Draft Document Reassessing Methods To Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) Population, 70632-70633 [05-23057]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Notices
(2) Title of the Form/Collection:
USCIS Case Status Service Online.
(3) Agency form number, if any, and
the applicable component of the
Department of Homeland Security
sponsoring the collection: No Agency
Form No. (File No. OMB–33). U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(4) Affected public who will be asked
or required to respond, as well as a brief
abstract: Primary: Individuals or
households. This system allows
individuals or their representatives to
request case status of their pending
application through the USCIS website.
(5) An estimate of the total number of
respondents and the amount of time
estimated for an average respondent to
respond: 24,000,000 respondents at 2.75
minutes (.046) per response.
(6) An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: 1,104,000 annual burden
hours.
If you have additional comments,
suggestions, or need a copy of the
proposed information collection
instrument with instructions, or
additional information, please visit the
USCIS Web site at: https://uscis.gov/
graphics/formsfee/forms/pra/index.htm.
If additional information is required
contact: USCIS Regulatory Management
Division, 111 Massachusetts Avenue,
3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20529, (202)
272–8377.
Dated: November 17, 2005.
Richard A. Sloan,
Director, Regulatory Management Division,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[FR Doc. 05–23060 Filed 11–21–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–10–M
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Draft Document Reassessing Methods
To Estimate Population Size and
Sustainable Mortality Limits for the
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos
horribilis) Population
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability;
request for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) announces the availability for
public review of the draft document
Reassessing Methods to Estimate
Population Size and Sustainable
Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone
Grizzly Bear. Once comments are
received, analyzed, and addressed, the
final revised population methodology
will be appended to the Grizzly Bear
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:49 Nov 21, 2005
Jkt 208001
Recovery Plan and the Final
Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly
Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
The Service solicits review and
comment from the public on this draft
information prior to appending it to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.
DATES: Comments on the draft
document Reassessing Methods to
Estimate Population Size and
Sustainable Mortality Limits for the
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear must be
received on or before February 21, 2006
to ensure that they will be received in
time for our consideration prior to
finalization of the revised methodology.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
materials regarding this information
should be sent to the Recovery
Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, University Hall, Room 309,
University of Montana, Missoula,
Montana 59812. Comments and
materials received are available on
request for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Christopher Servheen, Grizzly Bear
Recovery Coordinator (see ADDRESSES
above), at telephone (406) 243–4903.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Document Availability
Persons wishing to review this
document may obtain a copy by
contacting the Grizzly Bear Recovery
Coordinator, at the above address,
contacting the above official by
telephone, or by viewing it online at
https://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/
mammals/grizzly/yellowstone.htm. You
also may make an appointment to view
the documents at the above address
during normal business hours.
Background
Restoring an endangered or
threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, selfsustaining member of its ecosystem is a
primary goal of the Service’s
endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, the Service
prepares recovery plans for most of the
listed species native to the United
States. Recovery plans describe actions
considered necessary for conservation of
the species; establish criteria for
recovery levels for downlisting or
delisting them, and estimate time and
cost for implementing the recovery
measures needed. Under the provisions
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the
Service approved the revised Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan on September 10,
1993.
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
In 1994, The Fund for Animals, Inc.,
and 42 other organizations and
individuals filed suit over the adequacy
of the 1993 Recovery Plan (Fund for
Animals v. Babbitt, 903 F. Supp. 96 (D.
D.C. 1995); 967 F. Supp. 6 (D. D.C.
1997). In 1995, the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia issued an
order which remanded for further study
and clarification four issues that are
relevant to the Yellowstone grizzly bear
population, including—(1) The methods
used to measure the status of bear
populations; (2) the impacts of genetic
isolation; (3) how mortalities related to
livestock are monitored; and (4) the
monitoring of disease. The Service also
agreed to append habitat-based recovery
criteria to the Recovery Plan prior to any
delisting action. All of these issues,
except the draft revised methodology for
calculating total population size and
establishing sustainable mortality limits
for the Yellowstone grizzly bear
population, have been addressed prior
to publication of this Notice and were
made available for public review and
comment previously (62 FR 19777,
April 23, 1997; 62 FR 47677, September
10, 1997; 64 FR 38464, July 16, 1999; 64
FR 38465, July 16, 1999).
