Wednesday 7 July 2010

Gulf Farmers Asked to Flood Fields for Migrating Birds - LA Times

This is a pretty cool idea. A federal conservation agency is offering to pay landowners in the Gulf states to flood their fields, in hopes that birds will choose to nest in these areas instead of those that are currently contaminated with oil.

"Landowners would be expected to flood fields and promote the growth of vegetation favored by migratory birds, or to enhance existing wetlands on their properties, for three to five years, said NRCS spokeswoman Chris Coulon. Rice fields and fish farms are particularly suited to the initiative."

Three to five years is a good start. At first I thought this was only for the current season, but obviously the effects of the oil spill will be felt for years to come. I imagine it will take longer to fully clean the area, but hopefully this initiative will be met with success and the program can grow.

"None of this is guaranteed to work," Butcher said. "We're expecting that this will work at least a little bit. We're hoping that it'll help a lot."

Full article here (LA Times)

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