THE LEAFLET

As we all know, Casey Trees is dedicated to restoring the canopy of the nation’s capital to 40% by 2032 – but with the restored canopy comes a huge responsibility and commitment to keeping DC green. An expanded canopy not only provides immense health benefits to people, but it allows for local wildlife to thrive with reliable resources to food and shelter. 

More than 300 bird species have been reported on eBird in Washington, D.C., and while you may not initially think of a bustling city as a great spot for birding – the District is actually right in the path of the Atlantic Flyway. (One of the four migratory paths birds take every year!)  

Not to mention, helping trees helps birds – and helping birds helps trees! The two have a symbiotic relationship where trees provide food and habitat while birds provide seed dissemination, pollination, and pest control. 

As we expand our canopy here in DC, more birds will be drawn to the city as they make their way down south. An estimated 365-988 million birds die from building collisions in the U.S. each year; however, these deaths are largely preventable. Without Bird Safe Buildings, the District becomes a hazard to birds, leaving them to be killed due to collisions, especially with the many glass facades we have downtown. 

A new bill in DC could dramatically reduce the horrible experience of birds colliding into buildings mid-flight. The Migratory Local Wildlife Protection Act of 2022 will require buildings to use bird-safe construction materials, mitigating the immense risk of flying into glass. Please, voice your support by reaching out to your Councilmember/Ward representative. Custom messages are even MORE powerful—feel free to use and modify the template below to share why you want DC to protect our feathered friends. 

Template Email to for the Migratory Local Wildlife Protection Act:

Addresses:
Ward 1 – Brianne Naduau – bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Ward 2 – Brooke Pinto – bpinto@dccouncil.us
Ward 3 – Mary Cheh – mcheh@dccouncil.us
Ward 4 – Janeese Lewis George – jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.us
Ward 5 – Kenyan McDuffie – kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
Ward 6 – Charles Allen – callen@dccouncil.us
Ward 7 – Vince Gray – vgray@dccouncil.us
Ward 8 – Trayon White – twhite@dccouncil.us 

Subject: I Support the Local Migratory Wildlife Act 

As a DC resident and voter I am writing to express my support for the Migratory Local Wildlife Protection Act of 2022. This bill is urgently needed to protect the countless birds who collide with buildings in DC every year. Sadly, most of the birds involved in these collisions die. These traumatic building collisions are preventable – passing this bill will have benefits for biodiversity, the welfare of the birds, and the community members who witness bird strikes across the District. 

Here are some of the reasons I support this bill: 

• Building collisions are one of the top man-made killers of birds in the US. Birds do not see the glass and will fly into it–up to 1 billion birds are killed every year in the US through such collisions. 
• Over 700 cases of building collisions were documented in downtown DC alone in 2021, a rise of 250% since a decade prior. 
• The extra cost for bird-friendly design is small–and often zero if bird-friendly features such as louvers or screens are included in a building for other reasons. Scientists and manufacturers have also developed many bird-safe glass products that add typically no more than one-tenth to one-half percent of construction cost. 

The rapid increase in construction of new glass buildings has exacerbated the bird collision problem and warrants a swift response–the situation only gets worse with each new glass building. Please join New York City, San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, the states of Illinois and Minnesota, and the many other jurisdictions that already have laws in place to implement bird-safe building design: pass DC’s Migratory Local Wildlife Act of 2022 now! 

Thank you, 

<your name>