As recommended by Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan Task Y11 and as per the
Court Opinion, the Service has worked
to ‘‘determine population conditions at
which the species is viable and self
sustaining’’ and ‘‘reevaluate and refine
population criteria as new information
becomes available’’ for the Yellowstone
population of grizzly bears (Service
1993 p. 44). At the request of the Service
beginning in 2000, the Interagency
Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST), led
by the U.S. Geological Survey in
cooperation with various University
specialists, began a comprehensive
evaluation of the demographic data and
the methodology used to estimate
population size and establish the
sustainable level of mortality for grizzly
bears in the Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Accordingly, the IGBST (2005)
produced a critical review of the current
methods for estimating population size
and calculating the sustainable
mortality levels for the Yellowstone
grizzly population. This product is a
report compiled by the IGBST that
evaluates current methods, reviews
recent scientific literature, examines
alternative methods, and recommends
the most valid technique based on the
best available science (IGBST 2005). The
end result of this review is the draft
document Reassessing Methods to
Estimate Population Size and
Sustainable Mortality Limits for the
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear.
E:\FR\FM\22NON1.SGM
22NON1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Notices
The method for calculating
population size using females with cubs
sightings (Keating et al. 2002) and the
method for calculating the unknown
and unreported mortalities (Cherry et al.
2002) have been published in peerreviewed scientific journals. We are
seeking comments only on the
document Reassessing Methods to
Estimate Population Size and
Sustainable Mortality Limits for the
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear, which
applies these peer-reviewed methods to
the Yellowstone grizzly bear population.
Based on the comments received, the
Service will finalize this methodology
for calculating total population size and
establishing sustainable mortality limits
for the Yellowstone grizzly bear
population and append it to the Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan prior to publishing
a final rule to designate the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem population of
grizzly bears as a distinct population
segment and to remove the Yellowstone
distinct population segment of grizzly
bears from the Federal list of
endangered and threatened wildlife.
Public Comments Solicited
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species
Act, as amended in 1988, requires that
public notice and an opportunity for
public review and comment be provided
during recovery plan development. We
consider all information presented
during a public comment period prior to
approval of each new or revised
recovery plan. We and other Federal
management agencies also will take
these comments into account in the
course of implementing approved
recovery plans. We now seek public
comment on the draft document
Reassessing Methods to Estimate
Population Size and Sustainable
Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone
Grizzly Bear to address both Task Y11
in the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and
the Court Opinion (Fund for Animals v.
Babbitt, 903 F. Supp. 96 (D. D.C. 1995);
967 F. Supp. 6 (D. D.C. 1997)). All
comments received by the date specified
in the DATES section above will be
considered prior to finalization of the
information. Appropriate portions of the
information will be appended to, and
become part of, the 1993 Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan and the Final
Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly
Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Literature Cited
Cherry, S., M.A. Haroldson, J. Robison-Cox,
and C.C. Schwartz. 2002. Estimating total
human-caused mortality from reported
mortality using data from radioinstrumented grizzly bears. Ursus
13:175–184.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:22 Nov 21, 2005
Jkt 208001
Keating, K.A., C.C. Schwartz, M.A.
Haroldson, and D. Moody. 2002.
Estimating numbers of females with
cubs-of-the-year in the Yellowstone
grizzly bear population. Ursus 13:161–
174.
Authority: The authority for this Notice is
under section 4(f) of the Endangered Species
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: July 11, 2005.
