Interior changes how federal migratory bird seasons are authorized

The Interior Department has finalized a nationwide change in how the federal government authorizes seasonal hunting for migratory game birds, replacing recurring annual federal rulemaking with a memorandum-based process.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed the final rule on August 27, 2026. The inspection copy, Federal Register document 2026-17733, is scheduled for publication on August 31, 2026. The rule takes effect on the date it is published.

The change is administrative rather than a removal of federal wildlife oversight. The Service will continue annual biological monitoring, population and habitat assessments, and science-based decisions about appropriate harvest levels.

What is changing

Under the new system, the Service will generally issue a Migratory Game Bird Hunting Memorandum once every three years instead of repeating the full federal rulemaking process each year.

The memorandum can establish federal authorization conditions covering season dates, season lengths, shooting hours, daily bag limits, possession limits, hunting areas and other restrictions. The Service says the first memorandum will cover the 2026-27 through 2028-29 seasons and will be available no later than August 31, 2026, shortly after publication of the final rule.

For later cycles, the Service expects to issue the authorization memorandum on or before February 28 every three years. The schedule is not inflexible: the agency may update a memorandum sooner, including in an off year, if its biological decision frameworks call for changes. If no new memorandum is issued by February 28, the most recent authorization conditions remain in effect.

What is not changing

The Service says the rule does not change how it evaluates biological information or determines appropriate harvest levels. Annual monitoring and assessment will continue, even in years when a new three-year memorandum is not due.

States and tribes will also continue developing and selecting their own annual hunting seasons within the federal authorization conditions and other applicable federal requirements.

That means hunters across the country will not automatically receive identical dates, bag limits or hunting areas. The specific rules for a hunt will still depend on the state or tribal wildlife agency responsible for that season.

The federal guardrails remain tied to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They include limits on when seasons may occur, how long they may last and how many birds may be taken, with the Service continuing to use population and habitat information in its decisions.

How public comment will work

The public will continue to have an opportunity to comment, but the timing and format will change. Instead of the previous annual sequence of proposed and final federal rules, the Service will publish a notice making each memorandum available and provide at least 30 days for public comment.

The notice will identify supporting biological information and direct the public to the memorandum on the Service’s website. The agency may revise the memorandum in response to substantive comments or to make administrative corrections.

The Service says the revised process is intended to reduce repeated administrative work, ease compressed publication deadlines and give states, tribes and hunters more time to plan while preserving annual biological review.

What happens to state regulations

The Service will no longer routinely publish each state’s annual hunting regulations as federal regulations. Most states are expected to use their own regulatory processes to select seasons within the federal authorization conditions.

Fewer than six states may continue receiving separately published federal memoranda if they do not have their own annual regulatory processes and request federal publication. The Service said those state-specific memoranda may continue for as long as there is a demonstrated need.

What hunters should watch next

The immediate document to watch is the first Migratory Game Bird Hunting Memorandum for the 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. As of August 28, 2026, the memorandum’s public availability had not been separately confirmed in the materials reviewed for this article; the final rule says it is due no later than August 31.

Hunters should continue relying on state and tribal wildlife agencies for the dates, limits, areas and other conditions that apply where they plan to hunt. Those agencies remain responsible for selecting annual seasons within the federal framework.

The main practical change is timing and paperwork: federal authorization conditions are intended to remain usable across multiple seasons, while annual science reviews and state-level season decisions continue. The new process will be tested first by how clearly the 2026-27 memorandum is issued, explained and opened for public comment.

For background, readers can review the Fish and Wildlife Service’s migratory bird hunting regulations page and the agency’s Migratory Birds program materials.

Sources

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