Posted on 05/29/2014 7:25:08 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is questioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the agency’s decision to prosecute a tree-trimmer who accidentally knocked herons out of a tree.
Ernest Pulido is expected to face charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office within a week for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He could face a maximum fine of $15,000 and six months in jail.
Pulido was hired by the U.S. Postal Service to prune trees May 3 outside an Oakland, Calif., branch, where postal officials were upset with birds pooping on mail trucks.
One branch that Pulido cut contained nesting black-crowned night herons, one of more than 1,000 species of birds protected under the act.
No birds were killed. Five were injured and taken to a bird rescue in Fairfield, where the facility said all would heal and be able to be returned to the wild. One bird suffered a fractured beak while the offers suffered bruises and scrapes. Pulido is currently paying for the birds’ care.
Even though nothing has indicated the tree-trimmer intentionally targeted the birds, Pulido is being referred for prosecution.
“The Committee is concerned that Mr. [Ernesto] Pulido is being subjected to an unfair and unnecessary prosecution because FWS is responding to public pressure to act but does not want to seek redress from a fellow federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service,” Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wrote to Fish and Wildlife Director Daniel Ashe.
“During my time as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, many agencies have failed to take action and the Justice Department has declined or failed to prosecute federal employees for offenses including: receiving thousands of dollars in impermissible gifts from lobbyists; watching pornography on government computers while on the job; operating private businesses from their offices; lying on official timecards for years; and spending outrageous sums of taxpayer dollars at Las Vegas conventions,” he wrote.
“When so many government workers are offered a pass, referring and prioritizing charges against a private citizen for incidental and relatively minor injuries to a non-endangered species – commissioned by a federal agency no less – appears nothing short of bureaucratic bullying.”
Issa’s letter noted the agency’s December decision to allow renewable energy producers lengthier permit periods under which they can “take” — kill, injure or disturb — bald and golden eagle populations.
By Fish and Wildlife’s own estimate, wind turbines cause a total of 33,000 bird deaths each year.
it’s a wonder they didnt string the poor guy up.
perhaps the birds were “members” of OCCUPY Oakland
Ernest Pulido is expected to face charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office within a week for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He could face a maximum fine of $15,000 and six months in jail.
I wonder. Is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service another one of the many government agencies with submachine guns, assault weapons, MRAP's, and other high caliber weapons? If so, Pulido should consider himself lucky.
...and never mind the thousands of eagles being killed by wind farms. They’re dying for “the right reason”.....
The priorities of this administration are truly amazing.
Once again, the post office gets off with being stupid.
The protected birds were nesting of federal property, therefore, it is the federal agency that issued the contract that should be aware of what wildlife habitates that property, on John Q. / Jane Q. Public’s dime.
I know for sure if that happened to me it would be in the ground somewhere. And this will happen over and over by people till the endangered animal is extinct because of tactics like what is happening here in this article.
I remember half seriously discussing placing some deceased endangered species into the crawl space of a house I once rented..to pay back a lunatic landlord...untl I realized the smell would make it far too problematic..
You are also not allowed to harm bats. When I get one flying around in my house and the wife is screaming I just open a door and politely ask it to fly away. Yeah, that’s it. That’s what I do, really.
Windfarms pushed by watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) are killing thousands of birds, including bald eagles.
When do we get to take some congresspeople to jail?
And meanwhile at abortion clinics .....
Our Bureaucrats have become despotic tyrants, they love power...
way too many government employees, with far too much time on their hands
But it’s OK for a federal employee to shoot Barred Owls out west because they are driving out Spotted Owls.
The overlords prosecute because they can. They have free reign to act as they please.
Ernesto chose the wrong profession. He should have been an abortion doctor instead of a tree trimmer.
If a govt agency offered me big bucks to just sweep their sidewalk I would refuse because it might disturb the spotted snot flea habitat, or any one of the thousands of protected critters, and result in fines and jail time.
BTW, who reported the poor guy the FWS, the post office?
You nailed it.
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