Ralph O. Morgenweck,
Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 05–23057 Filed 11–21–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Preparation of an Environmental
Assessment for Proposed Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease
Sale 200 in the Western Gulf of Mexico
(2006)
Minerals Management Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Preparation of an environmental
assessment.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Minerals Management
Service (MMS) is issuing this notice to
advise the public, pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq., that MMS intends to
prepare an environmental assessment
(EA) for proposed Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) oil and gas Lease Sale 200
in the Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
(Lease Sale 200) scheduled for August
2006. The MMS is issuing this notice to
facilitate public involvement. The
preparation of this EA is an important
step in the decision process for Lease
Sale 200. The proposal and alternatives
for Lease Sale 200 were identified by the
MMS Director in January 2002 following
the Call for Information and
Nominations/Notice of Intent to Prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and were analyzed in the Gulf of
Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales:
2003–2007; Central Planning Area Sales
185, 190, 194, 198, and 201; Western
Planning Area Sales 187, 192, 196, and
200—Final Environmental Impact
Statement; Volumes I and II (Multisale
EIS, OCS EIS/EA MMS 2002–052). This
EA will reexamine the potential
environmental effects of the proposed
action (the offering of all available
unleased acreage in the Western
Planning Area (WPA)) and its
alternatives (the proposed action
excluding the unleased blocks near
biologically sensitive topographic
features; and no action) based on any
new information regarding potential
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
70633
impacts and issues that were not
available at the time the Multisale EIS
was prepared.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Dennis Chew, Minerals Management
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region,
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, MS
5410, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123–
2394. You may also contact Mr. Chew
by telephone at (504) 736–2793.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
November 2002, MMS prepared a
Multisale EIS that addressed nine
proposed Federal actions that offer for
lease areas on the GOM OCS that may
contain economically recoverable oil
and gas resources. Federal regulations
allow for several related or similar
proposals to be analyzed in one EIS (40
CFR 1502.4). Since each proposed lease
sale and its projected activities are very
similar each year for each planning area,
a single EIS was prepared for the nine
Central Planning Area (CPA) and WPA
lease sales scheduled in the OCS Oil
and Gas Leasing Program: 2002–2007 (5Year Program, OCS EIS/EA MMS 2002–
006). Under the current 5-Year Program,
five annual areawide lease sales were
scheduled for the CPA (Lease Sales 185,
190, 194, 198, and 201) and five annual
areawide lease sales were scheduled for
the WPA (Lease Sales 184, 187, 192,
196, and 200). Lease Sale 184 was not
addressed in the Multisale EIS; a
separate EA was prepared for that
proposal. The Multisale EIS addressed
CPA Lease Sales 185, 190, 194, 198, and
201 scheduled for 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, and 2007, respectively, and WPA
Lease Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200
scheduled for 2003, 2004, 2005, and
2006, respectively. Although the
Multisale EIS addresses nine proposed
lease sales, decisions were made only
for proposed CPA Lease Sale 185 and
proposed WPA Lease Sale 187 based on
the EIS. For the subsequent sales, an
additional NEPA review (an EA) will be
conducted the year prior to each
proposed lease sale, to address any new
information relevant to that proposed
action. After completion of the EA,
MMS will determine whether to prepare
a Finding of No New Significant Impact
(FONNSI) or a Supplemental EIS. The
MMS will then prepare and send
Consistency Determinations (CD’s) to
the affected States to determine whether
the lease sale is consistent with their
federally-approved State coastal zone
management programs. Finally, MMS
will solicit comments via the Proposed
Notice of Sale (PNOS) from the
governors of the affected States on the
size, timing, and location of the lease
sale. The tentative schedule for the
prelease decision process for Lease Sale
E:\FR\FM\22NON1.SGM
22NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70632-70633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23057]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Draft Document Reassessing Methods To Estimate Population Size
and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
(Ursus arctos horribilis) Population
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the
availability for public review of the draft document Reassessing
Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits
for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear. Once comments are received, analyzed,
and addressed, the final revised population methodology will be
appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and the Final Conservation
Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Area. The
Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft
information prior to appending it to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.
DATES: Comments on the draft document Reassessing Methods to Estimate
Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone
Grizzly Bear must be received on or before February 21, 2006 to ensure
that they will be received in time for our consideration prior to
finalization of the revised methodology.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and materials regarding this information
should be sent to the Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, University Hall, Room 309, University of Montana, Missoula,
Montana 59812. Comments and materials received are available on request
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at
the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Christopher Servheen, Grizzly Bear
Recovery Coordinator (see ADDRESSES above), at telephone (406) 243-
4903.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Document Availability
Persons wishing to review this document may obtain a copy by
contacting the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, at the above address,
contacting the above official by telephone, or by viewing it online at
https://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/grizzly/
yellowstone.htm. You also may make an appointment to view the documents
at the above address during normal business hours.
