Process for Authorizing Seasonal Migratory Game Bird Hunting
Key claim: The Fish and Wildlife Service will authorize seasonal migratory bird hunting through a three-year memorandum instead of issuing new federal hunting rules every year, while still setting harvest levels annually.
Abstract
(Rule · Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife Service) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) is changing the administrative process for authorizing seasonal migratory game bird hunting in the United States. Migratory game bird hunting regulations are currently promulgated annually to provide opportunities for recreation and sustenance; aid Federal, State, and Tribal governments in the management of migratory game birds; and allow harvests at levels compatible with migratory game bird population status and habitat conditions. The Service is adopting a more efficient administrative process for authorizing seasonal migratory game bird hunting. The Service will issue a memorandum to establish the limits and authorize seasonal migratory game bird hunting once every 3 years. The Service will continue to make annual decisions on harvest levels and will update the memorandum sooner than 3 years if changes are prescribed by our decision frameworks. The process eliminates the need for subsequent annual Federal regulation promulgation and rulemaking and is expected to increase efficiency; better meet State, Tribal, and Federal rulemaking constraints; and reduce the complexity and costs. Our goal is to better serve State partners and the hunting public while continuing to meet the legal and conservation purposes of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Tribes are already authorized under a similar process.
Why this matters
For hunters and state wildlife agencies, moving to a three-year framework memorandum reduces annual federal paperwork and provides more planning certainty for seasons, outfitters, and license structures. Because annual harvest levels (bag limits, season length) are still set each year, the conservation guardrails and biological responsiveness of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act framework are preserved; the change is procedural rather than substantive.