50 CFR § 90.1 - 90.17 - Feeding Depredating Migratory Waterfowl

700 SUBCHAPTER G—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS PART 90—FEEDING DEPREDATING MIGRATORY WATERFOWL Subpart A—Introduction Sec. 90.1 General. 90.2 Scope of regulations. Subpart B—Use of Surplus Grain 90.11 Statutory provisions. 90.12 Interpretation. 90.13 Policy. 90.14 Waterfowl depredation complaints; where filed. 90.15 Criteria to govern approval of applica tions. 90.16 Actions following investigation. 90.17 Compliance with other regulations. AUTHORITY: 70 Stat. 492, 7 U.S.C. 443. SOURCE: 38 FR 6675, Mar. 12, 1973, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Introduction § 90.1 General. Any person having an interest in a crop and who is suffering damage due to depredations by migratory water fowl may file a complaint and apply for surplus grain for use in feeding pro grams to augment the natural source of food available to migratory water fowl to aid in the prevention of crop damage by such birds, as provided for in these regulations. § 90.2 Scope of regulations. The provisions of this part supple ment 70 Stat. 492, 7 U.S.C. 442–445. Subpart B—Use of Surplus Grain § 90.11 Statutory provisions. Section 1 of the Act of July 3, 1956, as amended (70 Stat. 492; 7 U.S.C. 442–445) provides that the Commodity Credit Corporation shall make available to the Secretary of the Interior such wheat, corn, or other grains, acquired through price support operations and certified by the Corporation to be available for purposes of the Act or in such condition through spoilage or de terioration as not to be desirable for human consumption, as the Secretary shall requisition for the purpose of pre venting crop damage by migratory wa terfowl. Section 2 of the Act provides that, upon a finding that any area in the United States is threatened with damage to farmers’ crops by migratory waterfowl, the Secretary is authorized and directed to requisition from the Commodity Credit Corporation and to make available to Federal, State, or local governmental bodies or officials, or to private organizations or persons, such grain acquired by the Corporation through price support operations in such quantities and subject to such regulations as the Secretary deter mines will most effectively lure migra tory waterfowl away from crop depre dations and at the same time not ex pose such migratory waterfowl to shooting over areas to which the wa terfowl have been lured by such feeding programs. § 90.12 Interpretation. The authorization contained in the Act limits the availability of grain ac quired through price support oper ations to the prevention of crop dam age by migratory waterfowl (brant, wild ducks, geese, and swans) and such grain may not be made available for the feeding of any other species of mi gratory birds, whether or not such other species of migratory birds are committing or threatening to commit crop damage. Further, the Act does not authorize the use of such grain to con duct a migratory waterfowl feeding program for the purpose of augmenting natural sources of food available to mi gratory waterfowl, nor for any purpose incident to migratory waterfowl man agement not related to the prevention of crop damage. Accordingly, such grain shall not be made available pur suant to the Act to augment or to sub stitute for natural sources of migra tory waterfowl food except as may be determined by the Secretary to be nec essary to aid in the prevention of crop damage by such birds. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:11 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 256244 PO 00000 Frm 00710 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:\SGML\256244.XXX 256244pp ar ke r on D S K 6V X H R 33 P R O D w ith C F R 701 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv., Interior § 90.16 § 90.13 Policy. Whenever it is found necessary to conduct feeding programs under this section for the purposes of preventing crop damage by migratory waterfowl, it shall be the policy of the Secretary for the purposes of economy and effi ciency to accord preference to feeding programs proposed to be executed through the placement of grain upon wildlife management areas or other lands or waters owned, leased, or other wise controlled by an agency of the United States or a State. § 90.14 Waterfowl depredation com plaints; where filed. Any person having an interest in crops being damaged or threatened with damage by migratory waterfowl in circumstances meeting the criteria prescribed in § 90.15 may make applica tion for grain for use in luring such wa terfowl away from such crops by sub mitting a written request to the Re gional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional office having administrative jurisdiction over the wildlife activities in the State where the affected crops are located. (See § 2.2 for geographical jurisdiction and ad dresses of regional offices.) Such appli cations may be in letter form but must contain information disclosing the lo cation, nature, condition and extent of the crops being damaged or threatened, and the particular species of migratory waterfowl committing or threatening to commit damage. For the purposes of this section any authorized official of Federal, State, or local governmental body shall be deemed to be a ‘‘person’’ and to have such an interest in crops threatened with damages as to qualify him as an applicant. § 90.15 Criteria to govern approval of applications. Upon receipt of a written application for such grain for use in preventing crop depredations, the Regional Direc tor shall promptly cause an investiga tion to be made, when necessary, to de termine whether the applicant is in fact entitled to have such grain made available for such purposes. Whenever feasible the required investigation shall be made jointly by a representa tive of the game department of the State in which the affected crops are located and a representative of the Re gional Director. When conducting