[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 209 (Friday, October 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66952-66953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27918]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2011-N197; 91200-1231-9BPP-L2]
Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Conservation Order for Light Geese
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize
the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the
estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to
expire on October 31, 2011. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person
is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number. However, under OMB
regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information
collection while it is pending at OMB.
DATES: You must submit comments on or before November 28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information
collection to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at
OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or OIRA_DOCKET@OMB.eop.gov (email).
Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-
PDM, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail), or
INFOCOL@fws.gov (email). Please include ``1018-0103'' in the subject
line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (email) or (703)
358-2482 (telephone). You may view the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of the
Interior collections under review by OMB.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 1018-0103.
Title: Conservation Order for Light Geese, 50 CFR 21.60.
Service Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents: State and tribal governments;
individuals who participate in the conservation order.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
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Completion
Activity/requirement Annual number Total annual time per Total annual
of respondents responses response burden hours
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States--collect information, maintain records, 39 39 74 hours 2,886
prepare annual report..........................
Participants--provide information to States..... 21,538 21,538 10 minutes 3,590
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Total....................................... 21,577 21,577 .............. 6,476
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Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: $97,500, primarily for State
overhead costs (materials, printing, postage, etc.).
Abstract: The number of light geese (lesser snow, greater snow, and
Ross' geese) in the midcontinent region has nearly quadrupled during
the past several decades, due to a decline in adult mortality and an
increase in winter survival. We refer to these species and subspecies
as light geese because of their light coloration, as opposed to dark
geese, such as white-fronted or Canada geese. Because of their feeding
activity, light geese have become seriously injurious to their habitat,
as well as to habitat important to other migratory birds. This poses a
serious threat to the short- and long-term health and status of some
migratory bird populations. We believe that the number of light geese
in the midcontinent region has exceeded long-term sustainable levels
for their arctic and subarctic breeding habitats, and that the
populations must be reduced. Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
part 21 provides authority for the management of overabundant light
geese.
Regulations at 50 CFR 21.60 authorize States and tribes in the
midcontinent and Atlantic flyway regions to control light geese within
the United States through the use of alternative regulatory strategies.
The conservation order authorizes States and tribes to implement
population control measures without having to obtain a Federal permit,
thus significantly reducing their administrative burden. The
conservation order is a streamlined process that affords an efficient
and
[[Page 66953]]
effective population reduction strategy, rather than addressing the
issue through our permitting process. Furthermore, this strategy
precludes the use of more drastic and costly direct population-
reduction measures such as trapping and culling geese. States and
tribes participating in the conservation order must:
Designate participants and inform them of the requirements
and conditions of the conservation order. Individual States and tribes
determine the method to designate participants and how they will
collect information from participants.
Keep records of activities carried out under the authority
of the conservation order, including:
(1) Number of persons participating in the conservation order;
(2) Number of days that people participated in the conservation
order;
(3) Number of persons who pursued light geese with the aid of a
shotgun capable of holding more than three shells;
(4) Number of persons who pursued light geese with the aid of an
electronic call;
(5) Number of persons who pursued light geese during the period
one-half hour after sunset;
(6) Total number of light geese shot and retrieved during the
conservation order;
(7) Number of light geese taken with the aid of an electronic call;
(8) Number of light geese taken with the fourth, fifth, or sixth
shotgun shell;
(9) Number of light geese taken during the period one-half hour
after sunset; and
(10) Number of light geese shot, but not retrieved.
Submit an annual report summarizing the activities
conducted under the conservation order on or before September 15 of
each year. Tribal information can be incorporated in State reports to
reduce the number of reports submitted.
Comments: On May 24, 2011, we published in the Federal Register (76
FR 30188) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew approval for
this information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on July 25, 2011. We received five public comments,
including one from an individual who was opposed to the population
reduction program, but did not comment on the information collection
itself.
We received comments from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the
Atlantic Flyway Council, Mississippi Flyway Council, and the Central
Flyway Council. Flyway Councils are comprised of all State wildlife
agencies within each respective administrative Flyway. The State of
Wyoming and the three Flyway Councils agreed that it was important to
estimate the number of citizens participating in the conservation
order, as well as actual light goose harvest. However, all commenters
recommended that variables related to methods of take should be
evaluated for their continued usefulness and potentially discontinued
from the information collection. They recommended that only information
on hunter numbers and light goose harvest be collected. Commenters also
stressed that individual States use different methodologies for
obtaining information and that simply adding estimates from disparate
methodologies leads to overall estimates that are not as reliable as
would be liked. Commenters believed the Service should take over
responsibility for data collection, possibly through the Service's
Harvest Information Program (HIP).
Response: Implementation of the light goose conservation order
required using new methods of take that were controversial because
historically they had been illegal during normal hunting seasons. For
that reason, we required information be collected on the use of such
tools so that we could evaluate their effectiveness. We agree that
information collected to date should be fully evaluated and that the
utility of continued information collection for those variables should
be analyzed. Discontinuation of information collection on those
variables would require rulemaking to reduce the number of specific
requirements outlined in 50 CFR 21.60. During discussions with Flyway
Councils regarding initiation of the conservation order, there were
concerns about whether or not a national collection should be developed
for the conservation order. That approach was not pursued due to the
need to develop a Federal permit. It was decided that each State would
conduct its own collection. Although State harvest estimates may not be
fully comparable, we believe that summation of such estimates is
warranted for general monitoring purposes.
We are still awaiting a report from the Arctic Goose Habitat
Working Group of the Arctic Goose Joint Venture to determine the best
method of collecting data to provide the highest quality of information
in the most efficient way possible. We feel it is important to wait for
and consider the findings of this report because the Joint Venture is
comprised of many of our management partners.
Our Harvest Information Program is geared towards estimating
harvest of birds during regular hunting seasons that end on or before
March 10 each year. Many States hold their light goose conservation
order (not a regular hunting season) after March 10. Therefore, if HIP
were used to estimate light goose conservation order harvest, our
annual HIP reports would be delayed and could affect the normal hunting
regulations promulgation process. The Service can only require HIP
registration for regular hunting seasons. There is no current mechanism
for the Service to require HIP registration for conservation order
participants.
We have not made any changes to the information collection
requirements at this time. We will continue to work with the States,
Flyway Councils, and the Arctic Goose Joint Venture to determine the
best method of collecting data to provide the highest quality
information in the most efficient way possible.
We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:
Whether or not the collection of information is necessary,
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this
collection of information;
Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal
identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask OMB in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it
will be done.
Dated: October 24, 2011.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-27918 Filed 10-27-11; 8:45 am]
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