We must take prompt and aggressive action in this regard; we must be 

 prepared to do so without waiting to be asked or called upon. We must be 

 ready to tell people that there is a problem and that we want these things 

 to be done to resolve the problem. After all, no one else knows more about 

 the problems of oil spills, birds and their habitats--we are involved because 

 the Service has the knowledge and the responsibility. We must be prepared 

 to assert ourselves and to move ahead promptly to take those actions that 

 will save the resources. 



Lynn Greenwalt, FWS director, has asked me to reiterate his very strong 

 feeling about this. We must recognize that the oil spill problem is here 

 to stay and that ours will be a continuing key role in these matters. We 

 simply must do our job: we must work at preplanning, and we must keep those 

 plans current and active. We must respond promptly, skillfully, and aggressively 

 when there is a problem. This is a new kind of activity for us, and, sad 

 to say, is likely to become a routine one. It just will not go away. Neither 

 the Director nor I— nor the public—will settle for anything less than a 

 fully professional, maximum effort in this area. 



The Service's coordinator is directly responsible to the Coast Guard 

 or EPA OSC during a spill response and should maintain close contact with 

 him until the RRT is deactivated and field operations are terminated. One 

 other important point in regard to use of the Federal revolving fund to 

 purchase supplies or to make other expenditures during a spill response: 

 prior approval must first be obtained from the OSC, regardless of whether 

 the Service or the State liaison is making the purchase. In the past, purchases 

 have been made without prior approval, and the purchasing agency has been 

 left holding the bag for the bills. Should such problems arise, this should 

 not preclude our involvement if an emergency exists. I suggest FWS personnel 

 take whatever action they, in their judgment, believe is needed. 



I have just a few words on the subject of bird cleaning and rehabilita- 

 tion. This is something foreign to many of us, even disdainful to some, 

 who routinely deal with wildlife on a population level, rather than concerning 

 ourselves with individual birds and the emotional feelings that oil-covered 

 birds evoke in many people. Salvage and treatment of oiled birds will ordinarily 

 have little biological significance, although it may have under certain cir- 

 cumstances, such as when an endangered or other species of precarious status 

 is involved. Certainly, preventing these birds from entering a spill site 

 is much more effective than trying to save them after they are contaminated. 

 However, techniques are available that may result in reasonably high success 

 for bird cleaning—over 30 to 50 percent survival to release into the wild 

 under certain circumstances and when applied by experienced people. Beyond 

 the probability of success or failure, however, oiled birds probably attract 

 as much public attention and consternation as the spill itelf, and equally 

 as much public consternation over the lack of Federal action to try to salvage 

 oiled birds. 



Regardless of the biological significance of treating oil-soaked birds, 

 be it great or small, the Service is obliged, and the public and Congress 

 demand, that we take whatever actions are necessary to coordinate bird collection 

 and treatment activities. To be insensitive to this human aspect is to ignore 

 a direct and specifically stated responsibility of the Service under the 

 National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. Again, 



