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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 20 

[FWS–R9–MB–2008–0124; 91200–1231– 

9BPP–L2] 

RIN 1018–AW31 

Migratory Bird Hunting; Early Seasons 

and Bag and Possession Limits for 

Certain Migratory Game Birds in the 

Contiguous United States, Alaska, 

Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 

Islands 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule prescribes the 

hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily 

bag and possession limits of mourning, 

white-winged, and white-tipped doves; 

band-tailed pigeons; rails; moorhens 

and gallinules; woodcock; common 

snipe; sandhill cranes; sea ducks; early 

(September) waterfowl seasons; 

migratory game birds in Alaska, Hawaii, 

Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and 

some extended falconry seasons. Taking 

of migratory birds is prohibited unless 

specifically provided for by annual 

regulations. This rule permits taking of 

designated species during the 2009–10 

season. 

DATES: This rule is effective on 

September 1, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may inspect comments 

received on the migratory bird hunting 

regulations during normal business 

hours at the Service’s office in Room 

4107, Arlington Square Building, 4501 

N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. You 

may obtain copies of referenced reports 

from the street address above, or from 

the Division of Migratory Bird 

Management’s Web site at http:// 

www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/, or at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Blohm, Chief, or Ron W. Kokel, 

Division of Migratory Bird Management, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (703) 

358–1714. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations Schedule for 2009 

On April 10, 2009, we published in 

the Federal Register (74 FR 16339) a 

proposal to amend 50 CFR part 20. The 

proposal provided a background and 

overview of the migratory bird hunting 

regulations process, and dealt with the 

establishment of seasons, limits, and 

other regulations for hunting migratory 

game birds under §§ 20.101 through 

20.107, 20.109, and 20.110 of subpart K. 

Major steps in the 2009–10 regulatory 

cycle relating to open public meetings 

and Federal Register notifications were 

also identified in the April 10 proposed 

rule. Further, we explained that all 

sections of subsequent documents 

outlining hunting frameworks and 

guidelines were organized under 

numbered headings. 

On May 27, 2009, we published in the 

Federal Register (74 FR 25209) a second 

document providing supplemental 

proposals for early- and late-season 

migratory bird hunting regulations, 

providing detailed information on the 

2009–10 regulatory schedule, and 

announcing the Service Migratory Bird 

Regulations Committee (SRC) and 

Flyway Council meetings. 

On June 24 and 25, 2009, we held 

open meetings with the Flyway Council 

Consultants at which the participants 

reviewed information on the current 

status of migratory shore and upland 

game birds and developed 

recommendations for the 2009–10 

regulations for these species plus 

regulations for migratory game birds in 

Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 

Islands; special September waterfowl 

seasons in designated States; special sea 

duck seasons in the Atlantic Flyway; 

and extended falconry seasons. In 

addition, we reviewed and discussed 

preliminary information on the status of 

waterfowl as it relates to the 

development and selection of the 

regulatory packages for the 2009–10 

regular waterfowl seasons. On July 24, 

2009, we published in the Federal 

Register (74 FR 36870) a third document 

specifically dealing with the proposed 

frameworks for early-season regulations. 

On August 25, 2009, we published in 

the Federal Register a final rule which 

contained final frameworks for early 

migratory bird hunting seasons from 

which wildlife conservation agency 

officials from the States, Puerto Rico, 

and the Virgin Islands selected earlyseason hunting dates, hours, areas, and 

limits. 

On July 29–30, 2009, we held open 

meetings with the Flyway Council 

Consultants at which the participants 

reviewed the status of waterfowl and 

developed recommendations for the 

2009–10 regulations for these species. 

