Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan for Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, 31811 [2010-13424]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 107 (Friday, June 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 31811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13424]



[[Page 31811]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2009-N0065; 30120-1113-0000 D3]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Post-Delisting 
Monitoring Plan for Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of post-delisting monitoring plan.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the final post-delisting monitoring plan (PDM Plan) for 
the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) requires that we implement a system, in cooperation with the 
States, to monitor effectively for at least 5 years the status of all 
species that have been recovered and no longer need ESA protection. In 
2007, we removed the bald eagle in the contiguous 48 States from the 
Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife and Plants 
(delisted) due to recovery. Over a 20-year period, we will monitor the 
status of the bald eagle, at 5-year intervals.

ADDRESSES: To request a copy of the final PDM Plan, write to Jody 
Millar at our Rock Island Field Office: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
1511 47th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265; or call (309) 757-5800. You may 
also request copies by e-mailing us at baldeaglePDM@fws.gov. Specify 
whether you want to receive a hard copy by U.S. mail or an electronic 
copy by e-mail. The final PDM Plan may also be downloaded from our 
regional Web site at https://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered or our bald 
eagle Web site at https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/baldeagle.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jody Millar (see ADDRESSES). 
Individuals who are hearing-impaired or speech-impaired may call the 
Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8337 for TTY assistance, 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In the 1970s, bald eagle surveys conducted by the Service, other 
cooperating agencies, and conservation organizations revealed that the 
bald eagle population was declining throughout the contiguous 48 
States. On December 31, 1972, DDT was banned from use in the United 
States by the Environmental Protection Agency. The following year, the 
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544) was passed. In 1978, the bald eagle was 
listed throughout the contiguous 48 States as endangered except in 
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon, where it was 
listed as threatened (43 FR 6233, February 14, 1978).
    Listing the eagle under the ESA and banning of DDT and other 
harmful organochlorine chemicals resulted in significant increases in 
the breeding population of the species throughout the contiguous 48 
States. On July 6, 1999, we published a proposed rule (64 FR 36454) to 
delist the bald eagle in the contiguous 48 States. This document 
included a draft monitoring plan and requested public comments. 
Slightly more than 10 percent of all comments we received on that 
proposal were concerned with post-delisting monitoring and the draft 
monitoring plan. Since then, we have revised the monitoring plan in 
response to the comments we received.
    We published the notice of availability for the revised draft 
monitoring plan and the final rule on delisting simultaneously in the 
Federal Register (72 FR 37346) on July 9, 2007. After the comment 
period closed on October 9, 2007, we reviewed each comment we received 
and addressed those comments in the final bald eagle post-delisting 
monitoring plan that we make available now through this notice.
    Section 4(g)(1) of the ESA requires that we implement a system, in 
cooperation with the States, to effectively monitor for not less than 5 
years the status of all species that have been recovered and delisted. 
In order to meet the ESA's monitoring requirement and to facilitate 
efficient data collection, we have designed a sampling method capable 
of detecting substantial changes in the bald eagle population in the 
contiguous 48 States.
    Monitoring will consist of collecting information on the number of 
nesting bald eagles in the contiguous 48 States using State collected 
data and stratified sampling based on density of identified bald eagle 
nest sites. Our Bald Eagle Monitoring Team will work cooperatively with 
the States, Tribes, other agencies, and partners to collect this 
information. We will analyze the information after each monitoring 
effort and will propose adjustments to the sampling design, if 
necessary. At the end of each 5th-year monitoring event, we will review 
all available information to determine the status of the bald eagle. If 
these data indicate that the estimated bald eagle population is 
experiencing significant decreases, we will initiate more intensive 
review or studies to determine the cause, or take action to re-list the 
bald eagle under Section 4 of the ESA, if necessary.
    Monitoring under the post-delisting monitoring plan began in spring 
of 2009. We will publish a report on the results of the 2009 monitoring 
event within 1 year of survey and data analysis completion. This will 
be the first of our 5-year reports. The reports will be posted on our 
Web sites, https://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered and https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/baldeagle.htm.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.), the information collection and recordkeeping 
requirements included in the PDM Plan have been approved by the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB control number 1018-0143, 
which expires on November 30, 2012. An agency may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Author

    The primary author of this document is Jody Millar (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

    Dated: May 28, 2010.
Lynn Lewis,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Ft. Snelling, MN.
[FR Doc. 2010-13424 Filed 6-3-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P