Re: [mou-net] Vikings stadium issue

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:12:12 -0700 

Thank you Matthew, Gordon and Jim!
I admit I have been really worrying over this entire issue and every time it comes to mind I feel sick. I will do another round of emails and calls to all the important decision making people and hope many others do too. 


I am thrilled there are 73,000 names on the petition which is being  
presented tomorrow to Gov Dayton. Is this presentation open to the  
public? If so where could I meet and what time? Is it going to be  
covered by local media?


Thank you!

Susan


Susan Gilmore
http://www.susangilmorephoto.com/
763-545-4608
mobil 612-382-1171





On Aug 23, 2014, at 10:24 AM, Anderson, Matthew wrote:


Thanks Gordon. Very good, passionate, clear points.


And thank you Jim. You were able bring to light some new, mportant  
information.



MSFA did not share either the murky glass issue or that the glass  
had been ordered when they called on July 17 to tell an Audubon  
board member (after 14 months of negotiation) to say no to bird-safe  
glass. MSFA did not clearly say this in their public statement in  
July in response to us going public with their decision to not  
choose bird-safe glass. And MSFA did not share any of this with the  
score of reporters who have called over the past 4 weeks.



All this leaves us wondering - what's the real story, what really  
happened and when? We may not ever know.


What we do know is this:

- We spent 14 months negotiating with them privately and  
respectfully around the issue of bird-safe design and construction  
until they told us no July 17 (at the time they told it was because  
it would cost $2.5 million and that was the reason)
- They will be including Audubon's lighting recommendations in the  
operation of the stadium - and that's a partial but real victory for  
birds
- Tens of thousands of people rallied to support this particular  
case of bird-safe design and construction and in doing so put the  
overall cause of bird-safe glass on the radar screen in a way we'd  
never seen locally or nationally
- Bird-safe design and construction enjoyed the support of local  
groups, the Minneapolis City Council, state legislators, sports-talk  
show hosts, architects and many others locally and nationally
- The MSFA may still find itself coming under scrutiny under the  
Migratory Bird Treaty Act but that will be years out because we'll  
need to wait until birds actually collide and die



We are disappointed that birds are being valued less than the  
aesthetics for a few thousand fans on 8 Sundays a year who happen to  
look up from the football field to look back towards the Minneapolis  
skyline.



We are going to deliver 73,000 petition signatures Tuesday to  
Governor Dayton.



We see Governor Dayton as one of our last, best chances and we're  
going to take it.



Thank you to everyone who has done so much to make this one building  
bird-safe and to bring the issue of bird-safe design and  
construction to the fore.


Sincerely,

Matthew Anderson

-----Original Message-----

From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of  
Jim Williams

Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2014 9:16 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [mou-net] Vikings stadium issue

Information about the stadium-glass issue can be found in my blog.

Jim Williams
Wayzata
birding blog at www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/blogs/Wingnut.html




On Aug 23, 2014, at 1:10 AM, Gordon Andersson <[email protected]>  
wrote:


The ovenbird is in third place among bird species collected after

window strikes in downtown St Paul and Mpls.  This was reported in  
the

Spring 2010 issue of The Loon  after three years of the Project
BirdSafe study sponsored by Audubon MN.  From spring 2007 to fall

2009, 111 ovenbirds were picked up of which 101 were dead, 9 were  
released, and one was rehabbed at the
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.   This constituted six migration  
periods.
In each downtown a prescribed circuit is walked each day of  
migration.

In St Paul the route is 30 blocks long.  (White-throated Sparrow is
1st place
(N=204) and Nashville Warbler is 2nd (N=173)).  In those first three

years, approx 1400 birds were killed by impacts with glass in the  
two downtowns,

representing 100 species.   This program is now in its eighth season.



Today the Viking management announced that they would add another

$20,000,000 for more 'amenities' to the new $ 1 B stadium.  (A TV  
report
tonight cited $46 M in added contribution.)   But no dollars will  
be spent

on bird-safe glass.  In an interview, the Chair of the MSFA said that

'fritted glass' is not acceptable because it would not provide a  
clear view

by the fans of the environs outside the stadium.


Many of you contacted Mpls City Council members, the Vikings  
management as
well as the MSFA members.   The city council voted unanimously that  
the
stadium should use glass that is more visible to birds.  The MOU  
Board also
passed a resolution to this effect.   Nevertheless, the approx  
$1,000,000

additional cost for safer glass was considered too expensive by the
Vikings owners/mgrs.  (Fritted glass is also more energy efficient
than regular
glass.)



I know that a bird will fly into the glass side of a skyway or into a
glass window of a building wall that is framed by solid structural

non-glass elements.  The height and width of the glass surfaces of  
the

new stadium
(~200,000 ft2) will present a very large and invisible "target" to
many birds throughout the year but especially to neotropical migrants
in the spring and fall.  And this is so that the people who attend 8
home games a year at the stadium can look away from the field of play
for a transparent view outside the building.




On some nights in the spring, millions of birds fly over the metro  
area.

As you know, these birds actively feed during the day and also fly
into windows.

I also know that there are other significant causes of bird mortality

in addition to window glass--- both winter and summer habitat loss,  
cats,
poison, vehicles.   But one must look at the additive effect of all  
of these

and then try to mitigate each one.  If you subscribe to the belief
that one more dead bird doesn't matter (or that window kills are not

important), than I suggest you should not vote either, because you  
are really only one vote.






So to paraphrase FDR or George Marshall--- "A thousand million  
dollars

for a football stadium and and not one million dollars to prevent
unnecessary bird deaths."

It is too late at night to fact check all of this, but I think it is
fairly accurate.  the paraphrase is my own.


There is a good write-up of this issue on Sharon Stiteler's blog  
"Birdchick"

dated July 26, 2014.



I know many of you are concerned about the effect the stadium, as

planned, will have on flying birds of many kinds.  I don't know  
what to suggest
except more phone calls and emails.  or protests with placards.    
If anyone
has any ideas or direction, please share them.   There was a lot of  
email

about this issue here a couple weeks ago.



(You should also read about the poor ovenbird.)



Gordon Andessson

St Paul





From: American Bird Conservancy [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2014 4:30 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: ABC's Bird of the Week: Ovenbird




<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=Cmr7sW-1k4Nj_KFv3LyU5g> The
Walking Warbler


<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=Tt3_BoNWkyoIu3hq7OoatQ>





Teacher, Teacher!
Ovenbird

The Ovenbird gets its name from its unique nest, which looks like a
domed oven. This inconspicuous, ground-nesting warbler is best-known

for its emphatic and distinctive song-a series of progressively  
louder

phrases often described as "teacher, teacher, teacher."

Like the Wood Thrush
<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=E9SDxP7P3HJr6C5ZvPIn6g>  and
Kentucky, Cerulean
<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=XpLcXg8ZxZ4hLW2vdH902Q> , and
Worm-eating Warblers
<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=XOp9FK986OlputnPBnlHOA> ,
Ovenbirds require undisturbed expanses of forest for successful
breeding. Although more flexible in habitat requirements on their

wintering grounds, Ovenbirds and other Neotropical migratory  
species benefit from habitat conservation in these regions as well.


Learn more and listen to the Ovenbird's song
<http://support.abcbirds.org/site/R?i=pT6Qv_XFfTV6uCjn3DnRpg> >>

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