[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26032-26034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10579]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2012-N102; 91200-1232-0000-P2]
Proposed Information Collection; Control and Management of
Resident Canada Geese
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC)
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, we invite the general public and
[[Page 26033]]
other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC.
This IC is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2012. 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.
DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC,
we must receive them by July 2, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-PDM,
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); or
INFOCOL@fws.gov (email). Please include ``1018-0133'' in the subject
line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (email) or 703-358-
2482 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the take,
possession, import, export, transport, sale, purchase, or bartering of
migratory birds or their parts except as permitted under the terms of a
valid permit or as permitted by regulations. In 2006, we issued
regulations establishing two depredation orders and three control
orders that allow State and tribal wildlife agencies, private
landowners, and airports to conduct resident Canada goose population
management, including the take of birds. We monitor the data collected
for activities under these orders and may rescind an order if
monitoring indicates that activities are inconsistent with conservation
of Canada geese.
Control order for airports. 50 CFR 21.49 allows managers at
commercial, public, and private airports and military airfields and
their employees or agents to implement management of resident Canada
geese to resolve or prevent threats to public safety. An airport must
be part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and have
received Federal grant-in-aid assistance or be a military airfield
under the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the Secretary of a
military department. Each facility exercising the privileges of the
order must submit an annual report with the date, numbers, and
locations of birds, nests, and eggs taken.
Depredation order for nests and eggs. 50 CFR 21.50 allows private
landowners and managers of public lands to destroy resident Canada
goose nests and eggs on property under their jurisdiction provided they
register annually on our Web site at https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR.
Registrants must provide basic information, such as name, address,
phone number and email, and identify where the control work will occur
and who will conduct it. Registrants must return to the Web site to
report the number of nests with eggs they destroyed.
Depredation order for agricultural facilities. 50 CFR 21.51 allows
States and tribes, via their wildlife agency, to implement a program to
allow landowners, operators, and tenants actively engaged in commercial
agriculture to conduct damage management control when geese are
committing depredations or to resolve or prevent other injury to
agricultural interests. State and tribal wildlife agencies in the
Atlantic, Central, and Mississippi Flyway portions of 41 States can
implement the provisions of the order. Agricultural producers must
maintain a log of the date and number of birds taken under this
authorization. States and tribes exercising the privileges of the order
must submit an annual report of the numbers of birds, nests, and eggs
taken and the county where take occurred.
Public health control order. 50 CFR 21.52 authorizes States and
tribes of the lower 48 States to conduct (via the State or tribal
wildlife agency) resident Canada goose control and management
activities when the geese pose a direct threat to human health. States
and tribes operating under this order must submit an annual report
summarizing activities, including the numbers of birds taken and the
county where take occurred.
Population control. 50 CFR 21.61 establishes a managed take program
to reduce and stabilize resident Canada goose populations when
traditional and otherwise authorized management measures are not
successful or feasible. A State or tribal wildlife agency in the
Atlantic, Mississippi, or Central Flyway may request approval for this
population control program. If approved, the State or tribe may use
hunters to harvest resident Canada geese during the month of August.
Requests for approval must include a discussion of the State's or
tribe's efforts to address its injurious situations using other methods
or a discussion of the reasons why the methods are not feasible. If the
Service Director approves a request, the State or tribe must (1) keep
annual records of activities carried out under the authority of the
program, and (2) provide an annual summary, including number of
individuals participating in the program and the number of resident
Canada geese shot. Additionally, participating States and tribes must
monitor the spring breeding population by providing an annual estimate
of the breeding population and distribution of resident Canada geese in
their State.
II. Data
OMB Control Number: 1018-0133.
Title: Control and Management of Resident Canada Geese, 50 CFR
20.21, 21.49, 21.50, 21.51, 21.52, and 21.61.
Service Form Number: None.
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents: State fish and wildlife agencies,
tribes, and local governments; airports, landowners; and farms.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Completion
Activity Number of Number of time per Total annual
respondents responses response hours burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.49--Airport Control Order--Annual Report..... 50 50 1.5 75
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order-- 2,000 4,000 .5 2,000
Registration and Report........................
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order-- 600 600 .5 300
Recordkeeping..................................
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order--Annual 20 20 8 160
Report.........................................
21.52--Public Health Control Order--Annual 20 20 1 20
Report.........................................
21.61--Population Control Approval Request-- 8 8 24 192
Recordkeeping and Annual Report................
21.61--Population Control Approval Request-- 8 8 160 1,280
Population Estimates...........................
---------------------------------------------------------------
Totals...................................... 2,706 4,706 .............. 4,027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 26034]]
III. Comments
We 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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this IC. 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 us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Dated: April 26, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-10579 Filed 5-1-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P