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Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, Subpart D; Seasonal Adjustment--Arctic Village Sheep Management Area
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: August 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 169)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 51758-51760]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31au06-13]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
36 CFR Part 242
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 100
Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska,
Subpart D; Seasonal Adjustment--Arctic Village Sheep Management Area
AGENCIES: Forest Service, USDA; Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Seasonal adjustment.
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SUMMARY: This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's in-
season management action to remove closure restrictions on non-
Federally qualified users in the Red Sheep and Cane Creek drainages of
the Arctic Village Sheep Management Area. The Board's action provides
an exception to the Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands
in Alaska, published in the Federal Register on June 30, 2006. Those
regulations established seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means
relating to the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses during the 2006
regulatory year.
DATES: The action is effective from August 10, 2006, through September
20, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter J. Probasco, Office of
Subsistence Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, telephone (907)
786-3888. For questions specific to National Forest System lands,
contact Steve Kessler, Subsistence Program Manager, USDA--Forest
Service, Alaska Region, telephone (907) 786-3592.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
(ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3111-3126) requires that the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) implement a
joint program to grant a preference for subsistence uses of fish and
wildlife resources on public lands in Alaska, unless the State of
Alaska enacts and implements laws of general applicability that are
consistent with ANILCA and that provide for the subsistence definition,
preference, and participation specified in Sections 803, 804, and 805
of ANILCA. In December 1989, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the rural
[[Page 51759]]
preference in the State subsistence statute violated the Alaska
Constitution and, therefore, negated State compliance with ANILCA.
The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture
(Departments) assumed, on July 1, 1990, responsibility for
implementation of Title VIII of ANILCA on public lands. The Departments
administer Title VIII through regulations at Title 50, Part 100 and
Title 36, Part 242 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Consistent
with Subparts A, B, and C of these regulations, as revised January 8,
1999 (64 FR 1276), the Departments established a Federal Subsistence
Board to administer the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The
Board's composition includes a Chair appointed by the Secretary of the
Interior with concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture; the Alaska
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Alaska Regional
Director, National Park Service; the Alaska State Director, Bureau of
Land Management; the Alaska Regional Director, Bureau of Indian
Affairs; and the Alaska Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service. Through
the Board, these agencies participate in the development of regulations
for Subparts A, B, and C, which establish the program structure and
determine which Alaska residents are eligible to take specific species
for subsistence uses, and the annual Subpart D regulations, which
establish seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means for
subsistence take of species in specific areas. Subpart D regulations
for the 2006 wildlife seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means
were published on June 30, 2006 (71 FR 37642). Because this action
relates to a joint program managed by an agency or agencies in both the
Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, an identical adjustment
would apply to 36 CFR part 242 and 50 CFR part 100.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), under the direction
of the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF), manages sport, commercial,
personal use, and State subsistence harvest on all lands and waters
throughout Alaska. However, on Federal lands and waters, the Federal
Subsistence Board implements a subsistence priority for rural residents
as provided by Title VIII of ANILCA. In providing this priority, the
Board may, when necessary, preempt State harvest regulations for fish
or wildlife on Federal lands and waters.
Current Management Action
This action is authorized and in accordance with 50 CFR 100.19(d)-
(e) and 36 CFR 242.19(d)-(e).
Arctic Village Sheep Management Area
Section 815(3) of ANILCA authorizes restrictions or closures to
nonsubsistence uses on the public lands only when necessary for the
conservation of healthy populations of fish and wildlife or to continue
subsistence uses of such populations. Federal closure regulations for
the Arctic Village Sheep Management Area have been in existence since
the 1991/92 regulatory year. The management area was expanded in 1995
to include the Cane Creek and Red Sheep Creek drainages. The initial
closure was proposed to address concerns regarding low number of sheep
in the area, and to provide for continued subsistence use of sheep in
the area.
