If a State or Tribe must enter private property to access State and Tribal lands or waters where take is approved in their permit, the State or Tribe must obtain authorization from the private property owner, and require that the private property owner or occupant provide free and unrestricted access. Some commenters recommended no management of the conflict, or managing the conflict with nonlethal management methods only. Similarly, some commenters also submitted additional data considerations and analyses. We provided all attendees of all webinars with information on the following topics regarding cormorants, their management, and the regulations process: (1) Biology and population changes; (2) background of the issues and previous management approaches; (3) current management of conflicts; (4) proposed approaches and alternatives; and (5) the planning process for the NEPA analysis. The U.S. The MBTA protects over 800 species including geese, ducks, shorebirds, NC restrictions on Rabies Vector Species Bats, foxes, raccoons, skunks and coyotes cannot be rehabilitated in NC. Commenters assert that the Service failed to demonstrate how States and Tribes would satisfy the requirement that people first use nonlethal methods to address conflicts. Take of double-crested cormorants under this section may not exceed the number authorized by the permit. That agency further asked about possible ramifications of opting out of the permit system, and if there will still be a mechanism by which a State can address wild fishery conflicts with cormorants. Journal of Wildlife Management 83:272-282. documents in the last year, 105 Some commenters also requested the Service specify permit conditions to protect nontarget and federally listed species. 13132. Of the 1,047 public comments submitted in response to the proposed rule and DEIS, we received 49 comments from the following entities in response to the DEIS that address the information collection requirements: As mentioned previously, we incorporate by reference comments and our responses in the 2020 FEIS associated with this rulemaking action, and address below those comments directly relevant to this rule. ), (c) habitat management (e.g., vegetative barriers, grass management, prey management, etc. Box 709 . Birds may be euthanized by cervical dislocation, CO2 asphyxiation, or other methods recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Lethal take may occur by firearm in accordance with paragraph (d)(1)(iv) of this section or lethal or live traps. The Service also wants to ensure accountability not only in determining allowable take, but also in reporting of actual take by permittees. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (16 U.S.C. on The season is based on criteria established by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. No formal requests for government-to-government consultations were submitted in response to this rulemaking. States and Tribes applying for the first time must consult with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services for an assessment of the appropriate level of take and provide recommendations of short-term measures to provide relief from depredation and long-term measures to help eliminate or significantly reduce conflicts. Specifically, the Service authorized approximately 2,300 cormorants to be lethally taken each year under depredation permits, scientific collecting permits, and special purpose permits. Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official Commenters also requested clarity on the type of nonlethal control methods the Service expects permittees to use. The conflicts with these Start Printed Page 85540managed fisheries are increasingly causing concerns with State and Tribal fish and wildlife agencies, particularly those involved with providing recreational fishing opportunities. Other damage control methods of take consistent with accepted wildlife damage management programs may be authorized. One State agency commented seeking clarification on implementation of nonlethal methods as well, stating that such a request is not feasible since the geographic distribution of State and Tribal fish hatcheries is too broad and each hatchery is taken on a case-by-case basis. Environmental assessment for issuing depredation permits for double-crested cormorant management. This take can include any migratory birds -- except for eagles and threatened and endangered species. Avery, B.F. Blackwell, and M.D. documents in the last year, by the Federal Communications Commission 3. Anyone undertaking lethal control with a firearm must use nontoxic shot or nontoxic bullets (50 CFR 20.21). It is not an official legal edition of the Federal This prototype edition of the As the Federal regulatory wildlife agency, the U.S. Comments and our responses pertaining to information collection are also set forth below in this document in Required Determinations, under Paperwork Reduction Act, as a majority of those comments pertained to information collection issues. Assessing allowable take of migratory birds. Management of cormorants in the western United States (Western population, P. albociliatus) is also through site-specific, case-by-case permits. Lethal take of adults during the breeding season should occur prior to hatching of eggs. Box 25486, DFC 60154 Denver, CO 80225-0486 CORE Project Number 19-004 . (See below for more Form 37 information.). 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking will not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any given year on local or State government or private entities. If in the future the Service is sufficiently able to track and monitor illegal take across the broad geographic scale represented in the PTL, then this data can be counted against PTL. This PDF is The Service anticipates the unintentional take of nontarget species will occur infrequently and involve very few individuals of a particular species. The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. better and aid in comparing the online edition to the print edition. USFWS. You can find addresses for the Regional Directors in 50 CFR 2.2. As described previously, the bird-management community generally accepts that there are five different breeding populations: The Alaska, Pacific (Western), Interior, Atlantic, and Southern populations. