Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List All Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as Endangered, 54423-54425 [2011-22372]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 170 / Thursday, September 1, 2011 / Proposed Rules
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[FR Doc. 2011–22437 Filed 8–31–11; 8:45 am]
emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS–R9–ES–2010–0086; MO
92210–1111F113 B6]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a
Petition To List All Chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes) as Endangered
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of petition finding and
initiation of status review.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day
finding on a petition to list all
chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as
endangered under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
Based on our review, we find that the
petition presents substantial scientific
or commercial information indicating
that listing all chimpanzees as
endangered may be warranted.
Therefore, with the publication of this
notice, we are initiating a review of the
status of the species to determine if
listing the entire species as endangered
is warranted. To ensure that this status
review is comprehensive, we are
requesting scientific and commercial
data and other information regarding
this species. Based on the status review,
we will issue a 12-month finding on the
petition, which will address whether
the petitioned action is warranted, as
provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
DATES: To allow us adequate time to
conduct this review, we request that we
receive information on or before October
31, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit
information by one of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Search for Docket
No. FWS–R9–ES–2010–0086 and then
follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
• U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R9–
IA–2008–0123; Division of Policy and
Directives Management; U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive,
MS 2042–PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We will post all information received
on https://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us
(see the Information Solicited section
below for more details).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Janine Van Norman, Chief, Branch of
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
54423
Foreign Species, Endangered Species
Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420,
Arlington, VA 22203; telephone 703–
358–2171; facsimile 703–358–1735. If
you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf (TDD), please call the
Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Solicited
Under the Act, when we make a
finding that a petition presents
substantial information indicating that
listing a species may be warranted, we
are required to promptly review the
status of the species. To ensure that our
status review of the chimpanzee is
complete and based on the best
available scientific and commercial
information, we need certain
information. We request scientific and
commercial information from the
public, concerned governmental
agencies, the scientific community,
industry, or any other interested parties
on the status of the chimpanzee
throughout its range, including but not
limited to:
(1) Information on taxonomy,
distribution, habitat selection, diet, and
population abundance and trends of this
species.
(2) Information on the effects of
habitat loss and changing land uses on
the distribution and abundance of this
species and its principal food sources
over the short and long term.
(3) Information on whether changing
climatic conditions are affecting the
species, its habitat, or its prey base.
(4) Information on the effects of other
potential threat factors, including live
capture and collection, domestic and
international trade, predation by other
animals, and diseases of this species.
(5) Information on management
programs for chimpanzee conservation,
including mitigation measures related to
conservation programs, and any other
private or governmental conservation
programs that benefit this species.
(6) Information relevant to whether
any populations of this species may
qualify as distinct population segments.
(7) Information on captive breeding
and domestic trade of this species in the
United States.
(8) Genetics and taxonomy.
(9) The factors that are the basis for
making a listing determination for a
species under section 4(a) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.),
which are:
(a) The present or threatened
destruction, modification, or
curtailment of its habitat or range;
E:\FR\FM\01SEP1.SGM
01SEP1
emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
54424
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 170 / Thursday, September 1, 2011 / Proposed Rules
(b) Overutilization for commercial,
recreational, scientific, or educational
purposes;
(c) Disease or predation;
(d) The inadequacy of existing
regulatory mechanisms; or
(e) Other natural or manmade factors
affecting its continued existence.
Please include sufficient information
with your submission (such as scientific
journal articles or other publications) to
allow us to verify any scientific or
commercial information you include.
We will base our status review on the
best scientific and commercial
information available, including all
information we receive during the
public comment period. Please note that
comments merely stating support for or
opposition to the action under
consideration without providing
supporting information, although noted,
will not be part of the basis of this
determination, as section 4(b)(1)(A) of
the Act directs that determinations as to
whether any species is an endangered or
threatened species must be made
‘‘solely on the basis of the best scientific
and commercial data available.’’ At the
conclusion of the status review, we will
issue the 12-month finding on the
petition, as provided in section
4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
You may submit your information
concerning this status review by one of
the methods listed in the ADDRESSES
section. If you submit information via
https://www.regulations.gov, your entire
submission—including any personal
identifying information—will be posted
on the Web site. If you submit a
hardcopy that includes personal
identifying information, you may
request at the top of your document that
we withhold this personal identifying
information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so. We will post all
hardcopy submissions on https://
www.regulations.gov.
