Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), 4865-4866 [2013-01293]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 15 / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / Notices
wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with
fulfilling Indian fiduciary trust
responsibilities. This is to be
accomplished through the
implementation of a Comprehensive
Trust Management Plan (CTM) that is
designed to improve trust beneficiary
services, ownership information,
management of trust fund assets, and
self-governance activities.
A tribe operating under selfgovernance may include the following
programs, services, functions, and
activities or portions thereof in a
funding agreement:
1. Beneficiary Processes Program
(Individual Indian Money Accounting
Technical Functions).
2. Appraisal Services Program. Tribes/
consortia that currently perform these
programs under a self-governance
funding agreement with the Office of
Self-Governance may negotiate a
separate memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with OST that outlines the roles
and responsibilities for management of
these programs.
The MOU between the tribe/
consortium and OST outlines the roles
and responsibilities for the performance
of the OST program by the tribe/
consortium. If those roles and
responsibilities are already fully
articulated in the existing funding
agreement with the BIA, an MOU is not
necessary. To the extent that the parties
desire specific program standards, an
MOU will be negotiated between the
tribe/consortium and OST, which will
be binding on both parties and attached
and incorporated into the BIA funding
agreement.
If a tribe/consortium decides to
assume the operation of an OST
program, the new funding for
performing that program will come from
OST program dollars. A tribe’s newlyassumed operation of the OST
program(s) will be reflected in the
tribe’s funding agreement.
For questions regarding selfgovernance, contact Lee Frazier,
Program Analyst, Office of External
Affairs, Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians (MS 5140—MIB),
1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC
20240–0001, phone: (202) 208–7587,
fax: (202) 208–7545.
IV. Programmatic Targets
During Fiscal Year 2013, upon request
of a self-governance tribe, each non-BIA
bureau will negotiate funding
agreements for its eligible programs
beyond those already negotiated.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:22 Jan 22, 2013
Jkt 229001
Dated: January 15, 2013.
Ken Salazar,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–01246 Filed 1–22–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R1–ES–2012–N199;
FXES11130100000C2–123–FF01E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Recovery Plan for the
Columbia Basin Distinct Population
Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit
(Brachylagus idahoensis)
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the approved Recovery
Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct
Population Segment of the Pygmy
Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). The
recovery plan includes recovery
objectives and criteria and prescribes
specific recovery actions considered
necessary to achieve downlisting of the
population from endangered to
threatened status on the Federal List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the
recovery plan is available at https://
www.fws.gov/endangered/species/
recovery-plans.html and https://
www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/
endangered/recovery/plans.html. Copies
of the recovery plan are also available
by request from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Eastern Washington
Field Office, 11103 East Montgomery
Drive, Spokane, Washington 99206
(phone: 509–891–6839). Printed copies
of the recovery plan will be available for
distribution within 4 to 6 weeks of
publication of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chris Warren, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above Spokane address
and telephone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We
announce the availability of the
approved Recovery Plan for the
Columbia Basin Distinct Population
Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit (Columbia
Basin pygmy rabbit).
SUMMARY:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened
animals and plants is the primary goal
of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
PO 00000
Frm 00038
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
4865
seq.). Recovery means improvement of
the status of a listed species to the point
at which listing it is no longer required
under the criteria set forth in section
4(a)(1) of the Act and its implementing
regulations at 50 CFR 424. The Act
requires the development of recovery
plans for endangered or threatened
species unless such a plan would not
promote the conservation of the species.
Recovery plans help guide the recovery
effort by prescribing actions considered
necessary for the conservation of the
species, establishing criteria for
downlisting or delisting listed species,
and estimating time and cost for
implementing the measures needed for
recovery.
In 2007 we developed a draft recovery
plan (Draft) for the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit in coordination with the
Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit Recovery
Team, which included representatives
from two U.S. Department of the Interior
bureaus (Fish and Wildlife Service and
Bureau of Land Management), one U.S.
