Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Draft Recovery Plan for the Coterminous United States Population of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus), 52741-52743 [2014-21026]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 171 / Thursday, September 4, 2014 / Notices
HUD 92070 Service members Civil
Relief Act Notice Disclosure.
HUD 27011 Single Family
Application for Insurance Benefits.
HUD 92068–A Monthly Delinquent
Loan Report.
Description of the need for the
information and proposed use: This
information collection covers the
mortgage loan servicing of FHA-insured
loans that are delinquent, in default or
in foreclosure. The data and information
provided is essential for managing
HUD’s programs and the FHA’s Mutual
Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI).
Respondents: 7806.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
334 (FHA); 250 (VA); 7000
(Conventional Prime); 222
(Conventional Sub-Prime).
Estimated Number of Responses:
138,356,350.
Frequency of Response: The
frequency is on occasion.
Average Hours per Response: 10
minutes to 15 minutes.
Total Estimated Burdens: 10,912,800.
B. Solicitation of Public Comment
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
This notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comment in response to these
questions.
Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.
Dated: August 28, 2014.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer,
Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014–21119 Filed 9–3–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5752–N–72]
30-Day Notice of Proposed Information
Collection: Requirements for Single
Family Mortgage Instruments
Office of the Chief Information
Officer, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
HUD has submitted the
proposed information collection
requirement described below to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review, in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act. The
purpose of this notice is to allow for an
additional 30 days of public comment.
DATES: Comments Due Date: October 6,
2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit comments regarding
this proposal. Comments should refer to
the proposal by name and/or OMB
Control Number and should be sent to:
HUD Desk Officer, Office of
Management and Budget, New
Executive Office Building, Washington,
DC 20503; fax: 202–395–5806. Email:
OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Colette Pollard, Reports Management
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 451 7th Street
SW., Washington, DC 20410; email at
Colette Pollard@hud.gov or telephone
202–402–3400. Persons with hearing or
speech impairments may access this
number through TTY by calling the tollfree Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–
8339. This is not a toll-free number.
Copies of available documents
submitted to OMB may be obtained
from Ms. Pollard.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice informs the public that HUD has
submitted to OMB a request for
approval of the information collection
described in Section A.
The Federal Register notice that
solicited public comment on the
information collection for a period of 60
days was published on June 20, 2014.
A. Overview of Information Collection
Title of Information Collection:
Requirements for Single Family
Mortgage Instruments.
OMB Approval Number: 2502–0404.
Type of Request: Extension.
Form Number: None.
Description of the need for the
information and proposed use: This
information is used to verify that a
mortgage has been properly recorded
and is eligible for FHA insurance.
PO 00000
Frm 00117
Fmt 4703
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52741
Respondents: Individuals or
household.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
11,907.
Estimated Number of Responses:
1,261,143.
Frequency of Response: One per
mortgage.
Average Hours per Response: 5
minutes.
Total Estimated Burdens: 630,572.
B. Solicitation of Public Comment
This notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comment in response to these
questions.
Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.
Dated: August 28, 2014.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer,
Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014–21120 Filed 9–3–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R1–ES–2014–N082;
FXES11130100000–145–FF01E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Revised Draft Recovery
Plan for the Coterminous United States
Population of Bull Trout (Salvelinus
confluentus)
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability
for review and public comment.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
SUMMARY:
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04SEN1
52742
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 171 / Thursday, September 4, 2014 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
availability of the Revised Draft
Recovery Plan for the Coterminous
United States Population of Bull Trout
under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act). The revised
draft recovery plan includes specific
goals, objectives, and criteria that
should be met to remove the species
from the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We
request review and comment on this
revised draft recovery plan from
Federal, State and local agencies, Native
American Tribes, and the public.
DATES: In order to be considered,
comments on the revised draft recovery
plan must be received on or before
December 3, 2014.
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, Idaho Fish and
Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way,
Room 368, Boise, ID 83709; telephone
(208) 378–5345. Printed copies of the
recovery plan will be available for
distribution within 4 to 6 weeks after
publication of this notice.
If you want to comment, you may
submit written comments by one of the
following methods:
(1) You may submit written comments
and materials to Bull Trout Recovery,
Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, at the
above Boise address.
(2) You may hand-deliver written
comments to our Idaho Fish and
Wildlife Office, at the above Boise
address, or fax them to (208) 378–5262.
