Tweets,

FYI.

Peggi
>============================================================
>
>March 14, 1997 Hugh Vickery 202-208-5634
>
> SERVICE SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON CHANGING REGULATORY
> ALTERNATIVES FOR DUCK HUNTING
>
>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public comment on
>whether to modify the regulatory alternatives it considers in
>setting duck-hunting seasons. The potential changes include
>increases in season lengths and bag limits in some of the
>existing alternatives as well as the addition of a very
>restrictive alternative.
>
>The Service published a notice in the March 13, 1997, Federal
>Register asking for public comment before it formally proposes
>any changes.
>
>Last year, the Service considered three regulatory
>alternatives--"restrictive," "moderate," and "liberal"--before
>selecting the "liberal" alternative. Under changes recommended
>by the Adaptive Harvest Management Working Group, bag limits and
>season lengths would be increased in the "moderate" and "liberal"
>options. These changes are intended to provide additional
>hunting opportunity in a way that is biologically sound and that
>reflects the desires and needs of state wildlife agencies.
>
>"Liberal" regulations would be permitted only when mallard
>populations could be maintained at or near the goal of the North
>American Waterfowl Management Plan. Historically, regulations
>have been tied to mallard populations because they are the most
>common duck harvested and are a bellwether for many other
>species.
>
>The working group also recommended that a fourth "very
>restrictive" alternative be added. This alternative is intended
>to provide limited hunting seasons in years when waterfowl
>populations drop to low levels but when closing the season would
>be unnecessarily restrictive.
>
>The Adaptive Harvest Management Working Group includes technical
>experts from the four flyway councils, which represent state and
>Provincial interests, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the U.S.
>Fish and Wildlife Service. According to the working group, the
>recommendations are intended to provide maximum hunting
>opportunities consistent with long-term resource conservation and
>the desire to maintain duck populations at levels specified in
>the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.
>
>Although bag limits and season lengths could increase over those
>used in the recent past, the biological impact would not. The
>reason is a long-term decline in hunter numbers. The number of
>waterfowl hunters peaked in 1970 at 2 million and declined
>steadily to a low of 1 million in 1987. In spite of liberal
>hunting regulations in 1994 and 1995, hunter numbers rose only
>slightly to 1.2 million.
>
>"We are comfortable that the changes suggested by the working
>group are consistent with sound resource conservation," said
>Acting Service Director John Rogers. "However, we are aware of
>concerns some people may have about increasing the bag limits and
>season lengths, especially given the reports of disappointing
>hunting seasons in some areas this past fall."
>
>Although the projected fall flight in 1996 was one of the largest
>in decades, mild weather and abundant habitat may have reduced
>hunting success in some areas.
>
>Under the liberal regulations in place for the 1995-96 and 1996-
>97 hunting seasons, an average of 10 percent of the adult male
>mallards in the fall flight were taken by hunters. In the 1970s
>and early 1980s, when similar regulations were used, the harvest
>rate for adult male mallards was 13 percent.
>
>Given the number of waterfowl hunters expected in 1997 and
>assuming that population and habitat conditions again call for
>the "liberal" alternative, the working group anticipates a
>harvest rate of about 12 percent. Harvest rates for hen mallards
>and other ducks usually are less than for male mallards.
>
>The Adaptive Harvest Management process was designed to help
>waterfowl managers better understand the impacts of hunting
>regulations on harvest and population levels. The process is
>intended to provide a more formal framework for addressing
>controversial harvest-management issues, thereby providing a more
>objective, better informed, and less contentious decision-making
>process.
>
>The Service will offer its proposal for regulatory alternatives
>for ducks in the Federal Register in mid-May, with a public
>comment period ending on or about June 27, 1997. Final
>regulatory alternatives will be published in the Federal Register
>on or about July 15, 1997. Comments can be sent to Chief, Office
>of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Department of the Interior,
>Fish and Wildlife Service, ms 634-ARLSQ, 1849 C Street NW.,
>Washington, DC 20240.
>
>
>
>
>============================================================
>News releases are also available on the World Wide Web at
>http://www.fws.gov/~r9extaff/pubaff.html They can be reviewed in
>chronological order or searched by keyword.
>
>Questions concerning a particular news release or item of
>information should be directed to the person listed as the
>contact. General comments or observations concerning the
>content of the information should be directed to Craig
>Rieben (craig_rieben at mail.fws.gov) in the Office of Public
>Affairs.
>
>============================================================
>To unsubscribe from the fws-news listserver, send e-mail to
>majordomo at www.fws.gov with "unsubscribe fws-news" (and omit
>the "quotes") in the **body** of the message. You should not
>include anything on the Subject: line.
>
>For additional information about listserver commands, send a
>message to majordomo at www.fws.gov with "info fws-news" (and
>no "quotes") in the body of the message.
>
>
>.-
>
>
Ben & Peggi Rodgers
Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz)
USA
woodduck at cruzio.com


"A bird does not sing because it has an answer,
It sings because it has a song"