“To require the Secretary of the Interior to develop regional management frameworks for the take of double-crested cormorants.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to develop—within 180 days of enactment and in coordination with applicable Regional Flyway Councils—regional management frameworks for the take of double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) for each flyway region (Atlantic, Central, Mississippi, and Pacific), based on existing information. Each framework must (1) ensure sustainable breeding populations in accordance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and, beginning with the first update, the most recent population survey; (2) specify allowed methods and time periods of take; (3) identify authorized entities, including state and tribal agencies as well as state-licensed or authorized hunters, lake managers, and pond managers; (4) enable states and Indian tribes to implement specified management actions, including within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System; and (5) account for overabundant cormorant impacts on fisheries, sensitive vegetation, other migratory birds, human health and safety, water quality, and species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The section further requires the Secretary to conduct double-crested cormorant population surveys every five years beginning five years after enactment, in coordination with the Regional Flyway Councils, and to review and update each framework every five years thereafter, incorporating the latest survey results.