(a) Establishment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hereby establishes, as authorized by the Protocol amending the Canada Treaty, a statewide management body to be known as the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council.

(b) Membership. The Co-management Council must include Alaska Native, Federal, and State of Alaska representatives, as equals.

(1) The Federal and State governments will each seat one representative. The Federal representative will be appointed by the Alaska Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the State representative will be appointed by the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Regional partner organizations may seat 1 representative from each of the 12 regions identified in § 92.11(a).

(2) The Federal and State representatives and the collective Native representatives will each have one vote, for a total of three votes for the entire council.

(c) Roles and responsibilities. The Co-management Council is authorized to:

(1) Hold public meetings for the purpose of conducting business related to spring and summer subsistence harvest of migratory birds;

(2) Develop recommendations for regulations governing the spring and summer subsistence harvest of migratory birds and their eggs;

(3) Develop recommendations for, among other things, law enforcement policies, population and harvest monitoring, education programs, research and use of traditional knowledge, and habitat protection;

(4) Develop procedures and criteria by which areas and communities can be determined to be eligible or ineligible for a spring/summer subsistence harvest;

(5) Provide guidelines to the regional management bodies each year for formulation of annual regulations;

(6) Consolidate regional recommendations and resolve interregional differences in order to prepare statewide recommendations;

(7) Establish committees to gather or review data, develop plans for Co-management Council actions, and coordinate programs with regional management bodies;

(8) Send regional representatives from the Co-management Council to meetings of the Pacific Flyway Council and to meetings of the other Flyway Councils as needed, and to meetings of the Service Regulations Committee;

(9) Elect officers; and

(10) Conduct other business as the Council may determine is necessary to accomplish its purpose.

(d) Meetings. Meetings of the Co-management Council will be open to the public. The Co-management Council will:

(1) Hold meetings at least twice annually;

(2) Conduct meetings in accordance with bylaws approved by the Co-management Council;

(3) Provide an opportunity at each meeting for public comment;

(4) Establish the dates, times, and locations of meetings; and

(5) Maintain a written record of all meetings.

(e) Staff support. Administrative support for the Co-management Council will be provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and will include, but not be limited to:

(1) Making arrangements for the meeting rooms and associated logistics related to Co-management Council meetings;

(2) Preparing public notices announcing Co-management Council meetings;

(3) Maintaining records of discussions and actions taken by the Co-management Council;

(4) Coordinating with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to provide technical information needed by the Co-management Council for its deliberations;

(5) Preparing documents and gathering information needed by the Co-management Council for its meetings; and

(6) Preparing the annual subpart D regulations package recommended by the Co-management Council for submission to the flyway councils and the Service Regulations Committee.

(a) Regions identified. To allow for maximum participation by residents of subsistence eligible areas, the Alaska Regional Director of the Service established 12 geographic regions based on common subsistence resource use patterns and the 12 Alaska Native regional corporation boundaries established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Despite using the Alaska Native regional corporation boundaries, we are not working directly with the regional corporations in this program and are instead working with the Alaska Native nonprofit groups and local governments in those corresponding regions. You may obtain records and maps delineating the boundaries of the 12 regions from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Ave., No. 13, Anchorage, AK 99513. The regions are identified as follows:

(1) Aleutian/Pribilof Islands;

(2) Kodiak Archipelago;

(3) Bristol Bay;

(4) Yukon/Kuskokwim Delta;

(5) Bering Strait/Norton Sound;

(6) Northwest Arctic;

(7) North Slope;

(8) Interior;

(9) Southeast;

(10) Gulf of Alaska;

(11) Upper Copper River; and

(12) Cook Inlet.

(b) Regional partnerships. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will establish partner agreements with at least 1 partner organization in each of the 12 regions. The partner organization identified must be willing and able to coordinate the regional program on behalf of all subsistence hunters within that region. A regional partner will:

(1) Organize or identify one or more management bodies within the region in which it is located.

(2) Determine how the management body for the region should be organized, the manner in which it should function, its size, who serves on it, the length of terms, methods of involving subsistence users, and other related matters.

(3) Coordinate regional meetings and the solicitation of proposals.

(4) Ensure appointment of a person to represent the region by serving on the Co-management Council. If a region consists of more than one partner organization, each partner organization may appoint a member to sit on the Co-management Council.

(5) Keep the residents of villages within the region informed of issues related to the subsistence harvest of migratory birds.

(6) Work cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to gather harvest data, numbers of subsistence users, and other management data and traditional knowledge for the benefit of the management bodies.

(c) Regional management bodies. (1) Regional management bodies must provide a forum for the collection and expression of opinions and recommendations regarding spring and summer subsistence harvesting of migratory birds. They must develop requests and recommendations from the region to be presented to the Co-management Council for deliberation. They must provide for public participation in the meetings at which recommendations and requests are formulated.

(2) Requests and recommendations to the Co-management Council may involve seasons and bag limits, methods and means, law enforcement policies, population and harvest monitoring, education programs, research and use of traditional knowledge, habitat protection, and other concerns related to migratory bird subsistence programs.

(3) Regional management bodies may be established specifically for the purpose of carrying out the responsibilities identified in this part, or they may be existing entities that can add these responsibilities to their existing duties.

(a) Flyway councils. (1) Proposed annual regulations recommended by the Co-management Council will be submitted to all flyway councils for review and comment. The Council's recommendations must be submitted prior to the SRC's last regular meeting of the calendar year in order to be approved for spring/summer harvest beginning March 11 of the following calendar year.

(2) Alaska Native representatives may be appointed by the Co-management Council to attend meetings of one or more of the four flyway councils to discuss recommended regulations or other proposed management actions.

(b) Service regulations committee. Proposed annual regulations recommended by the Co-management Council will be submitted to the Service Regulations Committee for their review and recommendation to the Service Director. Following the Service Director's review and recommendation, the proposals will be forwarded to the Department of Interior for approval. Proposed annual regulations will then be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment, similar to the annual migratory game bird hunting regulations (found in part 20 of this chapter). Final spring/summer regulations for Alaska will be published in the Federal Register in the preceding Fall.