Background
Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is
a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, the Service prepares recovery plans for most
of the listed species native to the United States. Recovery plans
describe actions considered necessary for conservation of the species;
establish criteria for recovery levels for downlisting or delisting
them, and estimate time and cost for implementing the recovery measures
needed. Under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Service approved the revised
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan on September 10, 1993.
In 1994, The Fund for Animals, Inc., and 42 other organizations and
individuals filed suit over the adequacy of the 1993 Recovery Plan
(Fund for Animals v. Babbitt, 903 F. Supp. 96 (D. D.C. 1995); 967 F.
Supp. 6 (D. D.C. 1997). In 1995, the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia issued an order which remanded for further study
and clarification four issues that are relevant to the Yellowstone
grizzly bear population, including--(1) The methods used to measure the
status of bear populations; (2) the impacts of genetic isolation; (3)
how mortalities related to livestock are monitored; and (4) the
monitoring of disease. The Service also agreed to append habitat-based
recovery criteria to the Recovery Plan prior to any delisting action.
All of these issues, except the draft revised methodology for
calculating total population size and establishing sustainable
mortality limits for the Yellowstone grizzly bear population, have been
addressed prior to publication of this Notice and were made available
for public review and comment previously (62 FR 19777, April 23, 1997;
62 FR 47677, September 10, 1997; 64 FR 38464, July 16, 1999; 64 FR
38465, July 16, 1999).
As recommended by Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Task Y11 and as per
the Court Opinion, the Service has worked to ``determine population
conditions at which the species is viable and self sustaining'' and
``reevaluate and refine population criteria as new information becomes
available'' for the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears (Service
1993 p. 44). At the request of the Service beginning in 2000, the
Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST), led by the U.S. Geological
Survey in cooperation with various University specialists, began a
comprehensive evaluation of the demographic data and the methodology
used to estimate population size and establish the sustainable level of
mortality for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Accordingly,
the IGBST (2005) produced a critical review of the current methods for
estimating population size and calculating the sustainable mortality
levels for the Yellowstone grizzly population. This product is a report
compiled by the IGBST that evaluates current methods, reviews recent
scientific literature, examines alternative methods, and recommends the
most valid technique based on the best available science (IGBST 2005).
The end result of this review is the draft document Reassessing Methods
to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the
Yellowstone Grizzly Bear.
[[Page 70633]]
The method for calculating population size using females with cubs
sightings (Keating et al. 2002) and the method for calculating the
unknown and unreported mortalities (Cherry et al. 2002) have been
published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. We are seeking comments
only on the document Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size
and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear,
which applies these peer-reviewed methods to the Yellowstone grizzly
bear population.
Based on the comments received, the Service will finalize this
methodology for calculating total population size and establishing
sustainable mortality limits for the Yellowstone grizzly bear
population and append it to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan prior to
publishing a final rule to designate the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
population of grizzly bears as a distinct population segment and to
remove the Yellowstone distinct population segment of grizzly bears
from the Federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife.
Public Comments Solicited
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, as amended in 1988,
requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and
comment be provided during recovery plan development. We consider all
information presented during a public comment period prior to approval
of each new or revised recovery plan. We and other Federal management
agencies also will take these comments into account in the course of
implementing approved recovery plans. We now seek public comment on the
draft document Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and
Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear to
address both Task Y11 in the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and the Court
Opinion (Fund for Animals v. Babbitt, 903 F. Supp. 96 (D. D.C. 1995);
967 F. Supp. 6 (D. D.C. 1997)). All comments received by the date
specified in the DATES section above will be considered prior to
finalization of the information. Appropriate portions of the
information will be appended to, and become part of, the 1993 Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan and the Final Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly
Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Literature Cited
Cherry, S., M.A. Haroldson, J. Robison-Cox, and C.C. Schwartz. 2002.
Estimating total human-caused mortality from reported mortality
using data from radio-instrumented grizzly bears. Ursus 13:175-184.
Keating, K.A., C.C. Schwartz, M.A. Haroldson, and D. Moody. 2002.
Estimating numbers of females with cubs-of-the-year in the
Yellowstone grizzly bear population. Ursus 13:161-174.
Authority: The authority for this Notice is under section 4(f)
of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: July 11, 2005.
Ralph O. Morgenweck,
Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 05-23057 Filed 11-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