Department of Agriculture bureau
(Natural Resources Conservation
Service), two State agencies
(Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife and Washington Department of
Natural Resources), Washington State
University, The Nature Conservancy,
Oregon Zoo, Foster Creek Conservation
District, and several adjunct expert
contributors. In order to address
available new information, ongoing
implementation of adaptive
management measures, and prescribed
changes to specific actions defined in
the Draft, we developed an amendment
to the draft recovery plan (Amendment)
for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit in
2011. Several of the above recovery
team members also contributed to
development of the Amendment and the
final approved recovery plan.
Section 4(f) of the Act requires public
notice and an opportunity for public
review and comment during recovery
plan development. From September 7
through November 6, 2007, we provided
the Draft to the public and solicited
comments (72 FR 51461). From June 29
through August 29, 2011, we provided
the Amendment to the public and
solicited comments (76 FR 38203). We
considered all information we received
during the public comment periods,
along with comments solicited from
expert peer reviewers, and have
summarized that information and our
responses to comments in an appendix
to the final recovery plan. We welcome
continuing comment on the recovery
plan, and we will consider all
substantive comments on an ongoing
basis to inform the implementation of
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
23JAN1
wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with
4866
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 15 / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / Notices
recovery activities and future updates to
the recovery plan.
Large-scale loss and fragmentation of
native shrub steppe habitats, primarily
for agricultural development, likely
played a primary role in the long-term
decline of the Columbia Basin pygmy
rabbit. By 2001, the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit was imminently
threatened by its small population size,
loss of genetic diversity, and inbreeding
depression, coupled with a lack of
suitable protected habitats in the wild.
To varying degrees, these influences
continue to impact the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit.
The Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife began a captive breeding
program for the Columbia Basin pygmy
rabbit in 2001 and an intercross
breeding strategy in 2003. Due to severe
inbreeding depression in the purebred
captive animals, intercross breeding was
conducted to facilitate genetic
restoration of the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit, and is considered
essential for recovery efforts. Intercross
breeding was accomplished through
carefully controlled matings between
the founding purebred Columbia Basin
animals and pygmy rabbits of the same
taxonomic classification from a discrete
population in Idaho. The last known
wild subpopulation of pygmy rabbits
within the Columbia Basin was
extirpated by early 2004, although other
wild subpopulations may still exist on
lands that have not yet been surveyed.
In March of 2007, 20 captive-bred,
intercrossed pygmy rabbits were
reintroduced to habitats historically
occupied by the species in the Columbia
Basin of central Washington. Through
monitoring it was determined that these
captive-bred animals experienced very
high mortality over the first several
weeks following their release, and none
are believed to have survived. Following
the development and implementation of
appropriate adaptive management
measures, reintroduction efforts were
resumed in the summer of 2011. The
new measures that have been
implemented include additional
releases of the captive-bred intercrossed
pygmy rabbits, the capture and
translocation of wild pygmy rabbits
from populations outside of the
Columbia Basin for inclusion in the
reintroduction program, initiation of
partially controlled field-breeding
efforts, and improved protective
measures during releases. As these new
measures have been implemented, the
need for continuing captive breeding
efforts has steadily diminished, and
captive breeding operations at the three
cooperating facilities were discontinued
by the end of July 2012.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:22 Jan 22, 2013
Jkt 229001
The recovery plan prescribes a phased
approach for recovery: (1) Removal or
abatement of imminent threats to the
population and potentially suitable
shrub-steppe habitats in the Columbia
Basin; (2) reestablishment of an
appropriate number and distribution of
free-ranging subpopulations over the
near term; and (3) establishment and
protection of a sufficiently resilient,
free-ranging population that would be
expected to withstand foreseeable longterm threats. This recovery strategy is
oriented to dynamic adaptive
management of the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit and its habitat, consistent
with the Service’s Strategic Habitat
Conservation process, which calls for an
iterative process of biological planning,
conservation design, conservation
delivery, and monitoring and research.
The biological planning and
conservation design set forth in this
recovery plan lay out the criteria for
recovery and identify localities for
implementing actions, while the
recovery actions describe a process for
implementing conservation on the
ground, outcome-based monitoring to
assess success, and ongoing assumptiondriven research to test biological
hypotheses important to management.
