UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The vast majority of Pennsylvanians responding to a recent survey conducted by Penn State researchers said they strongly support bird conservation and indicated they believe future efforts will be needed to protect avian species.
But there is good news and bad news in those responses to questionnaires that were part of a study to examine public attitudes toward bird conservation, government involvement in private lands issues and private forest management, according to researcher Melissa Kreye, assistant professor of forest resource management in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
“We were pleased to see participants’ commitment to conservation, but their answers showed little or no recognition of the current situation with birds,” she said. “A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report released earlier this year identified 269 bird species — many of which can be found in Pennsylvania — that are in trouble. As a leader of the National Audubon Society said recently, we are in a ‘bird emergency’ now.”