The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it has withdrawn its interim guidance for field trials on State lands purchased, managed or developed with funds from the Federal Aid in Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration grant programs. The Service also announced that it will not develop any new policy specific to field trials.
After receiving comments on the interim guidance from State fish and wildlife agencies, the Service has concluded that there is adequate guidance on field trial activity on land purchased, developed, or maintained with Federal Aid grants in current Federal Regulations and the Fish and Wildlife Service Manual. Letters announcing the decision were sent today to State wildlife agencies and the Services regional offices.
Field trials are simulated hunts that are used to train and evaluate various breeds of dogs for upland and migratory bird hunting. The Service and some State land managers remain concerned about impacts of some large-scale field trials on wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing access to Federal Aid funded lands. Wildlife habitat enhancement, hunting, and fishing represent the primary purposes for which most lands were acquired, developed or managed using Federal Aid funds. The majority of field trial activity complements those purposes. However, in isolated cases, large field trials have contributed to habitat damage and interfered with hunting and fishing access to the lands on which they were staged.
The Service has a statutory responsibility to ensure that lands acquired, developed or managed using program funds are used in ways that conform to the intent of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Although the interim guidance has been withdrawn, States must still ensure that any field trial activity that takes place on Federal Aid funded land does not interfere with the primary purposes for which the land was acquired, managed or developed.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps
foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.
- FWS -
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
