Little appreciated until now in the Rock Creek Park-BAM cell tower dispute is the clout of the bird people. I was enlightened to this by an article in the May Audubon Naturalist, a publication of the Audubon Natural Society.
All this time I thought Bell Atlantic Mobile was not allowed to erect two towers in Rock Creek Park because of the National Park Service’s aesthetic concerns.
That’s part of it, but there’s also fear about the potential impact from towers on the critical habitat for neotropical migrants. What a hoot!
Gail Mackiernan, of the Montgomery Chapter of the Maryland Ornithogical Society, made note of this fact at hearings held by the National Capital Planning Commission. NCPC last month voted 8-to-3 against BAM towers in Rock Creek. Bird-watchers and conservationists have been crowing about that one, no doubt.
Mackiernan pointed to author Claudia Wilds’ observation that Rock Creek Park’s west ridge is the “best warbler trap in the city.”
Seems these birds-of-a-feather think nothing of taking on powerful Washington types, like Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and the well-heeled cellular lobby. Tough ol’ birds you might say.
… Questions have arisen about whether the FBI suppressed a government report that concluded early on that the July 1996 fatal crash of TWA Flight 800 was caused by mechanical failure, not by a bomb. That’s interesting because of what then-assistant FBI Director Jim Kallstrom said at the first press conference (on Long Island, N.Y.) shortly following the tragedy.
Kallstrom (the digital wiretap godfather when he was on the FBI’s payroll) made a point of plugging digital wiretaps as a key tool for nabbing the bad guys.
Remember it was July 1996. At that time, Congress had not appropriated any of the $500 million it authorized for digital wiretap upgrades in the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. A TWA mechanical failure does not provide quite the bully pulpit for CALEA as a terrorist strike.
… Why the cellular and computer industries want liability protection: A Birmingham, Ala., jury awarded a family $581 million for being overcharged $1,200 by a finance company for two satellite dishes.
… Peter Tenhula, wireless adviser to FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, has been promoted to senior legal adviser. Tenhula, who’ll continue to work on wireless issues, succeeds Jane Mago. Mago will help set up the new Enforcement Bureau at the FCC.
… Ex-Motorolan Len Kolsky, a wireless pioneer and industry giant, has joined the D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson as ‘of counsel.’