Information and materials we receive,
as well as supporting documentation we
used in preparing this finding, will be
available for public inspection on
https://www.regulations.gov, or by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Endangered Species Program,
Branch of Foreign Species (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires
that we make a finding on whether a
petition to list, delist, or reclassify a
species presents substantial scientific or
commercial information to indicate that
the petitioned action may be warranted.
We are to base this finding on
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:04 Aug 31, 2011
Jkt 223001
information provided in the petition,
supporting information submitted with
the petition, and information otherwise
available in our files. To the maximum
extent practicable, we are to make this
finding within 90 days of our receipt of
the petition and publish our notice of
the finding promptly in the Federal
Register.
Our standard for substantial
information within the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90day petition finding is ‘‘that amount of
information that would lead a
reasonable person to believe that the
measure proposed in the petition may
be warranted’’ (50 CFR 424.14(b)). If we
find that substantial scientific or
commercial information was presented,
we are required to promptly review the
status of the species, which is
subsequently summarized in our status
review (also referred to as a 12-month
finding).
Petition History
On March 16, 2010, we received a
petition dated the same day, from Meyer
Glitzenstein & Crystal on behalf of The
Humane Society of the United States,
the American Association of Zoological
Parks and Aquariums, the Jane Goodall
Institute, the Wildlife Conservation
Society, the Pan African Sanctuary
Alliance, the Fund for Animals,
Humane Society International, and the
New England Anti-Vivisection Society
(hereafter referred to as ‘‘petitioners’’)
requesting that captive chimpanzees
(Pan troglodytes) be reclassified as
endangered under the Act. The petition
clearly identified itself as such and
included the requisite identification
information for the petitioners, as
required by 50 CFR 424.14(a). The
petition contained information on what
the petitioners reported as potential
threats to the species from habitat loss,
poaching and trafficking, disease, and
inadequate regulatory mechanisms. In a
September 15, 2010, letter to Katherine
Meyer, we responded that we were
currently required to complete a
significant number of listing and critical
habitat actions in fiscal year 2010,
including complying with court orders
and court-approved settlement
agreements, listing actions with absolute
statutory deadlines, and high-priority
listing actions, that required nearly all
of our listing and critical habitat
funding for fiscal year 2010. We also
stated that we anticipated making an
initial finding during fiscal year 2011, as
to whether the petition contained
substantial information indicating that
the action may be warranted.
On October 12, 2010, we received a
letter from Anna Frostic, Staff Attorney
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
with the Humane Society of the United
States, on behalf of the petitioners
clarifying that the March 16, 2010,
petition was a petition to list the entire
species (Pan troglodytes) as endangered,
whether in the wild or in captivity,
pursuant to the Act. We acknowledged
receipt of this letter in a letter to Ms.
Frostic dated October 15, 2010. This
finding addresses the petition.
Previous Federal Action(s)
On October 19, 1976, we published in
the Federal Register a rule listing the
chimpanzee and 25 other species of
primates under the Act (41 FR 45990);
the chimpanzee and 13 of the other
primate species were listed as
threatened. The chimpanzee was found
to be threatened based on (1)
Commercial logging and clearing of
forests for agriculture and the use of
arboricides; (2) capture and exportation
for use in research labs and zoos; (3)
diseases, such as malaria, hepatitis, and
tuberculosis contracted from humans;
and (4) ineffectiveness of existing
regulatory mechanisms. We
simultaneously issued a special rule
that the general prohibitions provided to
the threatened species would apply
except for live animals of these species
held in captivity in the United States on
the effective date of the rulemaking,
progeny of such animals, or to the
progeny of animals legally imported in
the United States after the effective date
of the rulemaking.