In 2005, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game submitted a
proposal that requested the Board remove the closure in the Arctic
Village Sheep Management Area to nonrural hunters. Their proposal
stated that without evidence of any significant use by local
subsistence hunters, the necessity of the closure to continue
subsistence use of sheep in the area could not be used to justify
maintaining the closure. The public and the Eastern Interior
Subsistence Regional Advisory Council reviewed and made recommendations
on the proposal. At its May 2006 meeting, the Board rejected the
proposal, as well as a motion to remove the closure for only the Red
Sheep and Cane Creek drainages, based on the lack of biological and
harvest data that would support or oppose the proposed action. The
Board requested agency staff to conduct a sheep population survey
within the affected area and indicated it would revisit this issue
pending the results of the survey.
A survey of sheep in the Red Sheep Creek and Cane Creek drainages
within the Arctic Village Sheep Management Area conducted June 19-21,
2006, found a minimum of 188 sheep in these drainages, including 53
rams, of which 18 were classified as mature rams. The estimated density
of sheep in these drainages was 1.8 sheep/mi2. Although the
density of sheep in the area is relatively low compared to some other
areas in the state, the density reflects the relatively poor quality of
the sheep habitat. The sex and age ratios of the sheep are within
normal ranges and indicate that the population is healthy. Allowing
sheep hunting by non-Federally qualified hunters in these drainages
would not adversely affect the sheep population because these hunters
would be limited to taking one full curl ram in the fall season when
this special action would be effective. Removal of some full curl rams
from the population will not reduce reproductive success in the sheep
population. Maintaining the closure to nonsubsistence hunting of sheep
in the Red Sheep Creek and Cane Creek drainages within the Arctic
Village Sheep Management Area is no longer necessary for conservation
of a healthy sheep population.
Maintaining the closure to nonsubsistence hunting of sheep in these
drainages is also not necessary to provide for continued subsistence
use of sheep. Currently, despite the closure to non-Federally qualified
hunters and a more liberal Federal subsistence harvest limit during the
fall than that provided under State regulations in adjacent areas,
there has been relatively little hunting effort in these drainages
reported by Arctic Village and other Federally qualified residents and
very few sheep have been reported taken there since the closure was
instituted in 1995. The sheep population in these drainages can support
harvest by both subsistence and nonsubsistence hunters. In fact,
because subsistence hunters can take rams of any age, the number of
rams available to subsistence hunters far exceeds the number of full
curl rams to which non-Federally qualified hunters are limited.
Allowing hunting by non-Federally qualified hunters in the Red Sheep
Creek and Cane Creek drainages would not significantly reduce harvest
opportunities for Arctic Village residents.
Finally, the existing closure is not justified for reasons of
public safety, administration, or pursuant to other applicable law.
On July 18, 2006, at a public work session in Anchorage, the Board
approved lifting the closure in the Red Sheep and Cane Creek drainages
from August 10, 2006, through September 20, 2006. The remainder of the
Arctic Village Sheep Management Area remains closed to nonrural hunters.
Conformance With Statutory and Regulatory Authorities
Administrative Procedure Act
The Board finds that additional public notice and comment
requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for this
adjustment are impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public
interest. Lack of appropriate and immediate action would generally fail
to serve the overall public interest and conflict with Section
[[Page 51760]]
815(3) of ANILCA. Therefore, the Board finds good cause pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) to waive additional public notice and comment
procedures prior to implementation of this action and pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make this rule effective as indicated in the DATES
section.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
A Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was published on
February 28, 1992, and a Record of Decision on Subsistence Management
for Federal Public Lands in Alaska (ROD) was signed April 6, 1992. The
final rule for Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in
Alaska, Subparts A, B, and C (57 FR 22940, published May 29, 1992),
implemented the Federal Subsistence Management Program and included a
framework for an annual cycle for subsistence hunting and fishing
regulations. A final rule that redefined the jurisdiction of the
Federal Subsistence Management Program to include waters subject to the
subsistence priority was published on January 8, 1999 (64 FR 1276).
