[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 215 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60826-60828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28814]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Migratory Bird Permits; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement and National Management Plan for the
Double-Crested Cormorant
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing this notice to
advise the public that we are initiating efforts to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and accompanying national
management plan aimed at
[[Page 60827]]
addressing impacts caused by population and range expansion of the
double-crested cormorant in the contiguous United States. This notice
describes a range of possible alternatives, invites public
participation in the scoping process for preparing the EIS, and
identifies the Service official to whom you may direct questions and
comments. Locations, dates, and times of public scoping meetings have
yet to be determined.
DATES: We will publish the formal closing date for receiving scoping
comments when the notice of public scoping meetings is published in the
Federal Register. We anticipate Federal Register publication of the
locations, dates, and times of public scoping meetings to occur within
two months of this notice of intent.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any
one of several methods. You may mail comments to: Chief, Office of
Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N.
Fairfax Dr., Room 634, Arlington, VA 22203. You may also comment via
the internet to: cormorant__eis@fws.gov. Please submit internet
comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and
any form of encryption. Please also include your name and return
address in your internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation
that we have received your message, contact us directly at (703) 358-
2334. Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to: Room 634--Arlington
Square Building, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia. Our
practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address
from the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable
by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must
state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we
will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety. We have
yet to determine potential sites of public scoping meetings. We will
publish a notice of public meetings with the locations, dates, and
times in the Federal Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jon Andrew, Chief, Office of
Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (703) 358-
1714; or John L. Trapp, Office of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, (703) 358-1965.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax
auritus) has been protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act since
1972. Populations of this large fish-eating waterbird, which is native
to all 48 of the contiguous United States, have increased dramatically
during the past three decades. In many parts of the United States, this
has culminated in conflicts with resources of value to humans.
Cormorants and Their Impacts
The size of the North American breeding population of the double-
crested cormorant has been estimated at about 372,000 pairs, or 852
colonies (Tyson et al. 1997). Using values of one to four non-breeding
birds per breeding pair yields an estimated total population of 1-2
million birds (Hatch 1995). The double-crested cormorant breeds widely
throughout much of the coastal and interior portions of the United
States. It has been found breeding in 46 of the 48 contiguous United
States. However, it is not uniformly distributed across this broad
area. Sixty-one percent of the breeding birds belong to the Interior
population and it is the fastest growing of the six major North
American breeding populations (Hatch 1995). From 1970-1991, in the
Great Lakes region (American and Canadian), which lies within the range
of the Interior population, the number of double-crested cormorant
nests increased from 89 to 38,000, an average annual increase of 29
percent (Weseloh et al. 1995). For the contiguous United States as a
whole, the breeding population increased at an average rate of 6.1
percent per year from 1966-1994 (Sauer et al. 1996).
Cormorant wintering populations are concentrated in coastal States,
from North Carolina to Texas in the east and from California to
Washington in the west. In the south, there also are appreciable
concentrations inland from the coast (e.g., east Texas, eastern
Oklahoma, southeastern Arkansas, west-central Mississippi, and
northeastern Alabama). Cormorants nesting in Canada and the northern
United States from Alberta to the Gulf of St. Lawrence (i.e., the
Atlantic and Interior populations) migrate in winter primarily to the
southern United States between Texas and Florida.
Cormorants have been implicated as being responsible for: (1)
Economic losses at commercial aquaculture facilities; (2) damage to
trees and other vegetation associated with breeding colonies and
roosting sites; (3) impacts to other species of migratory birds in the
vicinity of cormorant breeding colonies; (4) declines in economic
revenues associated with outdoor (primarily fishing-related)
recreational activities; (5) declines in populations of sport fish; and
(6) lowering of private property values.
Past Management Actions
Formal efforts by the Service and others to control double-crested
cormorant populations date to the 1940s. Since 1972, we have issued
depredation permits to persons who can document injury to ``crops or
other interests'' by migratory birds, including cormorants (50 CFR
21.41). In the last decade, requests for depredation permits to control
damages caused by double-crested cormorants have increased
dramatically.
In response to published evidence of significant economic losses at
commercial aquaculture facilities due to predation by double-crested
cormorants, we implemented a depredation order on March 4, 1998 (63 FR
10560). The depredation order allows commercial aquaculturists in 13
States to take unlimited numbers of double-crested cormorants ``* * *
when found committing or about to commit depredations to aquaculture
stocks * * *'' (50 CFR 21.47).
In early spring 1999, we received applications for permits to
conduct cormorant control activities at Little Galloo Island, Lake
Ontario, New York (oiling of eggs in up to 7,500 nests); and Young
Island, Lake Champlain, Vermont (oiling of eggs in up to 3,000 nests).
Environmental Assessments of the proposed actions concluded that they
would have no significant environmental effects, and permits were
subsequently issued (USFWS 1999a and b).
The Atlantic States Legal Foundation (ASLF) challenged the issuance
of a permit to the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation in United States District Court in a complaint filed
August 16, 1999. The ASLF argued that our decision to issue a permit in
this instance was a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act and was arbitrary and capricious.
Although the District Court has taken no action on the ASLF
complaint, the action highlights the need for scientific inquiry into
the nature of the problems caused by double-crested cormorants and an
assessment of the utility of management actions most likely to resolve
resulting conflicts.
[[Page 60828]]
Alternatives
After the scoping process, we will develop alternatives to be
included in the EIS, basing them on our mission and the comments
received during scoping. Examples of alternatives that we might
consider range from ``No Action'' to ``Large-scale Population Control
on Breeding Grounds, Wintering Grounds, and Migration Areas in the
United States.''
As a precursor to the national management plan, the Service has
contracted for the development of a cormorant status assessment. A
draft is currently under review. Availability of this document for
public review will be announced at a later date.
We are soliciting your comments on issues, alternatives, and
impacts we might address in the EIS. Of particular value will be
comments that: (1) Identify and, where possible, quantify impacts
caused by increasing cormorant populations; (2) suggest management
strategies to resolve such conflicts; and (3) identify determining
factors in justifying the need for control, if any.
Issue Resolution and Environmental Review
The primary issue that we will address during the scoping and
planning process for the EIS is to determine which alternatives for
managing double-crested cormorant populations we will analyze. We will
prepare a discussion of the potential effects, by alternative, which
will include the following areas:
(1) Double-crested cormorant populations and their habitats;
(2) Other bird populations and their habitats;
(3) Effects on other species of flora and fauna; and
(4) Socioeconomic effects.
We will conduct an environmental review of the management actions
in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), as appropriate. We are furnishing this notice in
accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 to obtain suggestions and information
from other agencies, tribes, and the public on the scope of issues to
be addressed in the EIS. A draft EIS should be available to the public
in the spring of 2000.
Public Scoping Meetings
A schedule of public scoping meetings is not available at this
time. We encourage suggestions of potential dates, times, and locations
for the meetings. We will then publish notice of the meetings in the
Federal Register.
References Cited
A complete list of all references cited herein is available from
the Office of Migratory Bird Management (see ADDRESSES section).
Dated: October 26, 1999.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 99-28814 Filed 11-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
