U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH OPERATIONAL GENERAL SWAN HUNTING SEASONS IN THE PACIFIC FLYWAY I. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION A. BACKGROUND Flyway Management Approach

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Pacific; Tundra
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.180.1990; http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/CurrentBirdIssues/Management/swan/EA03final1.pdf

In developing management actions for migratory game birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has publicly supported the goals, objectives, and management strategies identified in the various Flyway management plans for both Tundra (C. columbianus) and Trumpeter (C. buccinator) swans (Hartwig 1989, Gritman 1991, Schmidt 2000). It has encouraged cooperative, multi-State-sponsored, Flyway Councilendorsed projects for restoring migratory flocks of Trumpeter Swans within their historic range and has supported Flyway Council-endorsed hunting seasons on Tundra Swans within prescribed guidelines that meet overall objectives for all swan populations. In the 1995 Environmental Assessment (Bartonek et al. 1995) the Service stated that it recognized that there was some unauthorized kill of Trumpeter Swans outside of sanctioned hunting seasons. Such activities are always considered illegal and are prosecuted when detected. In addition, some accidental and incidental killing of Trumpeter Swans is known to occur in existing regulated hunting seasons. Such accidental hunting losses were believed rare, and most likely will continue to be proportional to size and distribution of Trumpeter Swan populations. When such taking