Letter to the Editor - from Bonnie Datwyler

My daughter Ciara, age 5, spotted ospreys building their nest over three weeks ago on a PG&E pole top on Copper Cove Drive just past Sawmill. Everyday on our way to and from school we would watch the progress! Ciara loves wildlife and really all animals. She has made donations to save the tiger for all of her five years. She knows the difference between ospreys, hawks, eagles, egrets, blue herons and more of all the birds around where we live. We also get such enjoyment of the eagles and Lorenz nesting on platforms around lake Tulloch.

So I called PGE to put up a platform for the birds to both protect the birds and the lines about a week and a half ago. Instead we were devastated to find the nest torn down with fluff and grass inside. Those birds had been nesting. I then called Channel Three on my side, and PGE. We were angry that this was done backwards. Instead of protecting the birds by placing the platform and then moving the nest, they chose to tear it down. The excuse given by Sal @ Angels Camp PGE was to site safety to line and bird. However, since the new platform was to be put up there was no reason they could not have waited the one day it took to install the platform and transferred the nest instead of tearing it down!!!!! So the day of the tear down my daughter drew this heartbreaking picture!

three weeks ago

nest remains on the ground

osprey perching on the next pole

According to the PG&E website they claim that, "Through an innovative Avian Protection Plan, PG&E is working with groups like the Ventana Wildlife Society to reduce the risk that overhead wires and electrical equipment pose to birds, such as the California condor and bald eagles. PG&E adopted this voluntary, proactive plan when the company's related agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expired. PG&E's plan has set the standard for our industry and is one of the most comprehensive in the nation."
I hope this is not an example of how the Aviation Protection Plan is supposed to work.