Environmental Assessment for Issuing Depredation Permits for Double-crested Cormorant Management

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)(42 U.S.C 4321 et seq.), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (hereafter, USFWS) has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA). As further described below, the purpose of this EA is to evaluate the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of making decisions on cormorant depredation permit applications for activities specified in this EA pursuant to 50 C.F.R. § 21.41 and to provide a foundation for site-specific evaluations of individual applications. While this EA considers the potential environmental impacts of permitting actions, the USFWS will evaluate each permit application individually and make future decisions based on the criteria set forth in 50 C.F.R. § 21.41. These future permitting decisions may require additional environmental review in the form of a site-specific environmental assessment or may be covered by a categorical exclusion, depending on the circumstances. We are considering two alternatives described below, the proposed action and a reduced take alternative (the preferred alternative).