Control and management of double-crested cormorants; administration of program; organization of states; funds.

Sec. 40107c. (1) To reduce cormorant damage, the department shall administer a program to control and manage double-crested cormorants. The department shall administer the program in cooperation with federal agencies and in a manner that complies with the cormorant depredation order. (2) In consultation with the department of environmental quality, the department shall participate in a federally recognized organization of states, such as the Mississippi flyway council, to coordinate a regional effort to reduce cormorant damage that includes urging the federal government to do both of the following: (a) Expand state options for double-crested cormorant control by revising the cormorant depredation order. (b) Seek to amend the migratory bird convention with Mexico to designate the double-crested cormorant as a game species. (3) The department shall seek funding from the Great Lakes protection fund authorized under part 331 for deposit in the cormorant control fund created in section 40107d.