[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: 50CFR21.50] [Page 91-93] 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. 21.50 Depredation order for resident Canada geese nests and eggs. (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 depredation order for resident Canada geese nests and eggs, and what is its purpose? The nest and egg depredation order for resident Canada geese authorizes private landowners and managers of public lands (landowners) (and their employees or their agents) to destroy resident Canada goose nests and eggs on property under their jurisdiction when necessary to resolve or prevent injury to people, property, agricultural crops, or other interests. (c) Who may participate in the depredation order? Only landowners (and their employees or their agents) in the lower 48 States and the District of Columbia are eligible to implement the resident Canada goose nest and egg depredation order. (d) What are the restrictions of the depredation order for resident Canada goose nests and eggs? The resident Canada [[Page 92]] goose nest and egg depredation order is subject to the following restrictions: (1) Before any management actions can be taken, landowners must register with the Service at http://www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/ gooseeggregistration.html. Landowners must also register each employee or agent working on their behalf. Once registered, landowners or their agents will be authorized to act under the depredation order. (2) Landowners authorized to operate under the depredation order must use nonlethal goose management techniques to the extent they deem appropriate in an effort to minimize take. (3) Methods of nest destruction or take are at the landowner's discretion from among the following: (i) Egg oiling, using 100 percent corn oil, a substance exempted from regulation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, and (ii) Removal and disposal of eggs and nest material. (4) Landowners authorized to operate under the depredation order may conduct resident Canada goose nest and egg destruction activities between March 1 and June 30. (5) Landowners authorized to operate under the depredation order may possess, transport, and dispose of resident Canada goose nests and eggs taken under this section. Landowners authorized to operate under the program may not sell, offer for sale, barter, or ship for the purpose of sale or barter any resident Canada goose nest or egg taken under this section. (6) Landowners exercising the privileges granted by this section must complete an annual report summarizing activities, including the date, numbers, and location of nests and eggs taken by October 31 of each year at http://www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/gooseeggregistration/ report.html before any subsequent registration for the following year. (7) Nothing in this section authorizes the destruction of resident Canada goose nests or the take of resident Canada goose 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 landowner is authorized to operate under the program and possesses the appropriate State or Tribal permits, when required. 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. (8) Landowners 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, landowners 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 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. [[Page 93]] (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 depredation order be suspended? We reserve the right to suspend or revoke this authorization for a particular landowner if we find that the landowner has not adhered to the terms and conditions specified in the depredation order. 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 depredation order. For purposes of Sec. 13.29(e), appeals must be made to the Director. Additionally, at such time that we determine that resident Canada goose populations no longer need to be reduced in order to resolve or prevent injury to people, property, agricultural crops, or other interests, we may choose to terminate part or all of the depredation order by subsequent regulation. In all cases, we will annually review the necessity and effectiveness of the depredation order. (f) Has the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection requirements of the depredation order? OMB has approved the information collection and recordkeeping requirements of the depredation 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 45988, Aug. 10, 2006]