Our People
Wildlife Inspector Canines work with Wildlife Inspectors to help combat international wildlife trafficking. Dock, a black Labrador from Georgia, has spent seven years working with the Office of Law Enforcement in Alaska.
Regulations are an important part of our conservation efforts. During the past one hundred years, the United States has enacted wildlife laws and regulations, and ratified international treaties to protect our heritage of wild animals and plans and their habitats.
Laws, Agreements and Treaties
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service receives its authority through a number of laws, treaties, and regulations focused on conservation. These various forms of legislation provide a framework and specific guidelines for much of the work the Service does domestically and internationally.
Learn more about the U.S. Conservation Laws, Bilateral/Multilateral Agreements, Treaties and Conventions that guide FWS and its work.
Implementing Laws
Laws passed by Congress often need additional details so that everyone impacted knows exactly what is allowed and what isn't. Congress has authorized the Fish and Wildlife Service to add detail to laws through additional rules or "regulations."
Regulations have the force of law, so they go through a rigorous process before being put into place. All proposed rules are open to public scrutiny and comment, after which we make needed changes. Only after we are sure the rule is needed and properly constructed do we make it final, announcing it in the Federal Register.
Rulemaking
As a government agency, FWS has procedures to creates rules and regulations. Every proposed rule goes through a process of drafting, comment and review before it becomes final. The Federal Register is where we publish official notices about proposed and final rules, including rulemaking timelines.
Open For Public Comment
As a government agency, FWS has procedures to creates rules and regulations. Every proposed rule goes through a process of drafting, comment and review before it becomes final. The Federal Register is where we publish official notices about proposed and final rules, including rulemaking timelines.
View all rulemaking documents concerning FWS or search for a specific rulemaking document by title, docket ID or term.
Congressional Testimony
Interested in learning more about how FWS takes part in the legislative process? View an archive of Congressional Testimonies given by officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior on issues important to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Latest Stories Related to Laws & Regulations
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annually publishes Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations, an update in the Federal Register to Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This page lists those regulations over recent years.
Endangered Species Act
As part of ongoing efforts to conserve the endangered black-footed ferret, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, coordinating with multiple Native American Tribes and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, finalized a rule expanding the reintroduction of experimental populations of the ferret to much...
Wildlife Crime
A joint investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Natural Resources Police resulted in the sentencing of the owners of Wye East Outfitters for waterfowl outfitting and guiding without a license during the 2021-2022 season
Wildlife Crime
This week, a federal grand jury returned indictments charging six in Houston with illegal trafficking of migratory songbirds. The birds are often used in singing competitions in which the participating owners gamble thousands of dollars on the winning bird.
Endangered Species Act
A federally protected red wolf was found dead in Washington County, North Carolina along a fence line located south of Newland Road on May 18, 2023 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs your help in the investigation of the red wolf’s death.