2017 Federal Register, 82 FR 54405-54408; Centralized Library: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 221 (Friday, November 17, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54405-54408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [http://www.gpo.gov/]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24974]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-IA-2017-N116; FXIA16710900000-XXX-FF09A30000]


Issuance of Import Permits for Zimbabwe Elephant Trophies Taken
on or After January 21, 2016, and on or Before December 31, 2018

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has made a
finding that the killing of African elephant trophy animals in
Zimbabwe, on or after January 21, 2016, and on or before December 31,
2018, will enhance the survival of the African elephant. Applications
to import trophies hunted during this time period will be considered to
have met the enhancement requirement, unless we issue a new finding
based on available information. The Service may replace this finding,
without any notification in the Federal Register, at any time that this
finding no longer reflects the available information consistent with
the regulatory requirements. In reviewing each application received for
import of such specimens, the Service evaluates the information
provided in the application, as well as other information available to
the Service on the status of the elephant population and the management
program for elephants in the country to ensure that the program is
promoting the conservation of the species. Each application to import
sport-hunted elephant trophies must also meet all other applicable
permitting requirements before it may be authorized. This determination
does not affect previous determinations by the Service regarding trophy
animals taken before January 21, 2016.

DATES: This finding is made November 17, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Timothy J. Van Norman, Chief, Branch of Permits, Division of
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: IA, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803; fax (703) 358-2280; or
email [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy J. Van Norman, (703) 358-2104
(telephone); (703) 358-2280 (fax); or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA or Act; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
in title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR 17.11(h)). It is
also regulated under the provisions of section 4(d) of the Act (known
as a ``section 4(d) rule'') with a rule found at 50 CFR 17.40(e). The
section 4(d) rule includes specific requirements for the import of
sport-hunted trophies. Under Sec.  17.40(e)(6)(i)(B), in order for the
Service to authorize the import of a sport-hunted elephant trophy, the
Service must find that the killing of the trophy animal will enhance
the survival of the species in the wild (known as an ``enhancement
finding'').
    The Zimbabwe elephant population, along with elephant populations
in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, are also included in Appendix
II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for the exclusive purpose of allowing
certain trade subject to annotation, including trade in hunting
trophies for noncommercial purposes. All specimens not included in the
annotation are deemed Appendix I specimens, and trade in them is
regulated accordingly. On August 22, 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) published a proposed rule announcing decisions by the
Conference of the Parties to CITES and seeking comment on whether the
United States should enter a reservation for any of the species that
had been listed on CITES Appendices I and II (62 FR 44627). We
discussed how the populations of African elephants in Zimbabwe,
Botswana, and Namibia had been down-listed from CITES Appendix I to
Appendix II and noted that, because African elephants are listed under
the ESA as threatened, the African elephant section 4(d) rule found at
50 CFR 17.40(e) would continue to apply. This rule required that we
find that the killing of the animal whose trophy was intended for
import would enhance the survival of the species before a sport-hunted
trophy could be imported. We also stated that, in making the required
enhancement finding for the import of sport-hunted trophies, the
Service must review the status of the elephant population and the total
management program for the elephant in each country to ensure the
program is promoting the conservation of the species.
    The preamble to the 1997 proposed rule noted that positive
enhancement findings for the countries of Zimbabwe, Botswana, and
Namibia had been made and would remain in effect until the Service
found that the conditions of the section 4(d) rule are no longer met
and published notice of a changed finding in the Federal Register. On
May 18, 2001, we published a final rule again announcing decisions made
at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, including the
decision to down-list the South African population of African elephants
from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II (66 FR 27601). We again discussed
the import requirements for African elephant sport-hunted trophies and
stated that the enhancement finding for South African elephants would
remain in effect until the Service found that conditions of the rule
are no longer met and published notice of a changed finding in the
Federal Register. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,
in Safari Club International, et al. v. Jewell, et al., 213 F. Supp. 3d
48 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2016), has held that the Service created a binding
duty on itself when it stated in the preamble of the 1997 proposed rule
that it would publish notice in the Federal Register before making a
change in its 1997 enhancement finding for Zimbabwe, and that the
Service then violated this commitment when it published the Federal
Register notice on May 12, 2014, several weeks after making an interim
negative enhancement finding for Zimbabwe on April 4, 2014. As remedy,
the Court ordered that the effective date of the 2014 enhancement
finding is the date of the Federal Register notice, May 12, 2014,
meaning that trophies taken on or before May 11, 2014 were allowed to
meet the enhancement requirement. We did not intend to create a legal
duty to publish changed enhancement findings through these Federal
Register preamble statements.
    On June 6, 2016, the Service amended the African elephant section
4(d) rule (81 FR 36388). With this amendment, ESA permits are required
to import all African elephant sport-hunted trophies, including those
from the CITES Appendix II populations of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia,
and South Africa. Because all imports will be accompanied by a
threatened species permit evaluated through the ESA permit application
process found at 50 CFR 17.32(a), we will no longer publish

