Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

$40G per bird? California cormorants refuse to budge from bridge slated for demolition
Fox News ^ | November 10, 2014 | Claudia Cowan

Posted on 11/10/2014 2:22:53 PM PST by jazusamo

Video at link.

Now that a crucial section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been replaced by a new $6.4 billion span, nobody needs it anymore -- nobody except about 800 birds who call the decrepit, 78-year-old segment home.

The double-breasted cormorants - protected, though not endangered - have nested along the bridge for decades, and have so far shown no interest in relocating to the shiny new section that replaced the eastern section of the famed bridge. Officials have tried pricey decoys, bird recordings and even specially-made nests installed underneath the new span to lure them roughly 100 feet next door. The effort to demolish the old section, damaged 25 years ago in the massive Loma Prieta earthquake, is being held up by the birds' unwillingness to move, and critics, who say the delays could cost taxpayers $33 million, are crying fowl.

"They're spending $33 million to get rid of these 800 birds - that comes out to about $40,000 a bird- that's more money than most people in the United States make in a given year!" said Brian Sussman, a conservative radio talk show host in San Francisco.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: baybridge; cormorants; demolition; protected; sanfranscisco
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last
Unbelievable...They're not on the endangered species list, just federally protected.

Demolish the bridge and the smart ones will move and survive.

1 posted on 11/10/2014 2:22:53 PM PST by jazusamo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

Birds are not stupid like Democrats. They will move to a new place, not sit and wait for someone to give them one.....................


2 posted on 11/10/2014 2:27:03 PM PST by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo
They need to develop a new government program that will be just as successful as an obamacare website or affirmative action.
3 posted on 11/10/2014 2:29:09 PM PST by immadashell (The inmates are running the asylum.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

They are an invasive, imported species,
and should NOT be protected.


4 posted on 11/10/2014 2:29:51 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tilted Irish Kilt

Do they taste good?


5 posted on 11/10/2014 2:31:04 PM PST by meatloaf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: george76; Flycatcher

You gotta see this.


6 posted on 11/10/2014 2:32:05 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: meatloaf
meatloaf:" Do they taste good?"

Only if you like your chicken to tast like fish .
That's all they eat : fish and minnows
The better tasting ones can be found in freshwater !

7 posted on 11/10/2014 2:34:54 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

8 posted on 11/10/2014 2:37:43 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tilted Irish Kilt

They are extremely invasive and have a huge appetite. They can wipe out a stock pond in a few days.

Btw, they’re double crested cormorants, not double breasted. I tend to like things that are the latter.


9 posted on 11/10/2014 2:38:22 PM PST by Smellin Salt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

Spending $33 million of taxpayer money is just the entry cost, then another $12 million more per year .

No wonder we are broke.


10 posted on 11/10/2014 2:40:22 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

Where’s their EBT cards and Social Security???

Cry fowl!


11 posted on 11/10/2014 2:41:33 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo
“Unbelievable...They're not on the endangered species list, just federally protected.”

Yeah, just up around the corner on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River they jacked up the price of a new toll crossing a couple of hundred million with "special mitigation efforts" to "protect" the migrating Salmon from the "effects" of the pile driving for the bridge' footings

12 posted on 11/10/2014 2:41:49 PM PST by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

Exactly, and if this plays out like they’re saying the true cost may well be double that much or more.


13 posted on 11/10/2014 2:42:54 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: vette6387

Crony socialism disguised as environmentalism, plain and simple.


14 posted on 11/10/2014 2:48:04 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

Government has literally gone to the birds.

Its more bird-brained than the cormorants its been trying to evict.

It would be a laughing matter if it wasn’t so stupid.


15 posted on 11/10/2014 2:48:46 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

Slicing up actually endangered birds of prey with “green” wind farms? Perfectly OK.

Tearing down this bridge (they’d move)? Not so much.

Got it. /bizarro world...


16 posted on 11/10/2014 2:51:08 PM PST by piytar (So....you are saying that Hilllary (and Obola) do not know what the meaning of the word "IS" IS?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: goldstategop

Stupidity is the right word but to be expected from BS bureaucrats.


17 posted on 11/10/2014 2:52:35 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: meatloaf

They taste like a cross between Bald Eagle and Spotted Owl.


18 posted on 11/10/2014 2:55:52 PM PST by Portcall24
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

They’ll move when they set off the charges.


19 posted on 11/10/2014 3:02:46 PM PST by TigersEye (ISIS is the tip of the spear. The spear is Islam.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

I’m pretty sure that if you take the old bridge down the cormorants are going to go somewhere.


20 posted on 11/10/2014 3:09:09 PM PST by DoodleDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson