American Tower understands the parameters of the law as it relates to “kill” or depredation permits. Specifically, our Environmental team understands certain federal and state wildlife management agencies will, in some cases, issue a permit for the total destruction of an active nest along with the eggs or flightless young. Due to the timeframe required for state or federal agencies to review permit applications, it may be more efficient to wait for nesting season to end.
While the practice of issuing depredation permits for the total destruction of an active nest and the birds associated with the nest falls within the wildlife management scheme of certain federal and state wildlife management agencies, American Tower does not support destruction of birds or viable eggs associated with any active nests on our sites. We will not consciously kill wildlife in the course of operating, maintaining and modifying sites we operate. If a customer determines that failure to complete their work while the nest is active may pose a significant risk to either human health and safety or wildlife health and safety, the customer may choose to apply for a depredation permit to complete the necessary work during nesting season. A copy of the permit would need to be provided to our Environmental team before the start of work.