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TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES 



ON BATTING REGULATIONS UNDER THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT 



GARY J. TAYLOR, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR 



INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES 



May 15, 1996 



Thank you, Mr. Chainnan, for allowing us to share with the Committee the perspectives of the 

 Association regarding baiting regulations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Art (MBTA). Our 

 Association has had a long affiliation (dating back to our origins in 1902) with migratory birds 

 and their conservation. As you are aware, the State fish and wildlife agencies are public trustees 

 of fish and wildlife resources within their borders and have statutory authority to ensure the 

 vitality and stewardship of these resources for the use and enjoyment of their citizens, both 

 present and future. State jurisdiction for migratory birds is concurrent with the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. The conservation of migratory birds is thus of vital interest to our Association 

 and the citizens of this country who enjoy these resources. 



The Association, founded in 1902, is a quasi-governmental organization of public agencies 

 charged with the protection and management of North America's fish and wildlife resources. 

 The Association's governmental members include the fish and wildlife agencies of the states, 

 provinces, and federal governments of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All SO states are 

 members. The Association has been a key organization in promoting sound resource 

 management and strengthening federal, state, and private cooperation in protecting and managing 

 fish and wildlife and their habitats in the public interest. 



During the early years of our Association, we were instrumental in calling for and contributing 

 to the drafting of the Migratory Bird Treaty with Great Britain on behalf of Canada, which was 

 ratified in 1916. We saw then the need for federal involvement in the conservation and 

 regulation of the take of migratory birds. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was subsequently 

 signed into law in 1918. This was followed up by the passage of the Duck Stamp Act in 1934 

 and the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937, both of which established funding for the conservation 

 of these resources, and in which the Association was intimately involved. Since then, we have 

 been closely involved in the establishment of the four administrative flyways in 1947 to 

 coordinate information and recommendations from the States and Canadian provinces to the U.S. 

 federal regulatory process, and acts such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, 

 Farm bill, and others to facilitate habitat conservation. We thus have a long listing of key 

 involvement in issues regarding migratory birds. 



As you are aware Mr. Chairman, the FWS has asked us to facilitate a review of the migratory 

 bird hunting regulations that pertain to baiting (50 CFR 20.21). Our President is in the process 

 of appointing a broad based working group including representatives from each of the four 

 Administrative Flyway Councils across the country along with representatives from other 

 conservation and sportsmen's organizations to accomplish this task. This will include both 

 biologists and law enforcement personnel with recent on the ground experience. Brent Manning, 



