Photo: Indiana Audubon’s Project Owlnet banding station at the Indiana Dunes by Nicholas Jones.
Indiana Audubon opposes the proposal to eliminate the U.S. Geological Survey’s Ecosystems Mission Area, including the shutdown of the federal Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL).
Our mission is to connect people to birds through conservation, education, and research. Every part of that depends on the tools and data the BBL provides. The BBL is the backbone of most bird science in the United States. It is the only place where banders get authorized, get bands, and upload their datasets. There is no backup system.
This isn’t just a line item in the federal budget. It would immediately halt all bird banding nationwide. That means no new permits or modifications, no new bands, no access to the database, and no system for coordinating research. These cuts would leave organizations like ours with no way to legally or logistically continue bird conservation efforts that rely on banding and data sharing.
These programs are anything but abstract. The same kind of bird banding that once helped recover Bald Eagles and Kirtland’s Warblers under the Endangered Species Act still powers conservation today. Our Project Owlnet (fall Northern Saw-whet Owl banding) and Chasing Melody (Wood Thrush tracking) programs are modern examples, providing critical insight into migration, habitat use, and population trends. Without the BBL, we lose not only the ability to continue this work, but also key early warning tools to detect avian disease and protect both wildlife and agriculture. Science-based conservation starts with infrastructure like this.
We support calls from across the conservation community to reverse this decision. We encourage our members and partners to speak up, and we urge Congress to restore funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Ecosystems Mission Area and keep this core function of wildlife science intact.
Tags: advocacy chasing melody project owlnet
