Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 113 Part 2.djvu/471

 PUBLIC LAW 106-108—NOV. 24, 1999 113 STAT. 1491 Public Law 106-108 106th Congress An Act To assure the long-term conservation of mid-continent light geese and the biological diversity of the ecosystem upon which many North American migratory birds depend, by directing the Secretary of the Interior to implement rules to reduce the overabundant population of mid-continent light geese. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Arctic Tundra Habitat Emergency Conservation Act". SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds the following: (1) The winter index population of mid-continent light geese was 800,000 birds in 1969, while the total population of such geese is more than 5,200,000 birds today. (2) The population of mid-continent light geese is expanding by over 5 percent each year, and in the absence of new wildlife management actions it could grow to more than 6,800,000 breeding light geese in 3 years. (3) The primgiry reasons for this unprecedented population growth are— (A) the expansion of agricultural areas and the resulting abundance of cereal grain crops in the United . States; (B) the establishment of sanctuaries along the United States flyways of migrating light geese; and (C) a decline in light geese harvest rates. (4) As a direct result of this population explosion, the Hudson Bay Lowlsinds Salt-Msirsh ecosystem in Canada is being geese and many other avian species. Biologists have testified that one-third of this habitat has been destroyed, one-third is on the brink of devastation, and the remaining one-third is overgrazed. (5) The destruction of the Arctic tundra is having a severe negative impact on meiny avian species that breed or migrate through this habitat, including the following: (A) Canada Goose. (B) American Wigeon. (C) Dowitcher. (D) Hudsonian Godwit. (E) Stilt Sandpiper. Nov. 24, 1999 [H.R. 2454] Arctic Timdra Habitat Emergency Conservation Act. 16 ilSC 703 note. 16 USC 703 note.
 * systematically destroyed. This ecosystem contains approximately 135,000 acres of essential habitat for migrating light

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