To facilitate this strategy, specific nearterm (i.e., 2012 to 2021) and more
general long-term objectives and criteria
have been established. In addition,
revised implementation schedules will
be developed, as necessary, to reflect the
knowledge gained, accomplishments
met, potential future constraints
encountered, and consequent
refinements to near-term recovery
objectives, criteria, and/or actions as
recovery progresses.
Authority: The authority for this action is
section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act,
16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: December 11, 2012.
Richard R. Hannan,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–01293 Filed 1–22–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
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Fmt 4703
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R6–ES–2013–N009; FF06E16000–
123–FXES11130600000D2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Enhancement of Survival
Permit Application; Draft Black-Footed
Ferret Programmatic Safe Harbor
Agreement and Environmental
Assessment; Reopening of Public
Comment Period
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; reopening
of comment period.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening
the public comment period for an
application from the Black-footed Ferret
Recovery Implementation Coordinator
for an enhancement of survival permit
under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA). The
documents available for public review
are a draft programmatic Safe Harbor
Agreement (Agreement) to reintroduce
the federally endangered black-footed
ferret on properties of voluntary
participants across the species’ range to
further recovery of this species and a
draft environmental assessment (EA)
pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA). If you have
previously submitted comments, please
do not resubmit them, because we have
already incorporated them in the public
record and will fully consider them in
our final decision.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted by February 22, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Send comments by U.S.
mail to Kimberly Tamkun, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Black-footed
Ferret Conservation Center, P.O. Box
190, Wellington, CO, 80549–0190, or via
email to FerretSHA@fws.gov. You also
may send comments by facsimile to
(970) 897–2732. The draft Agreement
and EA are available on the BlackFooted Ferret Recovery Program Web
site at https://www.blackfootedferret.
org/. You also may review copies of
these documents during regular
business hours at the National Blackfooted Ferret Conservation Center
(Ferret Center), 19180 North East
Frontage Road Carr, CO, 80612–9719. If
you do not have access to the Web site
or cannot visit our office, you may
request copies by telephone at (970)
897–2730 ext. 238 or by letter to the
Ferret Center.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pete
Gober, Black-footed Ferret Recovery
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
23JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4865-4866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01293]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2012-N199; FXES11130100000C2-123-FF01E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Recovery Plan for
the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit
(Brachylagus idahoensis)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the approved Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin
Distinct Population Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus
idahoensis). The recovery plan includes recovery objectives and
criteria and prescribes specific recovery actions considered necessary
to achieve downlisting of the population from endangered to threatened
status on the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and
Plants.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the recovery plan is available at
https://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html and https://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/plans.html. Copies
of the recovery plan are also available by request from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Eastern Washington Field Office, 11103 East
Montgomery Drive, Spokane, Washington 99206 (phone: 509-891-6839).
Printed copies of the recovery plan will be available for distribution
within 4 to 6 weeks of publication of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Warren, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above Spokane address and telephone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the approved
Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the
Pygmy Rabbit (Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit).
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants is the
primary goal of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status of a
listed species to the point at which listing it is no longer required
under the criteria set forth in section 4(a)(1) of the Act and its
implementing regulations at 50 CFR 424. The Act requires the
development of recovery plans for endangered or threatened species
unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of the species.
Recovery plans help guide the recovery effort by prescribing actions
considered necessary for the conservation of the species, establishing
criteria for downlisting or delisting listed species, and estimating
time and cost for implementing the measures needed for recovery.
In 2007 we developed a draft recovery plan (Draft) for the Columbia
Basin pygmy rabbit in coordination with the Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit
Recovery Team, which included representatives from two U.S. Department
of the Interior bureaus (Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land
Management), one U.S. Department of Agriculture bureau (Natural
Resources Conservation Service), two State agencies (Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural
Resources), Washington State University, The Nature Conservancy, Oregon
Zoo, Foster Creek Conservation District, and several adjunct expert
contributors. In order to address available new information, ongoing
implementation of adaptive management measures, and prescribed changes
to specific actions defined in the Draft, we developed an amendment to
the draft recovery plan (Amendment) for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit
in 2011. Several of the above recovery team members also contributed to
development of the Amendment and the final approved recovery plan.
