[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 50, Volume 6]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 50CFR21.49]



[Page 89-91]

 

                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES

 

 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE 

                          INTERIOR (CONTINUED)

 

PART 21_MIGRATORY BIRD PERMITS--Table of Contents

 

     Subpart D_Control of Depredating and Otherwise Injurious Birds

 

Sec.  21.49  Control order for resident Canada geese at airports and military airfields.



    (a) Which Canada geese are covered by this order? This regulation 

addresses the control and management of resident Canada geese, as 

defined in Sec.  21.3.

    (b) What is the control order for resident Canada geese at airports, 

and what is its purpose? The airport control order authorizes managers 

at commercial, public, and private airports (airports) (and their 

employees or their agents) and military air operation facilities 

(military airfields) (and their employees or their agents) to establish 

and implement a control and management program when necessary to resolve 

or prevent threats to public safety from resident Canada geese. Control 

and management activities include indirect and/or direct control 

strategies such as trapping and relocation, nest and egg destruction, 

gosling and adult trapping and culling programs, or other lethal and 

non-lethal control strategies.

    (c) Who may participate in the program? To be designated as an 

airport that is authorized to participate in this program, an airport 

must be part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and have 

received Federal grant-in-aid assistance, or a military airfield, 

meaning an airfield or air station that is under the jurisdiction, 

custody, or control of the Secretary of a military department. Only 

airports and military airfields in the lower 48 States and the District 

of Columbia are eligible to conduct and implement the various resident 

Canada goose control and management program components.

    (d) What are the restrictions of the control order for resident 

Canada geese at airports and military airfields? The airport control 

order for resident Canada geese is subject to the following 

restrictions:

    (1) Airports and military airfields should use nonlethal goose 

management tools to the extent they deem appropriate. To minimize lethal 

take, airports and military airfields should follow this procedure:

    (i) Assess the problem to determine its extent or magnitude, its 

impact on current operations, and the appropriate control method to be 

used.

    (ii) Base control methods on sound biological, environmental, 

social, and cultural factors.

    (iii) Formulate appropriate methods into a control strategy that 

uses several control techniques rather than relying on a single method.

    (iv) Implement all appropriate nonlethal management techniques (such 

as harassment and habitat modification) in conjunction with take 

authorized under this order.

    (2)(i) Methods of take for the control of resident Canada geese are 

at the airport's and military airfield's discretion from among the 

following:

    (A) Egg oiling,

    (B) Egg and nest destruction,

    (C) Shooting,

    (D) Lethal and live traps,

    (E) Nets,

    (F) Registered animal drugs, pesticides, and repellants,

    (G) Cervical dislocation, and

    (H) CO2 asphyxiation.



[[Page 90]]



    (ii) Birds caught live may be euthanized or transported and 

relocated to another site approved by the State or Tribal wildlife 

agency, if required.

    (iii) All techniques used must be in accordance with other Federal, 

State, and local laws, and their use must comply with any labeling 

restrictions.

    (iv) Persons using shotguns must use nontoxic shot, as listed in 

Sec.  20.21(j) of this subchapter.

    (v) Persons using egg oiling must use 100 percent corn oil, a 

substance exempted from regulation by the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

    (3) Airports and military airfields may conduct management and 

control activities, involving the take of resident Canada geese, under 

this section between April 1 and September 15. The destruction of 

resident Canada goose nests and eggs may take place between March 1 and 

June 30.

    (4) Airports and military airfields and their employees and agents 

may possess, transport, and otherwise dispose of resident Canada geese 

taken under this section. Disposal of birds taken under this order may 

be by donation to public museums or public institutions for scientific 

or educational purposes, processing for human consumption and subsequent 

distribution free of charge to charitable organizations, or burial or 

incineration. Airports/military airfields, their employees, and 

designated agents may not sell, offer for sale, barter, or ship for the 

purpose of sale or barter any resident Canada geese taken under this 

section, nor their plumage or eggs. Any specimens needed for scientific 

purposes as determined by the Regional Director must not be destroyed, 

and information on birds carrying metal leg bands must be submitted to 

the Bird Banding Laboratory by means of a toll-free telephone number at 

1-800-327-BAND (or 2263).

    (5) Resident Canada geese may be taken only within a 3-mile radius 

of the airport or military airfield. Airports and military airfields or 

their agents must first obtain all necessary authorizations from 

landowners for all management activities conducted outside the airport 

or military airfield's boundaries and be in compliance with all State 

and local laws and regulations.