Proposed hunting regulations were 

discussed for late seasons. We 

published proposed frameworks for the 

2009–10 late-season migratory bird 

hunting regulations in an August 13, 

2009 Federal Register (74 FR 41008). 

The final rule described here is the 

sixth in the series of proposed, 

supplemental, and final rulemaking 

documents for migratory game bird 

hunting regulations and deals 

specifically with amending subpart K of 

50 CFR part 20. It sets hunting seasons, 

hours, areas, and limits for mourning, 

white-winged, and white-tipped doves; 

band-tailed pigeons; rails; moorhens 

and gallinules; woodcock; common 

snipe; sandhill cranes; sea ducks; early 

(September) waterfowl seasons; 

mourning doves in Hawaii; migratory 

game birds in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and 

the Virgin Islands; youth waterfowl 

hunting day; and some extended 

falconry seasons. 

National Environmental Protection Act 

(NEPA) Consideration 

NEPA considerations are covered by 

the programmatic document ‘‘Final 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement: Issuance of Annual 

Regulations Permitting the Sport 

Hunting of Migratory Birds (FSES 88– 

14),’’ filed with the Environmental 

Protection Agency on June 9, 1988. We 

published a notice of availability in the 

Federal Register on June 16, 1988 (53 

FR 22582). We published our record of 

decision on August 18, 1988 (53 FR 

31341). In addition, an August 1985 

environmental assessment entitled 

‘‘Guidelines for Migratory Bird Hunting 

Regulations on Federal Indian 

Reservations and Ceded Lands’’ is 

available by writing to the street address 

indicated under the caption ADDRESSES. 

In a notice published in the 

September 8, 2005 Federal Register (70 

FR 53376), we announced our intent to 

develop a new Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement for the 

migratory bird hunting program. Public 

scoping meetings were held in the 

spring of 2006, as detailed in the March 

9, 2006 Federal Register (71 FR 12216). 

A scoping report summarizing the 

scoping comments and scoping 

meetings is available by either writing to 

the street address indicated under 

ADDRESSES or by viewing on our Web 

site at http://www.fws.gov/ 

migratorybirds/. 

Endangered Species Act Consideration 

Section 7 of the Endangered Species 

Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531–1543; 

87 Stat. 884), provides that, ‘‘The 

Secretary shall review other programs 

administered by him and utilize such 

programs in furtherance of the purposes 

of this Act’’ (and) shall ‘‘insure that any 

action authorized, funded, or carried out 

* * * is not likely to jeopardize the 

continued existence of any endangered 

species or threatened species or result in 

the destruction or adverse modification 

of [critical] habitat. * * *.’’ 

Consequently, we conducted formal 

consultations to ensure that actions 


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resulting from these regulations would 

not likely jeopardize the continued 

existence of endangered or threatened 

species or result in the destruction or 

adverse modification of their critical 

habitat. Findings from these 

consultations are included in a 

biological opinion, which concluded 

that the regulations are not likely to 

jeopardize the continued existence of 

any endangered or threatened species. 

Additionally, these findings may have 

caused modification of some regulatory 

measures previously proposed, and the 

final frameworks reflect any such 

modifications. Our biological opinions 

resulting from this section 7 

consultation are public documents 

available for public inspection at the 

street address indicated under 

ADDRESSES. 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has determined that this rule is 

significant and has reviewed this rule 

under Executive Order 12866. OMB 

bases its determination of regulatory 

significance upon the following four 

criteria: 

a. Whether the rule will have an 

annual effect of $100 million or more on 

the economy or adversely affect an 

economic sector, productivity, jobs, the 

environment, or other units of the 

government. 

b. Whether the rule will create 

inconsistencies with other Federal 

agencies’ actions. 

c. Whether the rule will materially 

affect entitlements, grants, user fees, 

loan programs, or the rights and 

obligations of their recipients. 

d. Whether the rule raises novel legal 

or policy issues. 

