I will not stop even if they build it. I will document kills and send documentation to Fish and Wildlife, who has said they do prosecute. Oh the stupidity. Is a cell phone really worth placing a tower into such a significant flyway?
Dear Coucilors,
I am contacting you on the issue of the communication tower to be built at 78th Avenue East and Superior Street. I am disappointed that the City of Duluth representatives who voted for this may seem to have viewed our annual bird migration as a non-issue. I am begging you to read my entire email, I feel that the letter I sent to the Council on November 3rd was either ignored or forgotten by the time the tower was put back on the agenda on a Friday, November 6th. Perhaps if migration had been taken seriously, some of these issues would have been addressed at the meeting.
This tower is slated to be built in the corridor that is a part of Hawk Ridge. Would the City approve a tower at Hawk Ridge? I would guess that there would be a LOT of discussion about migration in that case. But, what people are not realizing, is that this site is THE CONCENTRATED PATH THAT THE MIGRATING BIRDS FLY ON THE WAY TO HAWK RIDGE BLUFF! The birds move along the shore, and catch the thermals up the hillside toward Hawk Ridge.
This has been documented during the last three years during the Hawk Ridge annual count. The numbers of birds documented to have passed through this area are staggering. In 2007 Karl Brandon did a count of non-raptors (songbirds etc.) at the Lakewood Pumping Station, he determined that "the Lakewood site is considered to be better than Hawk Ridge for documenting the migration of non-raptors along the North Shore." and "the bulk of non-raptor movement was often along the lakeshore a mile from the overlook at Hawk Ridge and probably directly over "Lakewood" (He refers to the Lakewood Pumping Station as "Lakewood" throughout the report)
He and his helpers counted 76,213 non-raptors from August 22 to November 30, 2007 over the Lakewood Pumping Station. For those of you who have not been in my neighborhood, you can practically see the pumping station from the place this tower will be built.
This year Hawk Ridge did a count of non-raptors and tallied 164,991 birds in 75 days. That's just during daylight. Many of the songbirds migrate at night and are not included in this count. That's an average of 2199 birds a day. Three days had spectacular totals, on August 20 they counted 13,180 non-raptors, October 19th saw 14,103 and October 31 tallied 15,873!
When counters work, they use binoculars and scopes, and look out over the ridge towards the lake; the birds are coming directly along the shoreline, over the Lakewood Pumping Station. I have witnessed these migrations for the 14 years that we have lived on 71st Avenue East. I contacted local bird expert Laura Erickson, she said she has not doubt there will be some kills at this tower, merely because of its location. I have a very good friend who tells me that in October there are dead birds littering the ground under the Moose Mountain tower. That tower is only 100 feet tall and is not lighted. It is in this migration path and forebodes the possibility that if you put a tower even closer to the lake, we will see collisions by virtue of the proximity in the migration path and the fact that most songbirds migrate at night.
Literally thousands of birds pass over that area every day in the fall, many are rare and decreasing in numbers. Hawk Ridge documented 102 non-raptor species (songbirds etc) in their counts. Of those 102 there is at least one, the Golden Winged Warbler rated near threatened. The Bay Breasted Warbler, Blue Winged Warbler, Canada Warbler, Rusty Blackbird, and Wood Thrush are all listed as vulnerable, and were counted this year. Also sighted are the Boreal Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, and Snow Bunting, all are on the top 20 list of birds with the greatest decline since 1967.
I contacted Bob Russell, from the Saint Paul Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was told that this area is an inappropriate site for a cell tower. He states that this site is "obviously in an area of MAJOR bird migration." and "The most important flyway on the Western Great Lakes."
He encouraged me to fight this. This is an excerpt from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service memo regarding communication towers:
United States Department of Interior
Fish and Wildlife Service
Washington, DC 20240
September 14, 2000
To: Regional Directors
From: Director /s/ Jamie Rappaport Clark
Subject: Service Guidance on the Siting, Construction, Operation and Decommissioning of Communications Towers
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-712) prohibits the taking, killing, possession, transportation, and importation of migratory birds, their eggs, parts, and nests, except when specifically authorized by the Department of the Interior. While the Act has no provision for allowing unauthorized take, it must be recognized that some birds may be killed at structures such as communications towers even if all reasonable measures to avoid it are implemented. The Service's Division of Law Enforcement carries out its mission to protect migratory birds not only through investigations and enforcement, but also through fostering relationships with individuals and industries that proactively seek to eliminate their impacts on migratory birds. While it is not possible under the Act to absolve individuals or companies from liability if they follow these recommended guidelines, the Division of Law Enforcement and Department of Justice have used enforcement and prosecutorial discretion in the past regarding individuals or companies who have made good faith efforts to avoid the take of migratory birds.
(Emphasis added by me)
The memo is a lead in to the Guidelines that the Fish and Wildlife Service developed for the siting of communication towers.
The entire memo and guidelines can be read at: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/CurrentBirdIssues/Hazards/towers/comtow.html
Has the City of Duluth and AT&T made good faith efforts to avoid the take of migratory birds? What will happen when someone calls Fish and Wildlife to report kills at this tower?