[[Page 54406]]

notice of changed enhancement findings for African elephant sport-
hunted trophies in the Federal Register. In the future, when there are
subsequent changes to the determination, the individual applicant will
be notified regarding whether his or her permit application was granted
or denied, including a brief statement of the grounds for any denial.
We may also post information on the import of African elephant hunting
trophies on the Service's Web page (www.fws.gov/international), as
appropriate and consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

Import Suspension

    On April 4, 2014, the Service announced an interim suspension of
imports of sport-hunted elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe during the
2014 season. We revised this finding on April 17, 2014, primarily to
clarify that the suspension applied only to elephants hunted on or
after April 4, 2014. This determination was announced in the Federal
Register on May 12, 2014 (79 FR 26986). Our decision to establish an
interim suspension of imports of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe was
due to having insufficient information on the status of elephants in
Zimbabwe and on Zimbabwe's current elephant management program to make
an enhancement finding. On July 17, 2014, the Service found that the
import of elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe in 2014 on or after April
4, 2014, would be suspended. We revised this finding on July 22, 2014,
to make non-substantive corrections and announced this determination in
the Federal Register on July 31, 2014 (79 FR 44459). The July 17, 2014,
decision to uphold the April 4, 2014, suspension was due to the Service
being unable to make an enhancement finding even after receiving
additional materials from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority (ZPWMA) and others. On March 26, 2015, the Service made
another determination to continue the suspension (80 FR 42524, July 17,
2015). This decision was again due to the Service being unable to make
an enhancement finding even after receiving additional materials from
ZPWMA and others. The suspension that resulted from the negative
enhancement findings did not prohibit U.S. hunters from traveling to
Zimbabwe and participating in an elephant hunt. The Act does not
prohibit take (e.g., hunting) within a foreign country; it prohibits
import of trophies taken during such hunts without required
authorization under the Act.
    Following the Service's March 26, 2015, finding, the Service sent a
letter on May 12, 2015, to the Honorable Saviour Kasukuwere, (formerly)
Zimbabwe's Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, outlining the
concerns the Service still had regarding elephant trophy imports from
Zimbabwe. The letter identified six areas of concern: the lack of a
current management plan; the current population status of elephants in
Zimbabwe; poaching levels and prevention; regulations and enforcement
concerns; the sustainable utilization of elephants in Zimbabwe; and the
utilization of hunting revenues.
    On July 20, 2015, ZPWMA responded to each of the questions outlined
in the Service's letter and included a draft version of the Action Plan
for Elephant Conservation and Management in Zimbabwe (2015-2020). In
January 2016, the Service received the final version of the action
plan, the Zimbabwe National Elephant Management Plan (2015-2020), that
had been approved and signed by the (then) Director-General of ZPWMA
Edson Chidziya, on January 20, 2016, and the Honorable Oppah
Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, on
January 21, 2016.
    In September 2016, during the 17th Meeting of the Conference of the
Parties to CITES, the Service met with representatives from Zimbabwe to
further discuss the current status of the Service's evaluation of the
importation of elephant trophies. As a result of those conversations,
the Service received a letter dated November 8, 2016, with supplemental
information regarding Zimbabwe's elephant management plan priorities.
Further, on January 27, 2017, the Service received a letter from ZPWMA
containing a report, ``The Role of Trophy Hunting of Elephants in
Support of the Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme for
Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) Program: December 2016'' that more
fully discussed the source and amount of revenue generated between 2010
and 2015 through the CAMPFIRE program, the current role of CAMPFIRE,
and how revenue generated by elephant hunting has been utilized within
communal areas over this 6-year period and into the future.
    Under 50 CFR 17.40(e)(6)(i)(B), the Service evaluates a number of
factors to determine whether the killing of the trophy animal taken in
a range country will enhance the survival of African elephants as well
as taking into consideration the permit issuance criteria outlined in
50 CFR 17.32(a)(2). In evaluating each of these criteria, the Service
has considered the information currently available to the Service as of
the date of this finding on elephant hunting in Zimbabwe in 2016, 2017,
and 2018, including information provided by the Government of Zimbabwe,
current applicants for permits to import sport-hunted elephant
trophies, interested individuals and organizations, and other
information available to the Service.