An Economic Analysis was prepared 

for the 2008–09 season. This analysis 

was based on data from the 2006 

National Hunting and Fishing Survey, 

the most recent year for which data are 

available (see discussion in Regulatory 

Flexibility Act section below). This 

analysis estimates consumer surplus for 

three alternatives for duck hunting 

(estimates for other species are not 

quantified due to lack of data). The 

alternatives are (1) Issue restrictive 

regulations allowing fewer days than 

those issued during the 2007–08 season, 

(2) Issue moderate regulations allowing 

more days than those in alternative 1, 

and (3) Issue liberal regulations 

identical to the regulations in the 2007– 

08 season. For the 2008–09 season, we 

chose alternative 3, with an estimated 

consumer surplus across all flyways of 

$205–$270 million. For the upcoming 

2009–10 season, we again considered 

these three alternatives and again chose 

alternative 3 for ducks. We made minor 

modifications to the season frameworks 

for some other species, but these do not 

significantly change the economic 

impacts of the rule, which were not 

quantified for other species. For these 

reasons, we have not conducted a new 

Economic Analysis, but the 2008–09 

analysis is part of the record for this rule 

and is available at http://www.fws.gov/ 

migratorybirds/ 

NewReportsPublications/SpecialTopics/ 

SpecialTopics.html#HuntingRegs or at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The regulations have a significant 

economic impact on substantial 

numbers of small entities under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.). We analyzed the economic 

impacts of the annual hunting 

regulations on small business entities in 

detail as part of the 1981 cost-benefit 

analysis. This analysis was revised 

annually from 1990–95. In 1995, the 

Service issued a Small Entity Flexibility 

Analysis (Analysis), which was 

subsequently updated in 1996, 1998, 

2004, and 2008. The primary source of 

information about hunter expenditures 

for migratory game bird hunting is the 

National Hunting and Fishing Survey, 

which is conducted at 5-year intervals. 

The 2008 Analysis was based on the 

2006 National Hunting and Fishing 

Survey and the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s County Business Patterns, 

from which it was estimated that 

migratory bird hunters would spend 

approximately $1.2 billion at small 

businesses in 2008. Copies of the 

Analysis are available by writing to the 

street address indicated under 

ADDRESSES or from our Web site at 

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/ 

NewReportsPublications/SpecialTopics/ 

SpecialTopics.html#HuntingRegs or at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act 

This rule is a major rule under 5 

U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. 

For the reasons outlined above, it has an 

annual effect on the economy of $100 

million or more. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

We examined these regulations under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The various 

recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements imposed under regulations 

established in 50 CFR part 20, subpart 

K, are utilized in the formulation of 

migratory game bird hunting 

regulations. Specifically, OMB has 

approved the information collection 

requirements of our Migratory Bird 

Surveys and assigned control number 

1018–0023 (expires 2/28/2011). This 

information is used to provide a 

sampling frame for voluntary national 

surveys to improve our harvest 

estimates for all migratory game birds in 

order to better manage these 

populations. A Federal agency may not 

conduct or sponsor and a person is not 

required to respond to a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

We have determined and certify, in 

compliance with the requirements of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, 2 

U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking 

will not impose a cost of $100 million 

or more in any given year on local or 

State government or private entities. 

Therefore, this rule is not a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act. 

Civil Justice Reform—Executive Order 

12988 

The Department, in promulgating this 

rule, has determined that it will not 

unduly burden the judicial system and 

that it meets the requirements of 

sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive 

Order 12988. 

Takings Implication Assessment 

In accordance with Executive Order 

12630, this rule, authorized by the 

Migratory Bird Treaty Act, does not 

have significant takings implications 

and does not affect any constitutionally 

protected property rights. This rule will 

not result in the physical occupancy of 

property, the physical invasion of 

property, or the regulatory taking of any 

property. In fact, it allows hunters to 

exercise otherwise unavailable 

privileges and, therefore, reduces 

restrictions on the use of private and 

public property. 

Energy Effects—Executive Order 13211 

Executive Order 13211 requires 

agencies to prepare Statements of 

Energy Effects when undertaking certain 

actions. While this rule is a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866, it is not expected to adversely 

affect energy supplies, distribution, or 

use. Therefore, this action is not a 

significant energy action and no 

Statement of Energy Effects is required. 

