View Rule

Various populations of light geese (greater and lesser snow geese and Ross's geese) have undergone rapid growth during the past 30 years, and have become seriously injurious to their own habitat, as well as to habitat important to other migratory birds and to agricultural interests. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes that several of these populations have exceeded the long-term carrying capacity of their breeding and/or migration habitats and must be reduced. In 1999, we implemented regulations that authorized new methods of take and created a conservation order to increase harvest of certain populations of light geese in the Central and Mississippi Flyways (64 FR 7507). Subsequently, we prepared an environmental impact statement and record of decision in 2008 to revise the regulations to include the Atlantic Flyway (73 FR 65926). This rule would reduce the information collection requirements of conservation order participants and reduce the burden on State wildlife agencies that are required to submit annual light goose harvest reports to the Service.