Ohio's junior senator Rob Portman is for the birds - but in a very, very good way

Ohio’s junior U.S. senator helped lead a bipartisan charge to make life easier for migrating birds on their travels to and from their breeding and wintering grounds.

Senator Rob Portman – a Republican – with Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland to secure the Senate passage of S. 310, the “Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act.”

This important pro-wildlife proposal reauthorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s program to promote “the long-term conservation, education, research, monitoring, and habitat protection for more than 380 species of migratory birds,” Portman said.

“I worked with my colleague Senator Cardin as part of a larger legislation that includes more than 100 public lands, natural resources, and water bills,” Portman said.

S. 310 will invests some $6.5 million annually through 2024 for critical conservation programs that have demonstrated marked successes through public-private partnerships and innovative granting and conservation strategies, Portman says.

In noting that hundreds of migrating birds pass through Ohio twice annually, Portman also says that the Lake Erie shoreline is one of the nation’s most popular destinations for birdwatching. 

Ohio is also home to the annual “Biggest Week in American Birding”, based at Maumee Bay State Park. The week-long event brings in more than 75,000 people each year.

Consequently, Portman says, birding – a term that many people still call “bird watching” - contributes more than $20 million to Ohio’s tourism industry and attracts visitors from across the world each year.

“Protecting and conserving these bird populations is critically important, and I am pleased the Senate approved this bipartisan legislation. I’m looking forward to this legislation being signed by President Trump very soon,” Portman said.

Cardin agrees, saying that migratory birds “play a crucial role in our ecosystems, our agriculture, and our national and local cultures.”

“The programs funded by the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act have consistent track record of success in helping to sustain populations of migratory birds that face threats to their health and habitats,” Cardin said

Even so, both Portman and Cardin cautioned that migratory birds continue to face a host of environmental threats. These issues range from pesticide pollution, deforestation, urban and suburban sprawl, and invasive species that degrade their habitats.

Additionally, S. 310 will reauthorize the “Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act” which supports 570 projects in 36 countries. Since 2002, more than $66 million in grants have been awarded through this program with more than 4.5 million acres of habitat being positively impacted throughout the Americas, Portman said.

“In 2018 alone, more than $3.8 million in federal funds were matched by more than $14.2 million in partner contributions going to 29 collaborative conservation projects in 16 countries across the Americas,” Portman said.

And Cardin said as well that the reauthorization measure marks the nation’s continued commitment “to improving our environment and investing in the flora and fauna that help our communities grow and thrive.”

Last year, Portman received the Audubon Society’s Conservation Hero award for his work to protect migratory birds and their habitats.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net