“We've lost over half of our wetlands, and we have a steep bird decline happening here.”
Marnie Urso is Senior Policy Director for Audubon Great Lakes.
“We are here to talk about policies that can help protect and restore habitats. and make sure that we have a sustainable future for birds, wildlife and Michigan communities.”
Urso led the Advocacy Day discussion at the state Capitol.
“It's budget time, so we're going to be asking for support for robust funding for wetland restoration to help support the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.”
Audubon is also dedicated to long-term actions addressing climate change.
“Things like community energy policy that helps us reduce energy costs, increase reliability and expand access to renewable energy.”
Audubon is requesting the state raise hunting and fishing license fees funding conservation which haven’t increased over the past decade.
Urso says supporting birds supports the whole state.
“Birds are an indicator species. They're telling us there's something that we need to pay attention to. So, we have an opportunity to increase funding for conservation and that's going to help things like reducing flooding in communities by restoring wetlands and increasing habitat, increasing quality of life for communities across the state.”
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