Sample Letter Requesting Furbearer Report

SAMPLE LETTER REQUESTING FURBEARER REPORT
IN REPLY REFER TO:

OMB No. 1018-

FWS/DMA/CEP 1-07

Expires

Dear:
This letter is our annual request for information on your state’s implementation of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) furbearer export program. Since September 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) has been working with the states and the International Association of
Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) in a work group to evaluate and identify potential
improvements to the CITES U.S. furbearer export program.
I have previously reported changes that we have made to reduce the paperwork and other
administrative burdens of the tagging program on the States and tribes, while also
meeting the Service’s responsibility to implement the CITES treaty. Since then, we have
made additional significant changes to the program via a nationwide non-detriment
finding for bobcat (Lynx rufus). Also, we have begun to prepare the groundwork for the
Service to seek regulatory flexibility to fulfill our CITES obligations without necessarily
having to rely on state tagging systems to export certain CITES-listed U.S. furbearers.
The final report and action plan presented at the upcoming IAFWA Annual Meeting will
provide details on this matter.
The Service has a legal obligation to ensure that export levels of species listed in
Appendix II of CITES will not be detrimental to the survival of the species. For bobcat
and river otter (Lontra canadensis), we made these findings for certain state and Indian
tribal export programs in a series of rulemakings between 1984 and 1999, and for
subsequent years, in administrative findings. In July 2005, the Division of Scientific
Authority (DSA) advised the Division of Management Authority (DMA) that the export
of bobcat taken in the contiguous 48 states of the United States will not be detrimental to
the survival of the species. As a result of this finding, unapproved States or tribes
requesting export authority for bobcat will not be required to provide population
assessments of bobcat within their jurisdictions. However, legal acquisition requirements
will still have to be met in order for a State or tribe to be approved for CITES bobcat
export authority. DSA will continue to monitor the status of bobcats in the wild on a
range-wide basis, with the understanding that the non-detriment finding may be modified
if deemed necessary based on any new information that we may receive. Information
requested in this letter will support this monitoring.
In order to fulfill our treaty obligations necessary to allow the continued export of bobcat
and river otter, we are requesting information for the 2005-2006 seasons and ask that you
submit this information to us by _________. In your review of the 2006-2007 season,
and based on your most current information on bobcat and river otter that are approved
for export from your State, we would appreciate it if you would provide the following
information:

1.

For each CITES-listed furbearer species harvested during the last season:
• Number of animals tagged.
• If known, total number of animals taken.

2.

A statement giving your professional assessment of the status of each of these
species in your state:
Is the population stable, increasing or decreasing (and at what rate if known)?

3.

Have there been any changes to legislation or regulation enabling your tagging
program?

Although not required, we appreciate any copies of reports on any CITES-listed furbearer
species that you have prepared this year as part of your management program, or web
addresses where this information is posted electronically (please note that we are not
asking for any new reports or information, but rather reports that you may already have
available).
Please send replies to ______________, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of
Management Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 700, Arlington, VA 22203 (fax
703-358-2298) or by E-mail to [email protected]. Please note that this is a
combined request for information from both the Division of Scientific Authority and the
Division of Management Authority.
Thank you for your continuing cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact
_______________ of my staff at 703-358-1908.
Sincerely,

Chief, Division of Management Authority
Notice

Information requested herein is purely voluntary. However, submission of requested information is required in
order to maintain program approval. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
control number is displayed. The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 1018-XXXX, which
expires _______________________.
The reporting burden on the applicant for this information collection is 1 hour. This burden estimate includes
time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data and completing and reviewing the report. You
may direct comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of the information collection to the
Service Information Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mail Stop 222, Arlington Square, U.S.
Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington D.C. 20240.