[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66307-66308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31875]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Animal Trapping Within the National Wildlife Refuge System
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking information
regarding the use of animal traps within the National Wildlife Refuge
System. Interested parties that wish to provide information on any
aspect of this subject should send the information to the address
listed below no later than February 15, 1997. All information received
will be forwarded to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees by
March 1, 1997 as required by the Omnibus Fiscal Year 1997
Appropriations Bill.
DATES: For written comments to be considered, they must be received by
February 15, 1997.
ADDRESSES: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Refuges,
Attention: Trapping Project, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 670,
Arlington, VA 22203.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken McDermond, Refuge Program
Specialist, 703/358-2422; 703/358-1826 (fax);
[[Page 66308]]
kenneth__mcdermond@mail.fws.gov (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The conference report accompanying the
Fiscal Year 1997 Appropriations Act, Public Law 104-208, 110 STAT. 3009
contained the following language:
``While there is no specific prohibition on the use of steel jaw
leghold traps, the Service should establish a task force to study the
use of animal traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The task
force should consider the humaneness of various trapping methods, as
well as the cost, the impact on the protection of endangered species,
the impact on Fish and Wildlife Service facilities, and other relevant
issues. The task force should include interested outside parties and
report its findings to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations by March 1, 1997.''
The Committee's instructions to the Service provided that the
Service ``should establish a task force to study the use of animal
traps'' and the ``task force should include interested outside parties
and report its findings to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations by March 1, 1997.'' These instructions presented a
difficult legal challenge. After consultation with the Service's
representatives in the Solicitor's Office, it was clear that given the
time available to meet these instructions that it would be virtually
impossible to achieve a balanced but limited representation of
interests on the task force and prepare a report that represented the
task force's findings while being consistent with legally required
procedures. The Solicitor's Office suggested, however, that a general
solicitation from all interested outside parties, encouraging a
broadly-based task force approach that would not serve to exclude
interested participants, and the transmittal of all information
received thereby to the Committees without editorial change or policy
alteration would be consistent with the general intent of the
Committee's instructions and achievable within the existing procedural
laws by March 1, 1997. The Service has, accordingly, adopted this
suggestion and requests all interested parties to submit information on
the use of traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System, in particular
those issues identified in the conference report.
Dated: December 11, 1996.
John G. Rogers,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 96-31875 Filed 12-16-96; 8:45 am]
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