(3) You may send comments by email
to fw1bulltroutrecoveryplan@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Carrier, State Supervisor, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish
and Wildlife Office, at the above Boise
address; telephone (208) 378–5243. If
you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
1–800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In November 1999, all populations of
bull trout within the coterminous
United States were listed as a threatened
species pursuant to the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; Act) (64 FR 58910;
November 1, 1999). This final listing
added bull trout in the Coastal-Puget
Sound populations (Olympic Peninsula
and Puget Sound regions) and Saint
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:14 Sep 03, 2014
Jkt 232001
Mary-Belly River populations (east of
the Continental divide in Montana) to
the previous listing of three distinct
population segments of bull trout in the
Columbia River, Klamath River, and
Jarbidge River basins (63 FR 31647, June
10, 1998; 64 FR 17110, April 8, 1999).
Recovery of endangered and
threatened animals and plants is a
primary goal of our endangered species
program. To help guide the recovery
effort, we prepare recovery plans for
most listed species. Recovery plans
describe actions considered necessary
for conservation of the species, establish
criteria for downlisting or delisting, and
estimate time and cost for implementing
recovery measures.
For the coterminous population of
bull trout, three separate draft bull trout
recovery plans were completed in 2002
and 2004. The 2002 draft recovery plan
(USFWS 2002) addressed bull trout
populations within the Columbia, St.
Mary-Belly, and Klamath River basins
and included individual chapters for 24
separate recovery units. In 2004, draft
recovery plans were developed for the
Coastal–Puget Sound drainages in
western Washington, including two
recovery unit chapters (USFWS 2004a),
and for the Jarbidge River in Nevada
(USFWS 2004b). None of these draft
recovery plans were finalized, but they
have served to identify recovery actions
across the range of the species, and
provide the framework for
implementing numerous recovery
actions by our partner agencies, local
working groups, and others with an
interest in bull trout conservation.
Our most recent 5-year status review
for bull trout was completed on April 8,
2008, and concluded that listing the
species as ‘‘threatened’’ remained
warranted rangewide in the coterminous
United States. Based on this status
review, in our 2010 recovery report to
Congress we reported that bull trout
were generally ‘‘stable’’ overall
rangewide (species status neither
improved nor declined during the
reporting year), with some core area
populations decreasing, some stable,
and some increasing. Since the listing of
bull trout, there has been very little
change in the general distribution of
bull trout in the conterminous United
States, and we are not aware that any
known, occupied bull trout core areas
have been extirpated. Additionally,
since the listing of bull trout, numerous
conservation measures have been and
continue to be implemented across its
coterminous range. These measures are
being undertaken by a wide variety of
local and regional partnerships,
including State fish and game agencies,
State and Federal land management and
PO 00000
Frm 00118
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
water resource agencies, Tribal
governments, power companies,
watershed working groups, water users,
ranchers, and landowners.
Recovery Plan Components
The primary recovery strategy for bull
trout in the coterminous United States
that we propose in the draft recovery
plan is to: (1) Conserve bull trout so that
they are geographically widespread
across representative habitats and
demographically stable in six Recovery
Units; (2) effectively manage and
ameliorate the primary threats in each of
six recovery units at the core area scale
such that bull trout are not likely to
become endangered in the foreseeable
future; (3) build upon the numerous and
ongoing conservation actions
implemented on behalf of bull trout
since their listing in 1999, and improve
our understanding of how various threat
factors potentially affect the species; (4)
use that information to work
cooperatively with our partners to
design, fund, prioritize, and implement
effective conservation actions in those
areas that offer the greatest long-term
benefit to sustain bull trout and where
recovery can be achieved; and (5) apply
adaptive management principles to
implementing the bull trout recovery
program to account for new information.
Bull trout population status remains
strong in some core areas. However, in
developing this revised draft recovery
plan, we also acknowledge that despite
our best conservation efforts, it is likely
that some existing bull trout core areas
will become extirpated due to various
factors, including the effects of small
populations and isolation (35 of 110
extant core areas comprise a single local
population). Our current approach to
developing recovery criteria and
necessary recovery actions for bull trout
is intended to ensure adequate
conservation of genetic diversity, lifehistory features, and broad geographical
representation of bull trout populations
while acknowledging some local
extirpations are likely to occur.
We may initiate an assessment of
whether recovery has been achieved and
delisting is warranted when the
recovery criteria below have been met in
each recovery unit. Alternatively, if
recovery criteria are met in an
individual recovery unit, we may
initiate an assessment of whether to
designate that recovery unit as a distinct
population segment and if delisting of
that distinct population segment would
be warranted.
