Tell Congress to Protect Bird Habitat in Our Communities

Every spring and fall, migratory birds move along our stretch of coast. Sandpipers work the tide line at low water, warblers pass through the spruce, and the whole shoreline gets a little busier for a few weeks. Across North America, though, those flocks are thinning. We have lost billions of birds in recent decades, mostly to one thing: lost habitat.

The hopeful part is that we already know something that works. The Urban Bird Treaty Program has helped cities across the country restore habitat, cut down on window collisions, and bring migratory birds back into the places people actually live. When a community invests in habitat, the birds come back.

The Local Communities and Bird Habitat Stewardship Act builds on that. It expands funding and grants so that Tribal nations and smaller communities, places like ours, can restore and create bird-friendly habitat where it is needed most. And the payoff reaches well past the birds. Green space cools our towns, cleans the air, soaks up floodwater, and gives people somewhere to breathe. Birdwatching on its own adds more than 100 billion dollars to the U.S. economy every year.

Congress is deciding whether to back it. A signature from you helps tip that decision.