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center—Bird Population Studies. ).”, With regard to the question in the FWS Form 3-200-90, Permit Application, and the language requesting, “A statement indicating what information will be collected to assess whether the management and take of double-crested cormorants is alleviating the damage or other conflict,” the Service revised this language as well. Permittees would be restricted to maximum levels of take authorized, designed not to exceed the PTL within the subpopulation where the State or Tribe is located. Lethal take may occur by firearm in accordance with paragraph (5) above or lethal or live traps. Therefore, this particular State requested 150 cormorant depredation permits, regardless of the management alternative selected, to better manage cormorant populations at its State hatchery facilities. States, Tribes, their employees, and subpermittees may not sell, offer for sale, barter, or ship for the purpose of sale or barter any double-crested cormorants taken under this section or their parts or eggs. 16. 2012, Zimmerman et al. An Intra-Service ESA Section 7 consultation Biological Evaluation (ESA BE) was completed to assess if any proposed, threatened, or endangered species or associated critical habitat would be affected by cormorant control. ), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA; 5 U.S.C. Agency Response to Geographic and Temporal Scope Comments: The new permit would be available to all States and federally recognized Tribes in the contiguous 48 States. Since November 2017, permits have been available only to address conflicts with aquaculture, human health and safety, threatened and endangered species, and personal property; take of cormorants to protect wild and publicly managed fisheries has not been authorized unless warranted to protected threatened or endangered species. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 protects over 1,000 migratory bird species across the United States by making it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter or offer for sale, purchase or barter, any migratory bird (or part of one), or a migratory bird nest or egg, without a valid permit. A higher threshold for annual take associated with this regulation will yield benefits to the aquaculture industry and others in need of individual depredation permits. By authorizing conflict-management activities at the State or Tribal level, instead of at the Department of the Interior Regional level, management activities will be more responsive and timely than is currently the case. One State agency asked how much potential new monitoring or reporting a State would have to agree to, and the amount of time and resources that would need to be invested. Allocation and Scope of Authorized Take: Several commenters submitted questions pertaining to how the Service would manage overall allocation of authorized take of cormorants. The conditions that dictate this outcome are often site-specific and variable throughout any given year. IMPORTANT! Atlantic Flyway Council and Mississippi Flyway Council. It protects over 1,000 species of migratory birds across the United States and makes it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter or offer for sale, purchase or barter, any migratory bird (or part of one), or a migratory bird nest or egg, without a valid permit. By establishing an annual sustainable take threshold, and ensuring systems are in place to keep take below that threshold, the Service will implement the robust tool needed to assess the effects of take on cormorant populations to address potential legal challenges. The new permit coupled with the continued use of individual depredation permits for commercial aquaculture producers would provide the accountability and flexibility to manage cormorants while ensuring populations are managed sustainably and take is authorized in an equitable fashion across multiple conflicts. Dear Jeremy: This is a maximum allowable annual take level, not a prescribed level. We arranged the comments addressing the information collections by overarching themes and provide a synopsis of the comments related to each theme, along with the Service's response to each theme, as indicated below: Several State agencies and organizations commented on the need for funding and technical support to implement a new State-wide special permit as described in the preferred alternative. Lastly, the Mississippi and Pacific Flyway Councils also commented that Federal financial support may be needed to manage reporting and monitoring and the ability to administer a cormorant depredation program. This State agency also inquired as to whether they should apply for and receive 150 permits. The Public Resource Depredation Order enabled States, Tribes, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services in 24 States, without the need for individual depredation permits, to take cormorants found committing or about to commit, and to prevent, depredations on the public resources of fish (including hatchery stock at Federal, State, and Tribal facilities), wildlife, plants, and their habitats. Those States and Tribes interested in obtaining the new permit would likely have staff and resources in place with dedicated duties falling within the scope of conflicts associated with cormorants. 1536(a)(1)). The new permit also provides States and Tribes with the ability to address conflicts between cormorants and wild and publicly stocked fish managed by State fish and wildlife agencies or federally recognized Tribes, which was not previously available to them under the scope of individual depredation permits per 50 CFR 21.41. 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