For the Coastal, Mid-Columbia, Upper
Snake and Columbia Headwaters
Recovery Units, the draft plan provides
that primary threats must be effectively
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
04SEN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 171 / Thursday, September 4, 2014 / Notices
managed in at least 75 percent of all
core areas, representing 75 percent or
more of bull trout local populations
within each of these four recovery units.
For the Klamath and St. Mary Recovery
Units, the draft plan provides that all
primary threats must be effectively
managed in all existing core areas,
representing all existing local
populations. In addition, because 9 of
the 17 known local populations in the
Klamath Recovery Unit have been
extirpated and others are significantly
imperiled and require active
management, we believe that the
geographic distribution of bull trout
within this recovery unit needs to be
substantially expanded before it can be
considered to have met recovery goals.
To achieve recovery, we seek to add
seven additional local populations
distributed among the three core areas
(two in the Upper Klamath Lake core
area, three in the Sycan core area, and
two in the Upper Sprague core area). In
recovery units where shared foraging/
migratory/overwintering (FMO) habitat
outside core areas has been identified,
connectivity and habitat in these shared
FMO areas should be maintained in a
condition sufficient for regular bull
trout use and successful dispersal
among the connecting core areas for
those core areas to meet the criterion.
If threats are effectively managed at
these thresholds, we expect that bull
trout populations will respond
accordingly and reflect the biodiversity
principles of resiliency, redundancy,
and representation. Specifically,
achieving the proposed recovery criteria
in each recovery unit would result in
geographically widespread and
demographically stable local bull trout
populations within the range of natural
variation, with their essential cold water
habitats connected to allow their diverse
life history forms to persist into the
foreseeable future; therefore, the species
would be brought to the point where the
protections of the Act are no longer
necessary.
We anticipate that the final bull trout
recovery plan will describe the
principal actions needed to advance the
recovery of bull trout in the six recovery
units within the coterminous United
States; and will include individual
Recovery Unit Implementation Plans
(RUIPs) for each recovery unit that will
provide site-specific detail at the core
area scale. The RUIPs for each recovery
unit will be developed through an
interagency collaboration of interested
and knowledgeable Federal, Tribal,
State, private, and other parties prior to
completion of the final recovery plan. In
many parts of the range of bull trout,
local interagency bull trout working
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18:14 Sep 03, 2014
Jkt 232001
groups have previously identified
recovery actions necessary for local bull
trout core area conservation, and are
already implementing conservation
actions. Therefore, we anticipate that in
many areas, developing a RUIP will
build upon existing efforts and
information. RUIPs incorporated in the
final recovery plan will also include
implementation schedule that outline
core area specific recovery actions and
estimated costs for bull trout recovery.
To allow public review and comment
on the draft RUIPs for each recovery
unit, including the draft Implementation
Schedule and total estimated recovery
costs, we will publish in the Federal
Register a notice of their availability for
review at least 90 days prior to
completing the final bull trout recovery
plan.
Request for Public Comments
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to
provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and
comment during recovery plan
development. It is also our policy to
request peer review of recovery plans
(59 FR 34270; July 1, 1994). In an
appendix to the approved final recovery
plan, we will summarize and respond to
the issues raised by the public and peer
reviewers. Substantive comments may
or may not result in changes to the
recovery plan; comments regarding
recovery plan implementation will be
forwarded as appropriate to Federal or
other entities so that they can be taken
into account during the course of
implementing recovery actions.
We request written comments on the
revised draft recovery plan. We will
consider all comments we receive by the
date specified in DATES prior to final
approval of the plan.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Authority
The authority for this action is section
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.).
PO 00000
Frm 00119
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
52743
Dated: July 23, 2014.
Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2014–21026 Filed 9–3–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R6–ES–2014–N145;
FXRS1261XPSAGEG–145–FF06E13000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Enhancement of Survival
Permit Applications; Greater SageGrouse Umbrella Candidate
Conservation Agreement With
Assurances for Wyoming Ranch
Management
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), have received
applications for enhancement of
survival permits (EOS permits) under
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act),
pursuant to the Greater Sage-grouse
Umbrella Candidate Conservation
Agreement with Assurances for
Wyoming Ranch Management (Umbrella
CCAA). The permit applications, if
approved, would authorize incidental
take associated with implementation of
specified individual Candidate
Conservation Agreements with
Assurances (individual CCAAs)
developed in accordance with the
Umbrella CCAA. We invite the public to
comment on the EOS permit
applications set out below. The Act
requires that we invite public comment
before issuing these permits.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please
send your written comments by October
6, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submitting Comments:
Send written comments by one of the
following methods. Please specify the
permit(s) you are commenting on by
relevant number(s) (e.g., Permit No. TE–
XXXXXX).
