The FWS may assemble an informal report on fish and wildlife resources 

 for use in later phases of the leasing process whether or not a formal 

 resource report is filed. These formal and informal resource reports 

 become valuable tools for supporting nominations, for reviewing environ- 

 mental impact statements, pinpointing resources needing extra protection 

 through lease stipulations, developing FWS Program Decision Option 

 Document (PDOD) strategies, and contributing to the PDOD [45]. 



The FWS resource report is prepared at the Regional level and sub- 

 mitted by the Regional Director to the OCS Coordinator (Table 5). The 

 Regional Director designates the offices where the resource report source 

 files are assembled. The Director of the Service transmits the report 

 to the Bureau of Land Management. FWS tries to coordinate its field work 

 with that of the Bureau of Land Management's OCS Field Office--Division 

 of Environmental Assessment. This BLM office works with specialized 

 information directly related to Fish and Wildlife Service interests [47]. 



Table 5. Fish and Wildlife Service Preparation of a 

 Resource Report. (Source: Reference 46) 



Step 1 As soon as a potential lease area is identified in 

 the proposed OCS Planning Schedule, the FWS regional 

 office begins assembling available data, reports and 

 information which it might use in a resource report. 



Step 2 The FWS prepares a descriptive report for the living 

 resources of the area. 



Step 3 Key environmental indicators are identified. 



Step 4 A formal resource report is submitted to BLM. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service has legal resource responsibility in 

 the marine environment for birds and four species of marine mammals (the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service in the Department of Commerce has legal 

 responsibility for other living resources of the sea), but its authority 

 in this review process is not restricted to these resources alone [48]. 

 Its broader concerns are grounded in the Fish and Wildlife Coordination 

 Act, NEPA, and its special knowledge of wildlife (all living things) and 

 their habitats. As an Interior Department agency participating in the 

 leasing process, it is the lead Federal biological resource agency with 

 a direct input 1n the OCS leasing process [49]. 



BLM considers the FWS resource report along with the USGS evaluation 

 of oil and gas resources and reports of other agencies prior to naming 

 specific tracts to be included in the call for nominations [50]. 



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