On November 4, 1987, we received a
petition from the Humane Society of the
United States, World Wildlife Fund, and
Jane Goodall Institute, requesting that
the chimpanzee be reclassified from
threatened to endangered. On March 23,
1988 (53 FR 9460), we published in the
Federal Register a finding, in
accordance with section 4(b)(3)(A) of
the Act, that the petition had presented
substantial information indicating that
the requested reclassification may be
warranted and initiated a status review.
We opened a comment period, which
closed July 21, 1988, to allow all
interested parties to submit comments
and information.
On December 28, 1988 (53 FR 52452),
we published in the Federal Register a
finding that the requested
reclassification was warranted with
respect to chimpanzees in the wild. This
decision was based on the petition and
subsequent supporting comments which
dealt primarily with the status of the
species in the wild and not with the
viability of captive populations.
Furthermore, we found that the special
rule exempting captive chimpanzees in
the United States from the general
prohibitions may encourage
E:\FR\FM\01SEP1.SGM
01SEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 170 / Thursday, September 1, 2011 / Proposed Rules
propagation, providing surplus animals
and reducing the incentive to remove
animals from the wild. On February 24,
1989 (54 FR 8152), we published in the
Federal Register a proposed rule to
implement such reclassification. We did
not propose reclassification of captive
chimpanzees. Following publication of
the proposed rule, we opened a 60-day
comment period to allow all interested
parties to submit comments and
information.
On March 12, 1990, we published in
the Federal Register (55 FR 9129) a final
rule reclassifying the wild populations
of the chimpanzees as endangered. The
captive chimpanzees remained
classified as threatened, and those
within the United States continued to be
covered by the special rule allowing
activities otherwise prohibited.
emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
Finding
On the basis of information provided
in the petition we find that the petition
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:04 Aug 31, 2011
Jkt 223001
presents substantial scientific or
commercial information indicating that
listing the entire species of chimpanzee
as endangered may be warranted.
Therefore, we will initiate a status
review to determine if listing the species
in its entirety is warranted. To ensure
that the status review is comprehensive,
we are soliciting scientific and
commercial information regarding this
species (see Information Solicited).
It is important to note that the
‘‘substantial information’’ standard for a
90-day finding is in contrast to the Act’s
‘‘best scientific and commercial data’’
standard that applies to a 12-month
finding as to whether a petitioned action
is warranted. A 90-day finding is not a
status assessment of the species and
does not constitute a status review
under the Act. Our final determination
as to whether a petitioned action is
warranted is not made until we have
completed a thorough review of the
status of the species, which is
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 9990
54425
conducted following a substantial 90day finding. Because the Act’s standards
for 90-day and 12-month findings are
different, as described above, a
substantial 90-day finding does not
mean that the 12-month finding will
result in a warranted finding.
Author
The primary authors of this notice are
the staff members of the Branch of
Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Authority
The authority for this action is the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: August 22, 2011.
Gregory E. Siekaniec,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–22372 Filed 8–31–11; 8:45 am]
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 170 (Thursday, September 1, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54423-54425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22372]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086; MO 92210-1111F113 B6]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on
a Petition To List All Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of petition finding and initiation of status review.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day
finding on a petition to list all chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial
scientific or commercial information indicating that listing all
chimpanzees as endangered may be warranted. Therefore, with the
publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of
the species to determine if listing the entire species as endangered is
warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are
requesting scientific and commercial data and other information
regarding this species. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-
month finding on the petition, which will address whether the
petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of
the Act.
DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct this review, we request
that we receive information on or before October 31, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit information by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Search for Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086 and then follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R9-IA-2008-0123; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS
2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We will post all information received on https://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the Information Solicited
section below for more details).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janine Van Norman, Chief, Branch of
Foreign Species, Endangered Species Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203;
telephone 703-358-2171; facsimile 703-358-1735. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Solicited
Under the Act, when we make a finding that a petition presents
substantial information indicating that listing a species may be
warranted, we are required to promptly review the status of the
species. To ensure that our status review of the chimpanzee is complete
and based on the best available scientific and commercial information,
we need certain information. We request scientific and commercial
information from the public, concerned governmental agencies, the
scientific community, industry, or any other interested parties on the
status of the chimpanzee throughout its range, including but not
limited to:
(1) Information on taxonomy, distribution, habitat selection, diet,
and population abundance and trends of this species.
(2) Information on the effects of habitat loss and changing land
uses on the distribution and abundance of this species and its
principal food sources over the short and long term.
(3) Information on whether changing climatic conditions are
affecting the species, its habitat, or its prey base.
(4) Information on the effects of other potential threat factors,
including live capture and collection, domestic and international
trade, predation by other animals, and diseases of this species.
(5) Information on management programs for chimpanzee conservation,
including mitigation measures related to conservation programs, and any
other private or governmental conservation programs that benefit this
species.
(6) Information relevant to whether any populations of this species
may qualify as distinct population segments.
(7) Information on captive breeding and domestic trade of this
species in the United States.
(8) Genetics and taxonomy.
(9) The factors that are the basis for making a listing
determination for a species under section 4(a) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), which
are:
(a) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of its habitat or range;
[[Page 54424]]
(b) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or
educational purposes;
(c) Disease or predation;
(d) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
(e) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence.
Please include sufficient information with your submission (such as
scientific journal articles or other publications) to allow us to
verify any scientific or commercial information you include.
We will base our status review on the best scientific and
commercial information available, including all information we receive
during the public comment period. Please note that comments merely
stating support for or opposition to the action under consideration
without providing supporting information, although noted, will not be
part of the basis of this determination, as section 4(b)(1)(A) of the
Act directs that determinations as to whether any species is an
endangered or threatened species must be made ``solely on the basis of
the best scientific and commercial data available.'' At the conclusion
of the status review, we will issue the 12-month finding on the
petition, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
You may submit your information concerning this status review by
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. If you submit
information via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire submission--
including any personal identifying information--will be posted on the
Web site. If you submit a hardcopy that includes personal identifying
information, you may request at the top of your document that we
withhold this personal identifying information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will
post all hardcopy submissions on https://www.regulations.gov.
Information and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing this finding, will be available for
public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment,
during normal business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Endangered Species Program, Branch of Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act requires that we make a finding on
whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents
substantial scientific or commercial information to indicate that the
petitioned action may be warranted. We are to base this finding on
information provided in the petition, supporting information submitted
with the petition, and information otherwise available in our files. To
the maximum extent practicable, we are to make this finding within 90
days of our receipt of the petition and publish our notice of the
finding promptly in the Federal Register.
Our standard for substantial information within the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90-day petition finding is ``that
amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR
424.14(b)). If we find that substantial scientific or commercial
information was presented, we are required to promptly review the
status of the species, which is subsequently summarized in our status
review (also referred to as a 12-month finding).
Petition History
On March 16, 2010, we received a petition dated the same day, from
Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal on behalf of The Humane Society of the
United States, the American Association of Zoological Parks and
Aquariums, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Wildlife Conservation
Society, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, the Fund for Animals,
Humane Society International, and the New England Anti-Vivisection
Society (hereafter referred to as ``petitioners'') requesting that
captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) be reclassified as endangered
under the Act. The petition clearly identified itself as such and
included the requisite identification information for the petitioners,
as required by 50 CFR 424.14(a). The petition contained information on
what the petitioners reported as potential threats to the species from
habitat loss, poaching and trafficking, disease, and inadequate
regulatory mechanisms. In a September 15, 2010, letter to Katherine
Meyer, we responded that we were currently required to complete a
significant number of listing and critical habitat actions in fiscal
year 2010, including complying with court orders and court-approved
settlement agreements, listing actions with absolute statutory
deadlines, and high-priority listing actions, that required nearly all
of our listing and critical habitat funding for fiscal year 2010. We
also stated that we anticipated making an initial finding during fiscal
year 2011, as to whether the petition contained substantial information
indicating that the action may be warranted.