Zimbabwe's Conservation Efforts for Elephants

    On January 21, 2016, Zimbabwe adopted the Zimbabwe National
Elephant Management Plan (2015-2020) (EMP) that replaced The Policy and
Plan for Elephant Management in Zimbabwe (1997) and Elephant Management
in Zimbabwe, third edition (July 1996), the former management plans.
The EMP incorporates an adaptive management framework with higher level
targets, with key components, strategic objectives, and outputs. Each
key component has management actions that can be measured and verified
through ``Key Performance Indicators.'' A set deadline for each action
was identified. These measurable provisions allow ZPWMA to monitor the
success of the new management plan and, through an adaptive management
approach, address newly emerging concerns and long-term management
needs. The EMP addresses the challenges identified by the 2014 workshop
participants and concerns identified by the Service about the previous
management plans. The EMP was developed as an outcome of several
national and regional workshops that included government officials,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), rural community leaders, and
safari outfitters and landowners.
    The 2014 Pan African Elephant Aerial Survey, also known as the
Great Elephant Census (GEC), available in 2015, provided ZPWMA with a
better elephant baseline population abundance estimate to assess future
hunting quotas, management efforts, and anti-poaching activities.
Confirmed results from the GEC reported an estimate for elephant
abundance in Zimbabwe to be 82,304 individuals (73,715-90,893). The
International Union for Conservation of Nature's African Elephant
Specialist Group (IUCN AfESG) African Elephant Status Report-2016
estimated Zimbabwe's elephant population at 82,630  8,589
across a range of 81,228 km\2\. The results of the 2014 GEC, and
subsequent survey data reported in the 2016 AfESG report, are more
reliable and provide a better basis for

[[Page 54407]]

