Project Safe Passage Update

The Safe Passage Great Lakes Program has been making steady, if slow progress over the Fall and Winter months. Among the highlights are the following:

Development of an attractive logo design, thanks to the efforts of Rosemarie Attilio, who also has designed and printed the first set of our Certificates of Recognition for the current Honor Roll. The awards have been framed and are ready for delivery as appropriate.

We now have an impressive display board thanks to the efforts of a number of committee members who assembled at the Charbonneau residence on a cold winter Sunday.

DAS was honored at the Michigan Audubon Annual Meeting in Lansing with an award in recognition of the Safe Passage effort. The award, a framed print of Caspian Terns, was presented to DAS President Richard Quick, who was accompanied by Safe Passage Committee Secretary Doris Applebaum, and Fred Charbonneau. Richard was also a member of a panel who addressed the issues of Environmental threats faced by birds and other wildlife.

MAS' Keith Harrison presents the Michigan Audubon Bird Conservation Award to DAS President Richard Quick and Safe Passage Great Lakes committee members Fred Charbonneau and Doris Applebaum

The Michigan Audubon membership approved a resolution requesting the Governor and Legislature to enact legislation permanently designating the spring and fall migration dates as Safe Passage Great Lakes Days.

Rochelle Breitenbach, Safe Passage Committee Chair, made PowerPoint presentations to Southeast Michigan Sierra Club, a group of concerned Oakland County leaders, and DTE employees at a special luncheon event. She also accompanied the display to a Clinton River Watershed Council event, and as a result, we hope to receive their endorsement.

Governor Jennifer Granholm has reissued her proclamation of Safe Passage Great Lakes Days for the third year.

Doris Applebaum, Fred Charbonneau, and Frank Zaski attended a hearing in Lansing on HR89, Rep. Lisa Wojno’s resolution in support of Safe Passage. Rep. Rebekah Warren, Committee Chair, supported the resolution which passed by an 8-2 vote, with 5 abstentions. The Legislature recessed for the Easter Holiday. Hopefully it will have passed the resolution by the time you read this.

Jonathan Walton is leading the effort to produce a brochure for spreading the word about the Safe Passage program. DTE Energy has generously offered to underwrite the printing of ten thousand copies, a portion of which will be distributed to DTE employees.

DAS will have a Safe Passage display table at the annual BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Vendors Fair at no cost, thanks to BOMA Administration.

Doris Applebaum, Jonathan Walton and Frank Zaski attended an event in Monroe which attracted representatives of numerous environmental groups. They took the display and copies of some of our Safe Passage informational flyers. The display attracted a continuous stream of visitors and the flyers disappeared as fast as they were put out.

Governor Granholm’s proclamation, designating March 15 to May 31 and August 15 to October 31 as Safe Passage Great Lakes days, was reissued for 2008.

The City of Southfield issued a resolution of support for Project Safe Passage, encouraging business owners, building owners and property owners to cooperate with the program.

State Rep. Lisa Wojno of Warren introduced House Res. 89, a resolution in support of the program. HR89 is in the Great Lakes and Environment Committee, chaired by Rep. Rebekah Warren. We are hoping for Senate sponsorship, but have not yet received confirmation from Sen. Olshove.

During a night drive through downtown Detroit in early June, I was encouraged by the number of buildings that were dark above the lower stories, but display lights on some of the roofs are still a problem that needs to be addressed.

By the time you receive this, the fall migration will be in progress. While we have achieved a measure of success in our efforts, much remains to be done. According to Winging It (the newsletter of the American Birding Association), Jonathan White Jr. of the American Museum of Natural History, after studying specimens brought to the museum over several years, has concluded that many more dead birds were found during autumn than during spring migration. We need to keep this in mind as we move forward to educate and motivate our membership and the public to get involved in making the changes needed to stop the needless loss of so many migrating species.

Although the success of the ‘lights out’ aspect of Safe Passage will mark a significant milestone on the road to the larger task before us, major hazards such as communication towers, windmills and clear glass in our homes and office buildings will need to be addressed, as Dr. Klem and Dr. Gehring have demonstrated with their pioneering research efforts.

The loss of habitat will continue to be a leading cause of the alarming decline in avian populations. Feral and domestic ‘outdoor’ cats account for as many avian fatalities as the other threats. We need the support of our membership to help monitor compliance and motivate their friends and colleagues to participate in making our environment safe for future generations of our fellow creatures as well as our own species. Please consider volunteering in this effort.

Safe Passage By Joe Bartell

Appeal to building owners

Sierra Club Endorsement

DAS Receives Safe Passage award

From Michigan Audubon

Proclamation of support from Governor Grandholm

Project Safe Passage Flyer--What You Can Do

Jackson Citizen Patriot 4-28-2008

Birmingham Eccentric 3-18-07

Window Alert static cling decals.

PROJECT SAFE PASSAGE

Project Safe Passage Great Lakes is off to a good start. Our goal for the project is to persuade the operators of tall buildings to turn off the lights between 11:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. during the spring and fall migration periods. To this end, we have approached individual building managers, city and county elected officials, corporate officers and associations. In the brief period since we started, a number of successes have encouraged us.

Governor Granholm has issued a proclamation designating the periods of March 15 through May 31 and August 15 through October 31 as Safe Passage Great Lakes Days.

Return to top

Safe Passage Great Lakes Honor Roll

The following buildings have agreed to implement Project Safe Passage Great Lakes by turning out their lights between the hours of 11:00 P.M. and Dawn during the fall and spring migration periods. It should be noted that certain lights may not be turned off due to circumstances beyond the control of the operators, such as code requirements or tenant rights.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan

Brewery Park

Buhl Building

Building Owners and Managers Association of Metropolitan Detroit (BOMA)

City of Mt. Clemens

City of Southfield

Chrysler World Headquarters and Technology Center

Coleman A. Young Municipal Building
Detroit Opera Company

DTE Energy
Ford Motor Company

Macomb County Board of Commissioners
State of Michigan Government Buildings

If you live or work where you can monitor compliance or can contact your building management or draw your own blinds at night, please contact the DAS office by phone (248) 354-4960, by mail (26080 Berg Rd. Southfield, MI 48033), or by e-mail (detas@bignet.net) and leave your contact information. We’ll be in touch.

Links with more information:

FLAP--Fatal Light Awareness Program

National Public Radio--Windows: A Clear Danger to Birds

National Audubon--Minimizing Window Collisions

National Audubon--Clear and Present Danger

National Audubon--Birds vs. Windows

Birds and Buildings--Information and Resources

Terrain.org--A Building Less Bright

CNN--Glass windows an 'indiscriminate' bird killer

Return to top