such investigations, each of the factors set forth in paragraphs (a) to (d) of this section shall be considered separately. An application for grain shall not be approved if it is determined that one or more of these factors minimizes the ex tent of crop damage or provides an other effective method of preventing the complained of damage. (a) The migratory waterfowl commit ting or threatening to commit crop damage must be predominantly of a species which are susceptible of being effectively lured away from the crops by the use of such grain. (b) The crop damage or threatened crop damage must be substantial in na ture (when measured by the extent and potential value of the crops involved and the number of birds threatening damage); and must affect growing crops or mature unharvested crops that are in such condition as to be market able or have value as feed for livestock or other purposes of material value to the applicant. (c) It must be shown that the damage or threat of damage cannot be abated through the exercise of any of the privileges granted in permits author ized by this chapter I to frighten or otherwise herd migratory waterfowl away from affected crops. (d) During an open hunting season, it must be shown that the area affected by crop damage has been and is now open to public hunting and there has been a clear demonstration that such hunting is ineffective, and cannot be made effective, to prevent crop damage on such area. § 90.16 Actions following investigation. Upon receipt of a report and rec ommendations based upon an inves tigation conducted under § 90.15, the Secretary shall make a determination that the applicant meets the qualifica tions for receiving grain. He shall then determine the quantity of grain, either bagged or in bulk, to be made avail able; the means of transportation; and the point of delivery in the vicinity of the crop damage. Before receiving de livery of such grain the applicant shall VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:11 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 256244 PO 00000 Frm 00711 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:\SGML\256244.XXX 256244pp ar ke r on D S K 6V X H R 33 P R O D w ith C F R 702 50 CFR Ch. I (10–1–22 Edition) § 90.17 execute and deliver to any officer au thorized to enforce this part written assurances as follows: (a) That grain made available to him under this part will be used exclusively for the prevention and abatement of crop damage by migratory waterfowl and that no portion of such grain will be sold, donated, exchanged, or used as feed for livestock or other domestic animals or for any other purpose; (b) That consent is granted to any of ficer authorized to enforce this part, to inspect, supervise or direct the place ment and distribution of grain made available under this part for the pre vention of crop damage at all reason able times; (c) That free and unrestricted access over the premises on which feeding op erations have been or are to be con ducted shall be permitted at all reason able times, by any officer authorized to enforce this part and that such infor mation as may be required by the offi cer will be promptly furnished; and (d) That the applicant will not take, nor permit his agents, employees, invitees, or other persons under his control to take migratory game birds on or over any lands or waters subject to his control, during the time such grain is placed, exposed, deposited, dis tributed, scattered, or present upon such lands or waters, nor for a period of 10 days immediately following the consumption or removal of such grain from such lands or waters. § 90.17 Compliance with other regula tions. Nothing in this subpart shall be con strued to supersede or modify any reg ulations relating to the hunting of mi gratory game birds, nor to permit the transportation, installation or use of grain contrary to any applicable Fed eral, State, or local laws or regula tions. PART 91—MIGRATORY BIRD HUNT ING AND CONSERVATION STAMP CONTEST Subpart A—Introduction Sec. 91.1 Purpose of regulations. 91.2 Definitions. 91.3 Public attendance at contest. 91.4 Eligible species. Subpart B—Procedures for Entering the Contest 91.11 Contest opening date and entry dead line. 91.12 Contest eligibility. 91.13 Technical requirements for design and submission of entry. 91.14 Restrictions on subject matter for entry. 91.15 [Reserved] 91.16 Submission procedures for entry. 91.17 Property insurance for contest entries. 91.18 Failure to comply with contest regula tions. Subpart C—Procedures for Administering the Contest 91.21 Selection and qualification of contest judges. 91.22 Display of contest entries. 91.23 Scoring criteria for contest. 91.24 Contest procedures. Subpart D—Post-Contest Procedures 91.31 Return of entries after contest. AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301; 16 U.S.C. 718j; 31 U.S.C. 9701. SOURCE: 53 FR 16344, May 6, 1988, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Introduction § 91.1 Purpose of regulations. (a) The purpose of these regulations is to establish procedures for selecting a design that will be used for the an nual Migratory Bird Hunting and Con servation Stamp (Federal Duck Stamp). (b) All individuals entering the con test must comply with these regula tions. A copy of the regulations, along with the Reproduction Rights Agree ment and Display and Participation Agreement, may be requested from the Federal Duck Stamp Office at the ad dress for the Division of Bird Habitat Conservation provided at 50 CFR 2.1(b). These documents can also be downloaded from our website at: http:// www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck stamp.php. (c) All contestants from the most re cent contest will be sent a copy of the VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:11 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 256244 PO 00000 Frm 00712 Fmt 8010 Sfmt 8010 Y:\SGML\256244.XXX 256244pp ar ke r on D S K 6V X H R 33 P R O D w ith C F R