• U.S. mail: Tyler Abbott, Wyoming
Ecological Services Field Office (ESFO),
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5353
Yellowstone Road, Suite 308A,
Cheyenne, WY 82009.
• Email: tyler_abbott@fws.gov.
• Fax: Tyler Abbott, (307) 772–2358.
Reviewing Documents: You may
review copies of the enhancement of
survival permit applications during
regular business hours at the Wyoming
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 171 (Thursday, September 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52741-52743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21026]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2014-N082; FXES11130100000-145-FF01E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Draft
Recovery Plan for the Coterminous United States Population of Bull
Trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability for review and public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
[[Page 52742]]
availability of the Revised Draft Recovery Plan for the Coterminous
United States Population of Bull Trout under the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (Act). The revised draft recovery plan includes
specific goals, objectives, and criteria that should be met to remove
the species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants. We request review and comment on this revised draft
recovery plan from Federal, State and local agencies, Native American
Tribes, and the public.
DATES: In order to be considered, comments on the revised draft
recovery plan must be received on or before December 3, 2014.
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, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell
Way, Room 368, Boise, ID 83709; telephone (208) 378-5345. Printed
copies of the recovery plan will be available for distribution within 4
to 6 weeks after publication of this notice.
If you want to comment, you may submit written comments by one of
the following methods:
(1) You may submit written comments and materials to Bull Trout
Recovery, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, at the above Boise address.
(2) You may hand-deliver written comments to our Idaho Fish and
Wildlife Office, at the above Boise address, or fax them to (208) 378-
5262.
(3) You may send comments by email to
fw1bulltroutrecoveryplan@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Carrier, State Supervisor,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, at the
above Boise address; telephone (208) 378-5243. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In November 1999, all populations of bull trout within the
coterminous United States were listed as a threatened species pursuant
to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.; Act) (64 FR 58910; November 1, 1999). This final listing added
bull trout in the Coastal-Puget Sound populations (Olympic Peninsula
and Puget Sound regions) and Saint Mary-Belly River populations (east
of the Continental divide in Montana) to the previous listing of three
distinct population segments of bull trout in the Columbia River,
Klamath River, and Jarbidge River basins (63 FR 31647, June 10, 1998;
64 FR 17110, April 8, 1999).
Recovery of endangered and threatened animals and plants is a
primary goal of our endangered species program. To help guide the
recovery effort, we prepare recovery plans for most listed species.
Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for conservation
of the species, establish criteria for downlisting or delisting, and
estimate time and cost for implementing recovery measures.
For the coterminous population of bull trout, three separate draft
bull trout recovery plans were completed in 2002 and 2004. The 2002
draft recovery plan (USFWS 2002) addressed bull trout populations
within the Columbia, St. Mary-Belly, and Klamath River basins and
included individual chapters for 24 separate recovery units. In 2004,
draft recovery plans were developed for the Coastal-Puget Sound
drainages in western Washington, including two recovery unit chapters
(USFWS 2004a), and for the Jarbidge River in Nevada (USFWS 2004b). None
of these draft recovery plans were finalized, but they have served to
identify recovery actions across the range of the species, and provide
the framework for implementing numerous recovery actions by our partner
agencies, local working groups, and others with an interest in bull
trout conservation.
Our most recent 5-year status review for bull trout was completed
on April 8, 2008, and concluded that listing the species as
``threatened'' remained warranted rangewide in the coterminous United
States. Based on this status review, in our 2010 recovery report to
Congress we reported that bull trout were generally ``stable'' overall
rangewide (species status neither improved nor declined during the
reporting year), with some core area populations decreasing, some
stable, and some increasing. Since the listing of bull trout, there has
been very little change in the general distribution of bull trout in
the conterminous United States, and we are not aware that any known,
occupied bull trout core areas have been extirpated. Additionally,
since the listing of bull trout, numerous conservation measures have
been and continue to be implemented across its coterminous range. These
measures are being undertaken by a wide variety of local and regional
partnerships, including State fish and game agencies, State and Federal
land management and water resource agencies, Tribal governments, power
companies, watershed working groups, water users, ranchers, and
landowners.
