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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 134 / Friday, July 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations the proposed frameworks for the 2021
22 season migratory bird hunting regulations. We have considered all pertinent comments received through March 24, 2021, which includes comments submitted in response to our October 9 and February 22 proposed rulemaking documents and comments from the October SRC meeting. This document establishes final frameworks for migratory bird hunting regulations for the 202122 season and includes no substantive changes from the February 22, 2021, proposed rule except a minor correction see 4. Canada and Cackling Geese, below. We will publish State selections in the Federal Register as amendments to 20.101 through 20.107 and 20.109 of title 50 CFR part 20.

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Population Status and Harvest Each year we publish reports that provide detailed information on the status and harvest of certain migratory game bird species. These reports are available at the address indicated under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or from our website at https
www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/
reports-and-publications/populationstatus.php.
We used the following annual reports published in August 2020 in the development of proposed frameworks for the migratory bird hunting regulations: Adaptive Harvest Management, 2021 Hunting Season;
American Woodcock Population Status, 2020; Band-tailed Pigeon Population Status, 2020; Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest During the 2018
19 and 201920 Hunting Seasons;
Mourning Dove Population Status, 2020;
Status and Harvests of Sandhill Cranes, Mid-continent, Rocky Mountain, Lower Colorado River Valley and Eastern Populations, 2020; and Waterfowl Population Status, 2020.
Our long-term objectives continue to include providing opportunities to harvest portions of certain migratory game bird populations and to limit harvests to levels compatible with each populations ability to maintain healthy, viable numbers. Having taken into account the zones of temperature and the distribution, abundance, economic value, breeding habits, and times and lines of flight of migratory birds, we conclude that the hunting seasons provided for herein are compatible with the current status of migratory bird populations and long-term population goals. Additionally, we are obligated to, and do, give serious consideration to all information received during the public comment period.

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Review of Public Comments and Flyway Council Recommendations The preliminary proposed rulemaking, which appeared in the October 9, 2020, Federal Register, opened the public comment period for migratory game bird hunting regulations and described the proposed regulatory alternatives for the 202122 duck hunting season. Comments and recommendations are summarized below and numbered in the order set forth in the October 9, 2020, proposed rule see 85 FR 64098.
We received recommendations from all four Flyway Councils at the April and October SRC meetings; all recommendations are from the October meeting unless otherwise noted. Some recommendations supported continuation of last years frameworks.
Due to the comprehensive nature of the annual review of the frameworks performed by the Councils, support for continuation of last years frameworks is assumed for items for which no recommendations were received.
Council recommendations for changes in the frameworks are summarized below. As explained earlier in this document, we have included only the numbered items pertaining to issues for which we received recommendations.
Consequently, the issues do not follow in successive numerical order.
General Written Comments: Several commenters protested the entire migratory bird hunting regulations process, protested the killing of all migratory birds, and questioned the status and habitat data on which the migratory bird hunting regulations are based.
Service Response: As we indicated above under Population Status and Harvest, our long-term objectives continue to include providing opportunities to harvest portions of certain migratory game bird populations and to limit harvests to levels compatible with each populations ability to maintain healthy, viable numbers. Sustaining migratory bird populations and ensuring a variety of sustainable uses, including harvest, is consistent with the guiding principles by which migratory birds are to be managed under the conventions between the United States and several foreign nations for the protection and management of these birds. We have taken into account available information and considered public comments and continue to conclude that the hunting seasons provided for herein are compatible with the current status of
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migratory bird populations and longterm population goals. In regard to the regulations process, the Flyway Council system of migratory bird management has been a longstanding example of State-Federal cooperative management since its establishment in 1952 in regulation development process and bird population and habitat monitoring.
However, as always, we continue to seek new ways to streamline and improve the process and ensure adequate conservation of the resource.
1. Ducks A. General Harvest Strategy Council Recommendations: The Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific Flyway Councils recommended adoption of the liberal regulatory alternative for their respective flyways.
Service Response: As we stated in the October 9, 2020, proposed rule, we intend to continue use of Adaptive Harvest Management AHM to help determine appropriate duck-hunting regulations for the 202122 season.
AHM is a tool that permits sound resource decisions in the face of uncertain regulatory impacts and provides a mechanism for reducing that uncertainty over time. We use an AHM
protocol decision framework to evaluate four regulatory alternatives, each with a different expected harvest level, and choose the optimal regulation for duck hunting based on the status and demographics of mallards for the Mississippi, Central, and Pacific Flyways, and based on the status and demographics of a suite of four species eastern waterfowl in the Atlantic Flyway see below, and the earlier referenced report Adaptive Harvest Management, 2021 Hunting Season for more details. We have specific AHM
protocols that guide appropriate bag limits and season lengths for species of special concern, including black ducks, scaup, and pintails, within the general duck season. These protocols use the same outside season dates and lengths as those regulatory alternatives for the 202122 general duck season.
For the 202122 hunting season, we will continue to use independent optimizations to determine the appropriate regulatory alternative for mallard stocks in the Mississippi, Central, and Pacific Flyways and for eastern waterfowl in the Atlantic Flyway. This means that we will develop regulations for mid-continent mallards, western mallards, and eastern waterfowl independently based on the breeding stocks that contributes primarily to each Flyway. We detailed implementation of AHM protocols for
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