto:dep...@dec.ny.gov>.
Here are some points to highlight: - We strongly recommend the NYSDEC deny Onondaga County's wetland permit application to ensure there is no disturbance to the Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). - Onondaga Lake has been recognized by Audubon as an Important Bird Area. Onondaga Lake is a critical wintering area for thousands of waterfowl along the Atlantic Flyway. Also, nearly 100 Bald Eagles listed as a New York State threatened species, congregate near the open waters around Murphy's Island to feed during the winter season, making it New York State's largest Bald Eagle winter roost in an urban environment. Furthermore, several Bald Eagles now use Murphy's Island year-round to rest, feed, and seek shelter. - We are extremely concerned with the habitat destruction that Onondaga County has already implemented on Murphy's Island, 31 trees were felled in November 2018, and the continued damage the County proposes to inflict through this ill-advised project. To start, the County has not conducted a Bald Eagle survey to study the potential impact of a trail on the winter roost and year-round eagles. This must occur before any plan is implemented. Additionally, the County has proposed to fell an additional 28 large trees, several of them are 18" to 20" diameter at breast height, which could be overstory trees. However, the County has not properly determined the height or location of the 28 trees to be felled. This must also occur before any plan is implemented. - There is ample scientific evidence that concludes that human foot traffic is the most disturbing to Bald Eagles when compared to other sources of human disturbance (Grub and King 1991, Stalmaster and Kaiser 1998, and Hamann 1999). Therefore, we believe Bald Eagle disturbance is likely during the construction of a trail on Murphy's Island and when the trail is open to the public. - In the past, the County has stated that one-quarter of the Onondaga Lake shoreline (roughly from the Seneca River to Nine Mile Creek) is under a conservation easement and that no further development will occur in this area of the lake which establishes a wildlife sanctuary. This is not accurate. There are several miles of multi-use trails, two shelters, the amphitheater, the NYS Thruway and Interstate 690 in that area. Murphy's Island represents only 4% of the Onondaga Lake shoreline and is the focal point for the nearly 100 wintering Bald Eagles and several year-round eagles. Murphy's Island is the sanctuary for Bald Eagles. It must be protected. -We respectfully request the NYSDEC deny Onondaga County's wetland permit application as we believe that any human foot or bicycle traffic on the island is likely to disturb and flush the eagles. According to the NYSDEC Bald Eagle Conservation Plan, NYSDEC's role is to maintain protection of our significant wintering Bald Eagle population by identifying and protecting important wintering areas, and reducing human disturbance. Additionally, the threat of human activity and wintering area disturbances could lead to displacement, decreased survival, or mortality. Why take this chance? Our national bird is back from the brink of extinction and it should be celebrated and protected. Here is a link to the application documents https://fts.dec.state.ny.us/fts/sendfile.php...<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffts.dec.state.ny.us%2Ffts%2Fsendfile.php%3Ffid%3D47059%26vercode%3D20d24a7a%26fbclid%3DIwAR2WW7l73_qleqDGKy5Shp3fEkFvHHYjOpn3V8jYVavDx_amCiSZMwwcSZk&h=AT2UC_daTqh0LjM0GF9QyQA_RF6O03AeYyqP9RNYCL9H5tKNSx11S_6_G_wHEaq6wLEDZHlBOuXsa9FDXu837FRCd6AlWDQqXf2b51Bt2UhbJ8sgmXoeIjnnvV1KaUemjXGKCImkaRchodOHgjcA8DWtuorunxl4jVXPSyVD50S3uWdCrN3xqleEGj9deeNs2EfbIvUKbvf2rP1bBuDCKl3qF1K-PKcMlOGfVMv4JenNi1yuUZ9NXGhGZYGZ-E89XIEZXby_1GWu151BKadOXjgXLjP7i0bsgwYgj7I3P5IyuXYVlNj3qnrTfEJLhBcn1aEyOISWoSyDUKEToMFMASfabWs6sFZZ8n_HvRgRFaKk3xwvt33I64TtDqSYxMfZDuxH7e44_uijk95XmM-OlME5eD6WgBvBRYDbvCKnh4bsbMwGEn4TtAnFPngKj0BztZQ69xnYtJb3RhjnQKzFd3uBqp_En5bJ0JfcG09D6YvUZ0e3DXKaZvtacQexlgzx5wkmzloaCa8YJ05Vvce38jdF4TmUnTqr8zhCXsfWJsrAPCvyNww3d0rues_hKlqfqKj0JxmvVCCwU3SHC1EWCThrOjByHx_Jt3qJJ74PF_7CaqV7uiwb-Q>. Onondaga County administrators should also hear from you: -Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon ryanmcma...@ongov.net -Onondaga County Director of the Environment Travis Glazier travisglaz...@ongov.net -Onondaga County Legislature Chairman David Knapp dknap...@aol.com<mailto:dknap...@aol.com> Thank you for speaking up for the Bald Eagles. -- Alyssa Johnson Environmental Educator 315.365.3588 Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89 P.O. Box 187 Savannah, New York 13146 montezuma.audubon.org Montezuma Audubon Center on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaAudubonCenter/> -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