On October 12, 2010, we received a letter from Anna Frostic, Staff
Attorney with the Humane Society of the United States, on behalf of the
petitioners clarifying that the March 16, 2010, petition was a petition
to list the entire species (Pan troglodytes) as endangered, whether in
the wild or in captivity, pursuant to the Act. We acknowledged receipt
of this letter in a letter to Ms. Frostic dated October 15, 2010. This
finding addresses the petition.
Previous Federal Action(s)
On October 19, 1976, we published in the Federal Register a rule
listing the chimpanzee and 25 other species of primates under the Act
(41 FR 45990); the chimpanzee and 13 of the other primate species were
listed as threatened. The chimpanzee was found to be threatened based
on (1) Commercial logging and clearing of forests for agriculture and
the use of arboricides; (2) capture and exportation for use in research
labs and zoos; (3) diseases, such as malaria, hepatitis, and
tuberculosis contracted from humans; and (4) ineffectiveness of
existing regulatory mechanisms. We simultaneously issued a special rule
that the general prohibitions provided to the threatened species would
apply except for live animals of these species held in captivity in the
United States on the effective date of the rulemaking, progeny of such
animals, or to the progeny of animals legally imported in the United
States after the effective date of the rulemaking.
On November 4, 1987, we received a petition from the Humane Society
of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, and Jane Goodall Institute,
requesting that the chimpanzee be reclassified from threatened to
endangered. On March 23, 1988 (53 FR 9460), we published in the Federal
Register a finding, in accordance with section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act,
that the petition had presented substantial information indicating that
the requested reclassification may be warranted and initiated a status
review. We opened a comment period, which closed July 21, 1988, to
allow all interested parties to submit comments and information.
On December 28, 1988 (53 FR 52452), we published in the Federal
Register a finding that the requested reclassification was warranted
with respect to chimpanzees in the wild. This decision was based on the
petition and subsequent supporting comments which dealt primarily with
the status of the species in the wild and not with the viability of
captive populations. Furthermore, we found that the special rule
exempting captive chimpanzees in the United States from the general
prohibitions may encourage
[[Page 54425]]
propagation, providing surplus animals and reducing the incentive to
remove animals from the wild. On February 24, 1989 (54 FR 8152), we
published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to implement such
reclassification. We did not propose reclassification of captive
chimpanzees. Following publication of the proposed rule, we opened a
60-day comment period to allow all interested parties to submit
comments and information.
On March 12, 1990, we published in the Federal Register (55 FR
9129) a final rule reclassifying the wild populations of the
chimpanzees as endangered. The captive chimpanzees remained classified
as threatened, and those within the United States continued to be
covered by the special rule allowing activities otherwise prohibited.
Finding
On the basis of information provided in the petition we find that
the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information
indicating that listing the entire species of chimpanzee as endangered
may be warranted. Therefore, we will initiate a status review to
determine if listing the species in its entirety is warranted. To
ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting
scientific and commercial information regarding this species (see
Information Solicited).
It is important to note that the ``substantial information''
standard for a 90-day finding is in contrast to the Act's ``best
scientific and commercial data'' standard that applies to a 12-month
finding as to whether a petitioned action is warranted. A 90-day
finding is not a status assessment of the species and does not
constitute a status review under the Act. Our final determination as to
whether a petitioned action is warranted is not made until we have
completed a thorough review of the status of the species, which is
conducted following a substantial 90-day finding. Because the Act's
standards for 90-day and 12-month findings are different, as described
above, a substantial 90-day finding does not mean that the 12-month
finding will result in a warranted finding.
Author
The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the
Branch of Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: August 22, 2011.
Gregory E. Siekaniec,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-22372 Filed 8-31-11; 8:45 am]
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