This is the from the Fish and Wildlife's guidelines for siting Communication Towers:
4. If at all possible, new towers should be sited within existing "antenna farms" (clusters of towers). Towers should not be sited in or near wetlands, other known bird concentration areas (e.g., state or Federal refuges, staging areas, rookeries), in known migratory or daily movement flyways, or in habitat of threatened or endangered species. Towers should not be sited in areas with a high incidence of fog, mist, and low ceilings.
The question of migration was brought up by the Planning Commission, in the October 13, 2009 Planning Commission minutes: "Vigen asked if there are any special environmental issues like migratory birds. Begley (AT&T representative) said the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says to stay away from strobe lights and guy towers. Reports show no endangerment to endangered species or fauna.
Please note that there was no real answer to migration specifically and no reference to the published guideline that clearly states that towers SHOULD NOT BE SITED in or near wetlands, other known bird concentration areas (e.g., state or Federal refuges, staging areas, rookeries), IN KNOWN MIGRATORY OR DAILY MOVEMENT FLYWAYS, or in habitat of threatened or endangered species. Towers should not be sited in areas with a high incidence of fog, mist, and low ceilings.
So, conveniently the question of migration was dismissed with one of the other guidelines which, to their credit, AT&T has met:
"If collocation is not feasible and a new tower or towers are to be constructed, communications service providers should be strongly encouraged to construct towers no more than 199 feet above ground level (AGL), using construction techniques which do not require guy wires (e.g., use a lattice structure, monopole, etc.). Such towers should be unlighted if Federal Aviation Administration regulations permit."
If someone from Planning or from the City had contacted Fish and Wildlife themselves, they might have chosen a different path. This is a unique area, and should be considered a major migratory path. A lower tower and possibly no lights are just one of the suggestions made by Fish and Wildlife. Accepting the answer from a salesman seems short sighted to me. This proposal never even went to the environmental advisory committee. Documentation in their minutes shows that they took it off their agenda when AT&T pulled the proposal the first time.
On the issue of lighting this tower, the FAA has final authority, and has not made a determination yet on whether this tower will be lighted. Some towers near major highways are required to be lighted. This tower will be very close to highway 61. Mr. Russell at Fish and Wildlife strongly suggested that this tower might end up having to be lighted. Won't the folks at Eastridge development enjoy a white strobe light just out their beautiful picture windows?
Why do I care so much?
Birds are just as important as bees, if we don't have birds to pollinate, spread seeds, eat weeds, bugs, and vermin, life on earth will become quite grim for our children and children's children. In fact, entire ecosystems will fail.
There are 51.3 million birders in the U.S. alone and the number is constantly climbing. Birding watching has exploded into the No. 1 sport in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Those birders expect a community to be responsible for the treasure we have been provided. How will we be regarded when someone begins to document the kills from this tower? It's disgusting to me, that we tout ourselves as a place to come and watch birds. Go to "Visit Duluth", where we advertise the Hawk Ridge migration. Are we too stupid to stop a tower placed in the most significant migration path in the Western Great Lakes? We are not paying attention to the fact that the southern shoreline of Lake Superior has one of the highest densities of low-altitude bird migration in fall anywhere in North America. But we will use the birds to sell hotel rooms to tourists.
Someone needs to ask hard questions about the justification for this tower. Are "the bars" really this important? Is this the only site available? Does the tower have to be 185 feet tall? How many 911 calls are sent over to Wisconsin, and where is the documentation?
I notice that the objective stated by AT&T says, "In some areas you could actually initiate a call on a site that is located in Wisconsin. This could be a 911 call routing problem. If there were an emergency call placed in these areas." (Emphasis added.) Does this mean that it has not actually happened? Is this really mostly about providing 3G network? Is a cell phone or internet service really worth the sacrifice? Shouldn't we wait for a determination from the FAA that this tower will not actually be lighted? Is this tower really going to only provide clear service to a 2.5 mile area? I've owned a home in this area for 32 years, my cheap tracphone works just great from my home and all along this area.
Please, don't let this be another embarrassment to Duluth. The City Clerk has said that anyone from the Council or Administration can ask that another number be assigned to this issue and that it be put back on the agenda at any time in the future. Please get it on the agenda now.
This is one reply I received today:
Thank you for your e-mail. I am comfortable with the council's decision and will not be advocating for a reconsideration.
Respectfully,
Jeff
Jeff Anderson
Duluth City Councilor
P.O. Box 385
Duluth, MN 55801
218.590.5970 Phone
And my reply to him:
Councilor Anderson
Pardon me for saying this, but when you are given the authority to make a decision for the community you should be open to reconsidering issues when it is possible that your decision was flawed. You are rubber stamping towers in our community without holding the companies accountable to prove, using an outside resource at the communication company's expense, that a tower is necessary in a particular spot, or that a tower needs to be the height they are requesting, or that they actually even need the tower.
I'm glad you feel comfortable with your willful disregard of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Guidelines for Siting Towers, that they "should not be sited in known migratory or daily movement flyways"
And I am glad that you are comfortable with your decision to approve this tower in defiance of the Migratory Bird Act.
I get it.
And I'm sure the U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service will be happy to overlook that, since AT&T and decision makers for my City took such pains to avoid doing so. Not.
Enjoy your cell phone, after all...."it's all about the bars!"
Kelly
His arrogant (in my opinion) reply....
| Thank you for your e-mail. Yes, I am still comfortable with my decision. Respectfully, Jeff | ||
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