establishing management priorities than previous surveys and guesses,
and are now utilized in the EMP and quota setting.
    As identified in the 2015 finding, the Service explained that, if
properly implemented, the ZPWMA regulatory mechanisms for managing
elephants appear to be adequate. A key issue in the 2015 finding was
whether an adequate mechanism is in place to reliably document the
financial benefits that U.S. hunters provide for elephant conservation
through participation in a hunting program that addresses management
needs of the species and whether the funds were utilized in a
meaningful manner. Since the 2015 finding, the Service has received
information regarding the Tourism Receipts Accounting System (TRAS) and
its web-based system (TRAS2) under which the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, can now track all revenue
generated through hunting activities. Under this system, all authorized
hunts are now being registered, allowing for the capture of hunting
data, such as the origin of clients, value of trophies and hunts, and
area hunted, so that officials can monitor hunting quota utilization
and track hunted trophies. This system will provide data that was not
previously easily obtained and greatly improve the ability to track
hunting revenue.
    One concern expressed by the Service in its previous findings was
whether ZPWMA was responding to the apparent poaching crisis facing
Zimbabwe. Based on communication from ZPWMA, as well as information
received from other sources, ZPWMA has stepped up its anti-poaching
efforts nationally by adopting a number of ``Urgent Measures.'' As
shown in their July 2015 response to Service questions, most of ZPWMA's
budget (77 percent) is allocated to staff costs and patrol provisions.
These expenditures reportedly fund anti-poaching efforts throughout the
elephant range. ZPWMA reportedly has a staff of 1,504 active field
rangers and has stated that there is intent to increase this number.
According to ``The Zimbabwe National Elephant Supplementary Management
Plan (2015-2020)'', provided to the Service in late 2016, over 80
percent of spending under the new EMP has been on law enforcement
(anti-poaching) and training, with law enforcement identified as the
top priority going forward.
    With the adoption of the EMP on January 21, 2016, it appears that
ZPWMA has the means to successfully implement these laws and
regulations. Moreover, ZPWMA has a mechanism in place to monitor the
effects of the EMP and adapt to changing environmental and social
factors that would adversely affect elephant populations within
Zimbabwe.
    According to the information provided to the Service in late 2014
and 2015, Zimbabwe had established hunting quotas for all areas of the
country. However, it was not until late 2015 and early 2016 that the
Service received more specific information on how these quotas are
established, including how other forms of take, such as poaching and
problem animal control, were taken into account. Further, it was not
until the EMP was signed into effect on January 21, 2016, that the
Service had confidence that ZWPMA had in place effective mechanisms to
ensure long-term sustainability of its elephant population.
    According to ZPWMA, quotas that were established before the EMP
were set to maximize the sustainable production of high-quality
trophies without detriment to the population. With the establishment of
the EMP, there is a more systematic, scientific approach to establish
national quotas. While ZPWMA still currently starts with an annual
quota of 500 elephants, the quota is not immediately divided among all
of the hunting areas. Instead, ZPWMA takes into consideration the
results of the 2014 survey and subsequent surveys, results from
research efforts, the size of the hunting area in relation to elephant
habitat requirements, illegal harvest and other forms of take, how the
hunting areas are managed in relation to land use or fencing, human-
wildlife conflicts that have occurred previously, and recommended
sustainable harvest levels developed based on ecological assessments of
the hunting area. This information is then further evaluated in
consideration of other species within the hunting area, past elephant
trophy quality, and community benefits of proposed harvests.
    Since our findings in 2014 and 2015, CAMPFIRE has provided more
information on how their programs support the conservation of elephants
and provide benefits to and promote greater tolerance of wildlife in
rural communities, including new efforts to improve the effectiveness
of CAMPFIRE and new revenue-sharing guidelines. An overarching analysis
of CAMPFIRE, supported by a grant of 12 million Euros from the European
Union, is currently being conducted and is scheduled to be completed by
the end of 2017. Although this review is still under way, more
information has been provided to the Service regarding how funds are
utilized and the basis for hunting quotas.
    Since our 2014 and 2015 findings, there are strong indications that
the efforts of private landowners and consortiums to manage elephants
within their areas of control have received greater support from ZPWMA
and the Zimbabwean Government. ZPWMA has devolved authority to manage
and benefit from wildlife on communal and private lands to the
landholders. There now appears to be a greater effort on the part of
ZPWMA to work with NGOs, landowners, and safari area concessionaires to
improve elephant management and anti-poaching efforts. According to
their July 2015 response to the Service, and supported by the report on
the implementation of the EMP, ZPWMA is engaging private players in co-
management in some areas and entering into long-term lease agreements
(10-25 years) to manage some protected areas. In certain areas, ZPWMA
is reportedly collaborating with safari operators; in others, they
collaborate with NGOs, such as the Tashinga Initiative in the Zambezi
Valley and World Wildlife Fund in the Hwange-Sanyati Biological
Corridor. There is increased support from the Central Government and
Rural District Councils to expand and support local conservation
efforts, and there is evidence that local conservation efforts are
meeting management deficiencies that the Service identified previously.

Current Finding

    Therefore, in accordance with the regulatory requirements, the
Service is able to make a determination that the killing of trophy
animals in Zimbabwe, on or after January 21, 2016, and on or before
December 31, 2018, will enhance the survival of the African elephant.
With the information currently available, applications to import
trophies hunted during this time period will be considered to have met
this requirement unless we issue a new finding based on available
information. In accordance with the section 4(d) rule for the African
elephant at 50 CFR 17.40(e), the Service will review each application
received for import of such specimens on a case-by-case basis and each
application also needs to meet all other applicable permitting
requirements before it may be authorized. On an ongoing basis and as it
evaluates each application, the Service will continue to monitor the
status of the elephant population, the management program for elephants
in the country to ensure that the program is promoting the conservation
of the species, and whether the participation

[[Page 54408]]

of U.S. hunters in the program provides a clear benefit to the species.
Accordingly, the Service may modify its determination based on
available information consistent with the regulatory requirements. In
addition, the Service will reevaluate the status of African elephants
in Zimbabwe before the end of 2018 and make a new finding in the
beginning of 2019 for, at least, the 2019 hunting season.
    Today's enhancement finding has been posted at http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/enhancement-finding-2017-elephant-Zimbabwe.PDF. In
addition, a list of frequently asked questions regarding the
importation of sport-hunted elephant trophies from Zimbabwe is
available on the Service's web page at https://www.fws.gov/international/permits/by-activity/sport-hunted-trophies-elephants.html.

Brenda Tapia,
Program Analyst/Data Administrator, Branch of Permits, Division of
Management Authority.
[FR Doc. 2017-24974 Filed 11-16-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P