Recovery Plan Components
The primary recovery strategy for bull trout in the coterminous
United States that we propose in the draft recovery plan is to: (1)
Conserve bull trout so that they are geographically widespread across
representative habitats and demographically stable in six Recovery
Units; (2) effectively manage and ameliorate the primary threats in
each of six recovery units at the core area scale such that bull trout
are not likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future; (3)
build upon the numerous and ongoing conservation actions implemented on
behalf of bull trout since their listing in 1999, and improve our
understanding of how various threat factors potentially affect the
species; (4) use that information to work cooperatively with our
partners to design, fund, prioritize, and implement effective
conservation actions in those areas that offer the greatest long-term
benefit to sustain bull trout and where recovery can be achieved; and
(5) apply adaptive management principles to implementing the bull trout
recovery program to account for new information.
Bull trout population status remains strong in some core areas.
However, in developing this revised draft recovery plan, we also
acknowledge that despite our best conservation efforts, it is likely
that some existing bull trout core areas will become extirpated due to
various factors, including the effects of small populations and
isolation (35 of 110 extant core areas comprise a single local
population). Our current approach to developing recovery criteria and
necessary recovery actions for bull trout is intended to ensure
adequate conservation of genetic diversity, life-history features, and
broad geographical representation of bull trout populations while
acknowledging some local extirpations are likely to occur.
We may initiate an assessment of whether recovery has been achieved
and delisting is warranted when the recovery criteria below have been
met in each recovery unit. Alternatively, if recovery criteria are met
in an individual recovery unit, we may initiate an assessment of
whether to designate that recovery unit as a distinct population
segment and if delisting of that distinct population segment would be
warranted.
For the Coastal, Mid-Columbia, Upper Snake and Columbia Headwaters
Recovery Units, the draft plan provides that primary threats must be
effectively
[[Page 52743]]
managed in at least 75 percent of all core areas, representing 75
percent or more of bull trout local populations within each of these
four recovery units. For the Klamath and St. Mary Recovery Units, the
draft plan provides that all primary threats must be effectively
managed in all existing core areas, representing all existing local
populations. In addition, because 9 of the 17 known local populations
in the Klamath Recovery Unit have been extirpated and others are
significantly imperiled and require active management, we believe that
the geographic distribution of bull trout within this recovery unit
needs to be substantially expanded before it can be considered to have
met recovery goals. To achieve recovery, we seek to add seven
additional local populations distributed among the three core areas
(two in the Upper Klamath Lake core area, three in the Sycan core area,
and two in the Upper Sprague core area). In recovery units where shared
foraging/migratory/overwintering (FMO) habitat outside core areas has
been identified, connectivity and habitat in these shared FMO areas
should be maintained in a condition sufficient for regular bull trout
use and successful dispersal among the connecting core areas for those
core areas to meet the criterion.
If threats are effectively managed at these thresholds, we expect
that bull trout populations will respond accordingly and reflect the
biodiversity principles of resiliency, redundancy, and representation.
Specifically, achieving the proposed recovery criteria in each recovery
unit would result in geographically widespread and demographically
stable local bull trout populations within the range of natural
variation, with their essential cold water habitats connected to allow
their diverse life history forms to persist into the foreseeable
future; therefore, the species would be brought to the point where the
protections of the Act are no longer necessary.
We anticipate that the final bull trout recovery plan will describe
the principal actions needed to advance the recovery of bull trout in
the six recovery units within the coterminous United States; and will
include individual Recovery Unit Implementation Plans (RUIPs) for each
recovery unit that will provide site-specific detail at the core area
scale. The RUIPs for each recovery unit will be developed through an
interagency collaboration of interested and knowledgeable Federal,
Tribal, State, private, and other parties prior to completion of the
final recovery plan. In many parts of the range of bull trout, local
interagency bull trout working groups have previously identified
recovery actions necessary for local bull trout core area conservation,
and are already implementing conservation actions. Therefore, we
anticipate that in many areas, developing a RUIP will build upon
existing efforts and information. RUIPs incorporated in the final
recovery plan will also include implementation schedule that outline
core area specific recovery actions and estimated costs for bull trout
recovery.
To allow public review and comment on the draft RUIPs for each
recovery unit, including the draft Implementation Schedule and total
estimated recovery costs, we will publish in the Federal Register a
notice of their availability for review at least 90 days prior to
completing the final bull trout recovery plan.
Request for Public Comments
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery
plans (59 FR 34270; July 1, 1994). In an appendix to the approved final
recovery plan, we will summarize and respond to the issues raised by
the public and peer reviewers. Substantive comments may or may not
result in changes to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery
plan implementation will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or
other entities so that they can be taken into account during the course
of implementing recovery actions.
We request written comments on the revised draft recovery plan. We
will consider all comments we receive by the date specified in DATES
prior to final approval of the plan.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: July 23, 2014.
Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-21026 Filed 9-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
