[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: 50CFR21.51]
[Page 93-95]
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. 21.51 Depredation order for resident Canada geese at agricultural facilities.
(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 at
agricultural facilities, and what is its purpose? The depredation order
for resident Canada geese at agricultural facilities authorizes States
and Tribes, via the State or Tribal wildlife agency, to implement a
program to allow landowners, operators, and tenants actively engaged in
commercial agriculture (agricultural producers) (or their employees or
agents) to conduct direct damage management actions such as nest and egg
destruction, gosling and adult trapping and culling programs, or other
lethal and non-lethal wildlife-damage management strategies on resident
Canada geese when the geese are committing depredations to agricultural
crops and when necessary to resolve or prevent injury to agricultural
crops or other agricultural interests from resident Canada geese.
(c) Who may participate in the depredation order? State and Tribal
wildlife agencies in the following States may authorize agricultural
producers (or their employees or agents) to conduct and implement
various components of the depredation order at agricultural facilities
in the Atlantic, Central, and Mississippi Flyway portions of these
States: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island,
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South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West
Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
(d) What are the restrictions of the depredation order for resident
Canada geese at agricultural facilities? The depredation order for
resident Canada geese at agricultural facilities is subject to the
following restrictions:
(1) Only landowners, operators, and tenants (or their employees or
agents) actively engaged in commercial activities (agricultural
producers) so designated by the States may act under this order.
(2) Authorized agricultural producers should use nonlethal goose
management tools to the extent they deem appropriate. To minimize lethal
take, agricultural producers should adhere to the following procedure:
(i) Assess the problem to determine its extent or magnitude, its
impact to 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 the approach/concept that encourages the use of 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.
(3)(i) Methods of take for the control of resident Canada geese are
at the State's or Tribe's discretion among the following:
(A) Egg oiling,
(B) Egg and nest destruction,
(C) Shotguns,
(D) Lethal and live traps,
(E) Nets,
(F) Registered animal drugs, pesticides, and repellants,
(G) Cervical dislocation, and
(H) CO2 asphyxiation.
(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, Tribal, 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.
(4) Authorized agricultural producers and their employees and agents
may conduct management and control activities, involving the take of
resident Canada geese, under this section between May 1 and August 31.
The destruction of resident Canada goose nests and eggs may take place
between March 1 and June 30.
(5) Authorized agricultural producers 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. Agricultural producers, 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 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).
(6) Resident Canada geese may be taken only on land which an
authorized agricultural producer personally controls and where geese are
committing depredations to agricultural crops.
(7) Authorized agricultural producers, 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) Any authorized agricultural producer exercising the privileges
of this section must keep and maintain a log
[[Page 95]]
that indicates the date and number of birds killed and the date and
number of nests and eggs taken under this authorization. The log must be
maintained for a period of 3 years (and records for 3 previous years of
takings must be maintained at all times thereafter). The log and any
related records must be made available to Federal, State, or Tribal
wildlife enforcement officers upon request during normal business hours.
(9) Nothing in this section authorizes the killing of resident
Canada geese or the 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 agricultural producer possesses
the appropriate State or Tribal permits, when required. Moreover, this
regulation does not authorize the killing of any migratory bird species
or destruction of their nests or eggs other than resident Canada geese.
(10) States and Tribes exercising the privileges granted by this
section must submit an annual report summarizing activities, including
the numbers and County 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.
(11) Nothing in this section applies to any Federal land without
written permission of the Federal agency with jurisdiction.
(12) Authorized agricultural producers 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,
agricultural producers 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; and
(iii) Follow all Regional (or National when available) Bald Eagle
Nesting Management guidelines for all management activities.
(e) Can the depredation order be suspended? We reserve the right to
suspend or revoke a State, Tribal, or agricultural producer's authority
under this program if we find that the terms and conditions specified in
the depredation order have not been adhered to by that State or Tribe.
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 geese populations no longer
pose a threat to agricultural crops or no longer need to be reduced in
order to resolve or prevent injury to agricultural crops or other
agricultural 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 45989, Aug. 10, 2006]