2022-12463: 2022-2023 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations

Summary

Consistent with the steadfast commitment to access to our National Wildlife Refuges and continued efforts to provide hunting and fishing opportunities, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to open, for the first time, two National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) that are currently closed to hunting and sport fishing. In addition, we propose to open or expand hunting or sport fishing at 17 other NWRs and add pertinent station-specific regulations for other NWRs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, or sport fishing for the 2022-2023 season. We also propose to make changes to existing station-specific regulations in order to reduce the regulatory burden on the public, increase access for hunters and anglers on Service lands and waters, and comply with a Presidential mandate for plain language standards. Finally, the best available science, analyzed as part of this proposed rulemaking, indicates that lead ammunition and tackle may have negative impacts on both wildlife and human health, and that those impacts are more acute for some species. Therefore, while the Service continues to evaluate the future of lead use in hunting and fishing on Service lands and waters, this rulemaking provides a measured approach in not adding to the use of lead on refuge lands. The Service will seek input from partners in methods to address the use of lead and commits to a transparent process in doing so.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 1 part of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 50 CFR 32 Hunting and Fishing