Migratory Bird Hunting; Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations on Certain Federal Indian Reservations and Ceded Lands

As part of the rulemaking process for the 2023-2024 season for migratory game bird hunting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter, Service or we) has revised the process for establishing regulations for certain Tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off- reservation trust lands, and ceded lands. The Service recognizes Tribal treaty rights and the reserved hunting rights and management authority of Indian Tribes and seeks to strengthen Tribal sovereignty. We will no longer require that Tribes annually submit a proposal to the Service for our review and approval and no longer publish in the Federal Register the annual Tribal migratory bird hunting regulations. Instead, the regulations now include elements of our current guidelines for establishing migratory game bird hunting regulations on Federal Indian reservations (including off-reservation trust lands) and ceded lands. Since 1985, Tribal migratory bird harvest has been small with negligible impact to bird population status, and we anticipate that Tribal hunting of migratory birds will continue to have similar negligible impacts to bird populations in the future. This rule will reduce administrative burdens on both the Tribes and the Service while continuing to sustain healthy migratory game bird populations for future generations.