Fish and Wildlife Service October 15, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule prescribes special early and late season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands. This responds to tribal requests for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) recognition of their authority to regulate hunting under established guidelines. This rule allows the establishment of season bag limits and, thus, harvest at levels compatible with populations and habitat conditions.

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species and/or marine mammals.

We propose to establish policy that refuge managers will follow concerning mosquito and mosquito-borne disease management on units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (Administration Act), as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Improvement Act), provides the Refuge System mission. That mission is to ``administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.'' In addition, each refuge ``shall be managed to fulfill the mission of the System, as well as the specific purposes for which that refuge was established.'' We cannot fulfill this mission unless we provide consistent direction to refuge managers and manage the Refuge System as a national system. Therefore, we are developing policies to provide refuge managers clear direction and procedures for making determinations regarding wildlife conservation and public uses of the Refuge System and individual refuges. This draft policy describes the process we will follow to determine if and how to manage mosquito populations on lands administered within the Refuge System. We propose to incorporate this policy as part 601, chapter 7 of the Fish and Wildlife Service Manual. This draft policy states that ``we will allow populations of native mosquito species to function unimpeded unless they cause a human and/or wildlife health threat.'' While we recognize mosquitoes are a natural component of most wetland ecosystems, we also recognize they may represent a threat to human and/or wildlife health. We may allow management of mosquito populations on Refuge System lands when those populations pose a threat to the health and safety of the public or a wildlife population. This draft policy outlines the procedures refuge managers will follow in planning and implementing mosquito and mosquito-borne disease management within the Refuge System.