Sponsors (4)
The bill gives states, Tribes, and private managers stronger, regionally coordinated authority and monitoring to reduce cormorant damage to fisheries and vegetation, but it shifts costs and enforcement burdens to local managers, could reduce wildlife‑tourism value in some areas, and may be constrained where endangered‑species protections apply.
State governments, Tribal communities, and authorized lake/pond managers are given clear legal authority to control double‑crested cormorant damage to fisheries and vegetation under coordinated regional plans.
State governments and Tribal managers will carry out regular population surveys every 5 years to keep cormorant populations at sustainable levels under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
State governments and federal refuge/fluway managers will coordinate through Regional Flyway Councils and refuge managers to create more consistent regional management and reduce conflicts between conservation and refuge missions.
State governments and private lake/pond managers will assume more costs and enforcement responsibilities for cormorant control, shifting financial and administrative burdens to state agencies and land managers.
Rural communities and Tribal residents who rely on birdwatching and wildlife tourism may experience reduced visitation and local income if authorized lethal or other 'take' reduces visible cormorant populations.
State governments and federal employees could face delays or operational restrictions where cormorant control actions might conflict with protections for ESA‑listed species, complicating or limiting management.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Interior to issue regional frameworks within 180 days to guide take of double‑crested cormorants, set authorized takers/methods, and mandate 5‑year surveys and updates.
Introduced April 2, 2026 by Tim Walberg · Last progress April 2, 2026
Requires the Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and in coordination with Regional Flyway Councils, to create regional management frameworks for taking double‑crested cormorants. Frameworks must be completed within 180 days, rely on existing information, set allowed methods/timelines, identify authorized takers (States, Tribes, licensed hunters, lake/pond managers, etc.), and require population surveys and 5‑year updates to keep breeding populations sustainable and account for impacts on fisheries, vegetation, other birds, human health, water quality, and ESA‑listed species. Also directs coordination with National Wildlife Refuge units to identify compatible management actions and provides definitions for covered terms; one section simply establishes the act's short title. The law does not appropriate new funds or create separate funding streams in the text provided.