Lawsuits to Protect Migratory Birds

Center for Biological Diversity News Release

Lawsuits Seek to Restore Federal Protections for Migratory Birds

WASHINGTON— A coalition of national environmental groups today filed litigation in the Southern District of New York challenging the Trump administration’s move to eliminate longstanding protections for waterfowl, raptors and songbirds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).

Groups filing the litigation — National Audubon Society v. Department of the Interior —included the American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In a legal opinion issued December 2017, the Trump administration abruptly reversed decades of government policy and practice — by both Democratic and Republican administrations — on the implementation and enforcement of the MBTA.