Je veux savoir à propos de…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Proposed Rule our website at https www.fws.gov/
birds/management/flyways.php. We announced the April SRC meeting in the April 9, 2020, Federal Register 84 FR
14130. The October 9, 2020, proposed rule provided detailed information on the proposed 202122 regulatory schedule and announced the October SRC meeting. The SRC conducted an open meeting with the Flyway Council Consultants on April 28, 2020, to discuss preliminary issues for the 2021
22 regulations, and on October 2021, 2020, to review information on the current status of migratory game birds and develop recommendations for the 202122 regulations for these species.
This supplemental proposed rule provides the regulatory alternatives for the 202122 duck hunting season, and provides proposed frameworks for the 202122 migratory bird hunting season.
It will lead to final frameworks from which States may select season dates, shooting hours, areas, and limits. We have considered all pertinent comments received through October 2020, which includes comments submitted in response to our October 9 proposed rulemaking document and comments from the October SRC meeting. In addition, new proposals for certain regulations are provided for public comment. The comment period is specified above under DATES. We anticipate publishing final regulatory frameworks for migratory game bird hunting in the Federal Register around February 2021.

tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS2

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.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

20:28 Feb 19, 2021

Jkt 253001

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. Migratory game bird hunting seasons provide opportunities for recreation and sustenance, and aid Federal, State, and Tribal governments in the management of migratory game birds. 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 proposed hunting seasons provided for herein are compatible with the current status of migratory bird populations and longterm population goals. Additionally, we are obligated to, and do, give serious consideration to all information received during the public comment period.
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 used in the October 9, 2020, proposed rule see 85 FR 64097.
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.
We seek additional information and comments on the recommendations in this supplemental proposed rule. New proposals and modifications to previously described proposals are discussed below. Wherever possible, they are discussed under headings
PO 00000

Frm 00003

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4702

10623

corresponding to the numbered items in the October 9, 2020, proposed rule.
General Written Comments: Several commenters protested the entire migratory bird hunting regulations process, 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 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,
E:FRFM22FEP2.SGM

22FEP2