Bird Seed Tax not at all Birdbrained

Scott Lukens, owner of the Backyard Bird Shop chain, estimates that nine out of every 10 customers who visit his stores come to buy birdseed.

So it's no shock that Lukens is getting calls from suppliers and customers about his support for House Bill 3374, which would impose a 5-cent tax on every pound of seed sold in Oregon.

Lukens' callers want to know whether he's serious -- a polite, bird-watching community way of asking whether he's lost his meadowlark-loving mind: "The point they make is that this is my business and it will have a direct affect on my business."

Oregon could use more of Lukens' brand of crazy. Plenty of special-interest groups want more money for their programs and projects. Few are willing to say: "This is important. So tax us." 

"My customers and I have the largest vested interest in making sure we don't lose our birds," said Lukens, a soft-spoken man who founded his small chain 20 years ago. "This isn't a lot of money, but it could do a lot of good."

Through licenses and other fees, hunters and fishermen already pay to help protect ducks and other game birds. But the amount Oregon spends on nongame birds -- bluebirds, finches, rufous hummingbirds and other winged creatures that are more fun to watch than shoot -- totals less than 2 percent of the state's annual wildlife budget. In recent years, researchers have reported noticeable drops in several species, including Oregon's state bird, the western meadowlark.

"It's much more expensive to help birds after they're declared endangered," said Bob Sallinger, the Audubon Society of Portland's conservation director.

Read the whole Oregonian article