Section 810 of ANILCA
The intent of all Federal subsistence regulations is to accord
subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on public lands a priority over
the taking of fish and wildlife on such lands for other purposes,
unless restriction is necessary to conserve healthy fish and wildlife
populations. A Section 810 analysis was completed as part of the FEIS
process. The final Section 810 analysis determination appeared in the
April 6, 1992, ROD, which concluded that the Federal Subsistence
Management Program, under Alternative IV with an annual process for
setting hunting and fishing regulations, may have some local impacts on
subsistence uses, but the program is not likely to significantly
restrict subsistence uses.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The adjustment does not contain information collection requirements
subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Federal
Agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
Other Requirements
The adjustment has been exempted from OMB review under Executive
Order 12866.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
requires preparation of flexibility analyses for rules that will have a
significant effect on a substantial number of small entities, which
include small businesses, organizations, or governmental jurisdictions.
The exact number of businesses and the amount of trade that will result
from this Federal land-related activity is unknown. The aggregate
effect is an insignificant economic effect (both positive and negative)
on a small number of small entities supporting subsistence activities,
such as sporting goods dealers. The number of small entities affected
is unknown; however, the effects will be seasonally and geographically
limited in nature and will likely not be significant. The Departments
certify that this adjustment will not have a significant economic
effect on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Under the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), this rule is not a
major rule. It does not have an effect on the economy of $100 million
or more, will not cause a major increase in costs or prices for
consumers, and does not have significant adverse effects on competition,
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of
U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.
Title VIII of ANILCA requires the Secretaries to administer a
subsistence preference on public lands. The scope of this program is
limited by definition to certain public lands. Likewise, this
adjustment has no potential takings of private property implications as
defined by Executive Order 12630.
The Service has determined and certifies under the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, 2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that the adjustment will
not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any given year on local or
State governments or private entities. The implementation is by Federal
agencies, and no cost is involved to any State or local entities or
Tribal governments.
The Service has determined that the adjustment meets the applicable
standards provided in Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order
12988, regarding civil justice reform.
In accordance with Executive Order 13132, the adjustment does not
have sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a
Federalism Assessment. Title VIII of ANILCA precludes the State from
exercising subsistence management authority over fish and wildlife
resources on Federal lands. Cooperative salmon run assessment efforts
with ADF&G will continue.
In accordance with the President's memorandum of April 29, 1994,
``Government-to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal
Governments'' (59 FR 22951), Executive Order 13175, and 512 DM 2, we
have evaluated possible effects on Federally recognized Indian tribes
and have determined that there are no substantial direct effects. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs is a participating agency in this rulemaking.
On May 18, 2001, the President issued Executive Order 13211 on
regulations that significantly affect energy supply, distribution, or
use. This Executive Order requires agencies to prepare Statements of
Energy Effects when undertaking certain actions. As this action is not
expected to significantly affect energy supply, distribution, or use,
it is not a significant energy action and no Statement of Energy
Effects is required.
Drafting Information
Bill Knauer drafted this document under the guidance of Peter J.
Probasco, of the Office of Subsistence Management, Alaska Regional
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska. Chuck
Ardizzone, Alaska State Office, Bureau of Land Management; Greg Bos,
Alaska Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Sandy
Rabinowitch, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service; Dr. Warren
Eastland, Alaska Regional Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs; and Steve
Kessler, USDA--Forest Service, provided additional guidance.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3, 472, 551, 668dd, 3101-3126; 18 U.S.C.
3551-3586; 43 U.S.C. 1733.
Dated: August 8, 2006.
Peter J. Probasco,
Acting Chair, Federal Subsistence Board.
Dated: August 8, 2006.
Steve Kessler,
Subsistence Program Leader, USDA--Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 06-7276 Filed 8-30-06; 8:45 am]
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