Section 4(f) of the Act requires public notice and an opportunity
for public review and comment during recovery plan development. From
September 7 through November 6, 2007, we provided the Draft to the
public and solicited comments (72 FR 51461). From June 29 through
August 29, 2011, we provided the Amendment to the public and solicited
comments (76 FR 38203). We considered all information we received
during the public comment periods, along with comments solicited from
expert peer reviewers, and have summarized that information and our
responses to comments in an appendix to the final recovery plan. We
welcome continuing comment on the recovery plan, and we will consider
all substantive comments on an ongoing basis to inform the
implementation of
[[Page 4866]]
recovery activities and future updates to the recovery plan.
Large-scale loss and fragmentation of native shrub steppe habitats,
primarily for agricultural development, likely played a primary role in
the long-term decline of the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit. By 2001, the
Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit was imminently threatened by its small
population size, loss of genetic diversity, and inbreeding depression,
coupled with a lack of suitable protected habitats in the wild. To
varying degrees, these influences continue to impact the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began a captive
breeding program for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit in 2001 and an
intercross breeding strategy in 2003. Due to severe inbreeding
depression in the purebred captive animals, intercross breeding was
conducted to facilitate genetic restoration of the Columbia Basin pygmy
rabbit, and is considered essential for recovery efforts. Intercross
breeding was accomplished through carefully controlled matings between
the founding purebred Columbia Basin animals and pygmy rabbits of the
same taxonomic classification from a discrete population in Idaho. The
last known wild subpopulation of pygmy rabbits within the Columbia
Basin was extirpated by early 2004, although other wild subpopulations
may still exist on lands that have not yet been surveyed.
In March of 2007, 20 captive-bred, intercrossed pygmy rabbits were
reintroduced to habitats historically occupied by the species in the
Columbia Basin of central Washington. Through monitoring it was
determined that these captive-bred animals experienced very high
mortality over the first several weeks following their release, and
none are believed to have survived. Following the development and
implementation of appropriate adaptive management measures,
reintroduction efforts were resumed in the summer of 2011. The new
measures that have been implemented include additional releases of the
captive-bred intercrossed pygmy rabbits, the capture and translocation
of wild pygmy rabbits from populations outside of the Columbia Basin
for inclusion in the reintroduction program, initiation of partially
controlled field-breeding efforts, and improved protective measures
during releases. As these new measures have been implemented, the need
for continuing captive breeding efforts has steadily diminished, and
captive breeding operations at the three cooperating facilities were
discontinued by the end of July 2012.
The recovery plan prescribes a phased approach for recovery: (1)
Removal or abatement of imminent threats to the population and
potentially suitable shrub-steppe habitats in the Columbia Basin; (2)
reestablishment of an appropriate number and distribution of free-
ranging subpopulations over the near term; and (3) establishment and
protection of a sufficiently resilient, free-ranging population that
would be expected to withstand foreseeable long-term threats. This
recovery strategy is oriented to dynamic adaptive management of the
Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit and its habitat, consistent with the
Service's Strategic Habitat Conservation process, which calls for an
iterative process of biological planning, conservation design,
conservation delivery, and monitoring and research. The biological
planning and conservation design set forth in this recovery plan lay
out the criteria for recovery and identify localities for implementing
actions, while the recovery actions describe a process for implementing
conservation on the ground, outcome-based monitoring to assess success,
and ongoing assumption-driven research to test biological hypotheses
important to management. To facilitate this strategy, specific near-
term (i.e., 2012 to 2021) and more general long-term objectives and
criteria have been established. In addition, revised implementation
schedules will be developed, as necessary, to reflect the knowledge
gained, accomplishments met, potential future constraints encountered,
and consequent refinements to near-term recovery objectives, criteria,
and/or actions as recovery progresses.
Authority: The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: December 11, 2012.
Richard R. Hannan,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-01293 Filed 1-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