    (6) Nothing in this section authorizes the killing of resident 

Canada geese or destruction of their nests and eggs contrary to the laws 

or regulations of any State or Tribe, and none of the privileges of this 

section may be exercised unless the airport or military airfield 

possesses the appropriate State or Tribal authorization or other permits 

required by the State or Tribe. Moreover, this section does not 

authorize the killing of any migratory bird species or destruction of 

their nest or eggs other than resident Canada geese.

    (7) Authorized airports and military airfields, and their employees 

and agents operating under the provisions of this section may not use 

decoys, calls, or other devices to lure birds within gun range.

    (8) Airports and military airfields exercising the privileges 

granted by this section must submit an annual report summarizing 

activities, including the date and numbers and location of birds, nests, 

and eggs taken, by December 31 of each year to the Regional Migratory 

Bird Permit Office listed in Sec.  2.2 of this subchapter.

    (9) Nothing in this section applies to any Federal land without 

written permission of the Federal agency with jurisdiction.

    (10) Airports and military airfields may not undertake any actions 

under this section if the activities adversely affect other migratory 

birds or species designated as endangered or threatened under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act. Persons operating under this 

order must immediately report the take of any species protected under 

the Endangered Species Act to the Service. Further, to protect certain 

species from being adversely affected by management actions, airports 

and military airfields must:

    (i) Follow the Federal-State Contingency Plan for the whooping 

crane;

    (ii) Conduct no activities within 300 meters of a whooping crane or 

Mississippi sandhill crane nest;

    (iii) Follow all Regional (or National when available) Bald Eagle 

Nesting



[[Page 91]]



Management guidelines for all management activities;

    (iv) Contact the Arizona Ecological Services Office (for the 

Colorado River and Arizona sites) or the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife 

Office (for Salton Sea sites) if control activities are proposed in or 

around occupied habitats (cattail or cattail bulrush marshes) to discuss 

the proposed activity and ensure that implementation will not adversely 

affect clapper rails or their habitats; and

    (v) In California, any control activities of resident Canada geese 

in areas used by the following species listed under the Endangered 

Species Act must be done in coordination with the appropriate local FWS 

field office and in accordance with standard local operating procedures 

for avoiding adverse effects to the species or its critical habitat:

    (A) Birds: Light-footed clapper rail, California clapper rail, Yuma 

clapper rail, California least tern, southwestern willow flycatcher, 

least Bell's vireo, western snowy plover, California gnatcatcher.

    (B) Amphibians: California red-legged frog and California tiger 

salamander.

    (C) Insects: Valley elderberry longhorn beetle and delta green 

ground beetle.

    (D) Crustaceans: Vernal pool fairy shrimp, conservancy fairy shrimp, 

longhorn fairy shrimp, vernal pool tadpole shrimp, San Diego fairy 

shrimp, and Riverside fairy shrimp.

    (E) Plants: Butte County meadowfoam, large-flowered wooly 

meadowfoam, Cook's lomatium, Contra Costa goldfields, Hoover's spurge, 

fleshy owl's clover, Colusa grass, hairy Orcutt grass, Solano grass, 

Greene's tuctoria, Sacramento Valley Orcutt grass, San Joaquin Valley 

Orcutt grass, slender Orcutt grass, California Orcutt grass, spreading 

navarretia, and San Jacinto Valley crownscale.

    (e) Can the control order be suspended? We reserve the right to 

suspend or revoke an airport's or military airfield's authority under 

this control order if we find that the terms and conditions specified in 

the control order have not been adhered to by that airport or military 

airfield. Final decisions to revoke authority will be made by the 

appropriate Regional Director. The criteria and procedures for 

suspension, revocation, reconsideration, and appeal are outlined in 

Sec. Sec.  13.27 through 13.29 of this subchapter. For the purposes of 

this section, ``issuing officer'' means the Regional Director and 

``permit'' means the authority to act under this control order. For 

purposes of Sec.  13.29(e), appeals must be made to the Director.

    (f) Has the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the 

information collection requirements of the control order? OMB has 

approved the information collection and recordkeeping requirements of 

the control order under OMB control number 1018-0133. We may not conduct 

or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. You 

may send comments on the information collection and recordkeeping 

requirements to the Service's Information Collection Clearance Officer, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222--ARLSQ, 1849 C Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20240.



[71 FR 45986, Aug. 10, 2006]