Government-to-Government 

Relationship with Tribes 

In accordance with the President’s 

memorandum of April 29, 1994, 

‘‘Government-to-Government Relations 


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with Native American Tribal 

Governments’’ (59 FR 22951), Executive 

Order 13175, and 512 DM 2, we have 

evaluated possible effects on Federallyrecognized Indian tribes and have 

determined that there are no effects on 

Indian trust resources. However, in the 

April 10 Federal Register, we solicited 

proposals for special migratory bird 

hunting regulations for certain Tribes on 

Federal Indian reservations, offreservation trust lands, and ceded lands 

for the 2009–10 migratory bird hunting 

season. The resulting proposals were 

contained in a separate August 11, 2009, 

proposed rule (74 FR 36870). By virtue 

of these actions, we have consulted with 

affected Tribes. 

Federalism Effects 

Due to the migratory nature of certain 

species of birds, the Federal 

Government has been given 

responsibility over these species by the 

Migratory Bird Treaty Act. We annually 

prescribe frameworks from which the 

States make selections regarding the 

hunting of migratory birds, and we 

employ guidelines to establish special 

regulations on Federal Indian 

reservations and ceded lands. This 

process preserves the ability of the 

States and Tribes to determine which 

seasons meet their individual needs. 

Any State or Indian Tribe may be more 

restrictive than the Federal frameworks 

at any time. The frameworks are 

developed in a cooperative process with 

the States and the Flyway Councils. 

This process allows States to participate 

in the development of frameworks from 

which they will make selections, 

thereby having an influence on their 

own regulations. These rules do not 

have a substantial direct effect on fiscal 

capacity, change the roles or 

responsibilities of Federal or State 

governments, or intrude on State policy 

or administration. Therefore, in 

accordance with Executive Order 13132, 

these regulations do not have significant 

federalism effects and do not have 

sufficient federalism implications to 

warrant the preparation of a Federalism 

Assessment. 

Regulations Promulgation 

The rulemaking process for migratory 

game bird hunting must, by its nature, 

operate under severe time constraints. 

However, we intend that the public be 

given the greatest possible opportunity 

to comment. Thus, when the 

preliminary proposed rulemaking was 

published, we established what we 

believed were the longest periods 

possible for public comment. In doing 

this, we recognized that when the 

comment period closed, time would be 

of the essence. That is, if there were a 

delay in the effective date of these 

regulations after this final rulemaking, 

States would have insufficient time to 

select season dates and limits; to 

communicate those selections to us; and 

to establish and publicize the necessary 

regulations and procedures to 

implement their decisions. We find that 

‘‘good cause’’ exists, within the terms of 

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act, and therefore, under 

authority of the Migratory Bird Treaty 

Act (July 3, 1918), as amended (16 

U.S.C. 703–711), these regulations will 

take effect immediately upon 

publication. Accordingly, with each 

conservation agency having had an 

opportunity to participate in selecting 

the hunting seasons desired for its State 

or Territory on those species of 

migratory birds for which open seasons 

are now prescribed, and consideration 

having been given to all other relevant 

matters presented, certain sections of 

title 50, chapter I, subchapter B, part 20, 

subpart K, are hereby amended as set 

forth below. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 20 

Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, 

Transportation, Wildlife. 

Dated: August 20, 2009. 

Will Shafroth, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and 

Wildlife and Parks. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, title 50, chapter I, subchapter 

B, part 20, subpart K of the Code of 

Federal Regulations is amended as 

follows: 

PART 20—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 20 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 40 

Stat. 755, 16 U.S.C. 703–712; Fish and 

Wildlife Act of 1956, 16 U.S.C. 742 a–j, 

Public Law 106–108, 113 Stat. 1491, Note 

Following 16 U.S.C. 703. 

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[FR Doc. E9–20739 Filed 8–28–09; 8:45 am] 

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