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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 214 / Tuesday, November 9, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Provisions of the Proposed 4d Rule This proposed 4d rule would provide for the conservation of the alligator snapping turtle by prohibiting the following activities, except as otherwise authorized or permitted:
Importing or exporting; take as set forth at 50 CFR 17.21c1 with exceptions as discussed below; possessing, selling, delivering, carrying, transporting, or shipping of unlawfully taken specimens from any source; delivering, receiving, transporting, or shipping in interstate or foreign commerce in the course of commercial activity; and selling or offering for sale in interstate or foreign commerce. We also include several exceptions to these prohibitions, which along with the prohibitions are set forth under Proposed Regulation Promulgation, below.
Under the Act, take means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. Some of these provisions have been further defined in regulation at 50
CFR 17.3. Take can result knowingly or otherwise, by direct and indirect impacts, intentionally or incidentally.
This proposed 4d rule would provide for the conservation of alligator snapping turtle by prohibiting intentional and incidental take, except as otherwise authorized or permitted.
Prohibiting take of the species resulting from activities, including, but not limited to, harvest legal and poaching, hook ingestions and entanglement due to bycatch associated with commercial and recreational fishing practices for freshwater fish particularly as a result of unlawful activities and/or abandonment of equipment, and habitat alteration, will provide for the conservation of the species. Regulating take associated with these activities under a 4d rule would prevent continued declines in population abundance and decrease synergistic, negative effects from other threats; this regulatory approach will provide for the conservation of the species by improving resiliency within all seven analysis units.

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Prohibitions Due to the life-history characteristics of the alligator snapping turtle, specifically delayed maturity, long generation times, and relatively low reproductive output, this species cannot sustain significant collection from the wild, especially of adult females Reed et al. 2002, pp. 812. An adult female harvest rate of more than 2 percent per year is considered unsustainable, and harvest of this magnitude or greater will
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result in significant local population declines Reed et al. 2002, p. 9.
Louisiana and Mississippi allow recreational harvest of alligator snapping turtles; all other States within the species range prohibit commercial and recreational harvest of the species.
Due to the species demography, however, the overall population has not recovered from prior extensive loss of individuals from past over-exploitation.
While current recruitment is sufficient to maintain viability, continued harvest, combined with other stressors, will eventually result in quasi-extinction.
Therefore, this proposed 4d rule would prohibit collection and harvest with some exceptions as described below.
Habitat alteration is also a concern for the alligator snapping turtle, as the species is endemic to river systems that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, including tributary waterbodies and associated wetland habitats e.g., swamps, lakes, reservoirs, etc., where structure e.g., tree root masses, stumps, submerged trees, etc. and a high percentage of canopy cover is more often selected over open water Howey and Dinkelacker 2009, p. 589. Alligator snapping turtles spend the majority of their time in aquatic habitat; overland movements are generally restricted to nesting females and juveniles moving from the nest to water Reed at al. 2002, p. 5. The primary causes for habitat alteration include actions that change hydrologic conditions to the extent that dispersal and genetic interchange are impeded.
Activities that may alter the habitat include dredging, deadhead logging, clearing and snagging, removal of riparian cover, channelization, instream activities that result in stream bank erosion and siltation e.g., stream crossings, bridge replacements, flood control structures, etc., and changes in land use within the riparian zone of waterbodies e.g., clearing land for agriculture. Deadhead logs and fallen riparian woody debris provide refugia during low-water periods Enge et al.
2014, p. 40, resting areas for all life stages Ewert et al. 2006, p. 62, and important feeding areas for hatchlings and juveniles. The species habitat needs concentrate around a freshwater ecosystem that supplies both shallower water for hatchlings and juveniles and deeper water for adults, with associated forested habitat that is free from inundation for nesting and provides structure within the waterbody. The species can tolerate some brackish conditions; however, freshwater provides higher quality habitat.

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Exceptions to the Prohibitions The exceptions to the prohibitions set forth in this proposed 4d rule include activities conducted as authorized by a permit issued under 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened species, as well as certain actions taken by an employee or agent of the Service, of the National Marine Fisheries Service, or of a State conservation agency that is operating a conservation program in accordance with 50 CFR 17.31b, as discussed later in this document. In addition, this proposed 4d rule includes some of the general exceptions allowed for take of endangered wildlife as set forth at 50
CFR 17.21 see the rule portion of this document and certain other specific activities that we propose for exception, as described below.
We are proposing to except certain activities involving specimens originating from captive breeding operations, for conservation or commercial purposes, if the captive breeding operations meet the necessary requirements. We are also proposing to except take incidental to construction, operation, and maintenance activities using appropriate BMPs; pesticide and herbicide use; silviculture practices and forestry activities that implement industry and/or State-approved BMPs accordingly; and maintenance dredging that affects previously disturbed portions of the maintained channel.
Captive breeding for conservation The Service recognizes that captive breeding provides for the species conservation i.e., captive rearing, headstarting, and reintroductions by supplementing depleted populations and reintroducing turtles to areas where the species has been extirpated. This includes head-starting programs, where turtles are bred and raised beyond the hatchling phase to improve survival, then released into the wild. Captive rearing for the purposes of head-starting hatchlings to release back into the wild can help mitigate losses from nest predation and parasitic insects, as well as provide individuals for reintroduction into areas with depleted turtle numbers. Such activities can help bolster population numbers by improving overall juvenile survival and may also increase genetic diversity.
When brood stock is legally acquired and permitted, with proper pedigree management and disease surveillance, Federal and State agencies can implement head-start programs without putting undue stress on the wild population.
All captive production programs for the purpose of reintroducing alligator snapping turtles to the wild must also
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