Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, 58444-58445 [2017-26257]
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58444
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2017 / Notices
ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
efforts resulting from this demonstration
to advance economic mobility. With this
research, HUD intends to improve and
build on the demonstration, with the
goal of extending the demonstration on
a nationwide basis. The participating
communities and cross-sector entities
are expected to participate in any HUDsponsored evaluation and other efforts
designed to identify and share best
practices from the demonstration with
other HUD-assisted communities. In
addition, participating communities and
entities will be required to
collaboratively develop and
subsequently measure and report
outputs and outcomes.
V. Solicitation of Public Comment
In accordance with section 470 of the
Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act
of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), HUD is
seeking comment on the demonstration.
Section 470 provides that HUD may not
begin a demonstration program not
expressly authorized by statute until a
description of the demonstration
program is published in the Federal
Register and a 60-day period expires
following the date of publication, during
which time HUD solicits public
comment and considers the comments
submitted. The public comment period
provided allows HUD the opportunity to
consider those comments during the 60day period, and be in a position to
commence implementation of the
demonstration following the conclusion
of the 60-day period.
While HUD welcomes comments on
the entirety of the demonstration, it asks
that commenters consider the following
specific questions:
(1) In administering and evaluating
the demonstration, how should HUD
define ‘‘economic mobility’’?
(2) How can HUD tailor the Economic
Empowerment Pillar of the
Demonstration to identify and focus on
families and individuals residing in
HUD-assisted housing that are able to
work, and not those who are elderly or
include persons with disabilities;
(3) How can HUD and identified
partners (state and local entities, private
sector, philanthropic, non-profit and
other entities) best maximize existing
programs and efforts across agencies in
a coordinated and holistic approach?
(4) What impediments exist for
achieving the four pillars, including
institutional, organizational, legal or
statutory, and behavioral impediments?
Is it necessary to the success of the
demonstration that communities link all
four pillars, and if not, would it be
sufficient for a community to identify in
its participation plan the barriers to
including a specific pillar? Are there
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20:03 Dec 11, 2017
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additional pillars that contribute to selfsufficiency and economic mobility that
should be made part of the
demonstration?
(5) What incentives and programs
have worked in the past to achieve the
four pillars?
(6) What elements and level of detail
should HUD require in a community’s
participation plan?
(7) How should HUD define and
measure economic mobility over time
and space? How should HUD measure
quality of life for residents that remain
in assisted housing?
(8) What data sources or data linkage
is needed to develop outcome metrics
such as, return on investment,
involvement of local institutions of
higher learning, employment and
economic opportunities for Section 3
residents and businesses, and a public
process for reviewing outcomes and
lessons learned?
Dated: December 5, 2017.
Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–26684 Filed 12–11–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057;
FXES11130600000–178–FF06E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: HabitatBased Recovery Criteria for the
Northern Continental Divide
Ecosystem
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability;
request for comments; notice of public
workshop.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: HabitatBased Recovery Criteria for the Northern
Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE).
The draft supplement, which will be
appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery
Plan upon finalization, proposes to
establish habitat-based recovery criteria
for the NCDE grizzly bear population. In
addition, the Service hereby gives notice
that a public workshop will be held to
review the habitat-based recovery
criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE.
The workshop will allow scientists and
the public to submit oral and written
comments. The Service solicits review
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
and comment from the public on this
draft supplement.
DATES: Comment submission: Comments
on the draft Supplement to the Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan must be received on
or before January 26, 2018.
Public meeting: The public workshop
will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 3, 2018, at
the Double Tree Hotel, 100 Madison
Street, in Missoula, Montana.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: An
electronic copy of the draft Supplement
to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan is
available at https://www.regulations.gov
in Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057,
and also at https://www.fws.gov/
mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php.
Hard copies of the draft habitat-based
recovery criteria are available by request
from the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
University Hall, Room 309, University
of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812;
telephone 406–243–4903.
Comment submission: Submit
comments on the draft Supplement to
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan via any
one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box,
enter the docket number for this notice,
which is FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057. Then
click on the Search button. You may
submit a comment by clicking on
‘‘Comment Now!’’
(2) U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057; U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5257
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041–
3803.
Public meeting: The public workshop
will be held on at the Double Tree
Hotel, 100 Madison Street, Missoula,
Montana 59812.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery
Office (see ADDRESSES), 406–243–4903.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce the availability of a draft
Supplement to the Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery
Criteria for the Northern Continental
Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft
supplement, which will be appended to
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon
finalization, proposes to establish
habitat-based recovery criteria for the
NCDE grizzly bear population. In
addition, the Service hereby gives notice
that a public workshop will be held to
review the habitat-based recovery
criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE.
The workshop will allow scientists and
the public to submit oral and written
comments. The Service solicits review
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
12DEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2017 / Notices
ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
and comment from the public on this
draft supplement. In the lower 48 States,
grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) are
federally listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; ESA),
outside of the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem.
Background
Restoring an endangered or
threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, selfsustaining member of its ecosystem is a
primary goal of the Service’s
endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, the Service
prepares recovery plans for the federally
listed species native to the United States
where a plan will promote the
conservation of the species. Recovery
plans describe site-specific actions
necessary for the conservation of the
species; establish objective, measurable
criteria which, when met, may result in
a determination that the species no
longer needs the protection of the ESA;
and provide estimates of the time and
cost for implementing the needed
recovery measures (16 U.S.C.
1533(f)(1)(B)).
We approved the first Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan for grizzly bears in the
lower 48 States on January 29, 1982
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1982). In
1993, we approved a revision to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service 1993), which
included additional tasks and new
information that increased the focus and
effectiveness of recovery efforts. The
1993 Recovery Plan identifies distinct
Recovery Zones and unique recovery
criteria for six different grizzly bear
populations, including the NCDE, with
the intent that these individual
populations would be delisted as they
each achieve recovery (U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service 1993, pp. ii, 33–34).
Supplements to the Recovery Plan were
approved in 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2017
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997,
1998, 2007a, 2007b, 2017).
Under the ESA, recovery plans must
include objective, measurable recovery
criteria, including habitat-based
recovery standards (16 U.S.C.
1533(f)(1)(B)(ii)). A Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan Task Force also
recommended further consideration of
this issue, stating that we should work
to ‘‘establish a threshold of minimal
habitat values to be maintained within
each Cumulative Effects Analysis Unit
in order to ensure that sufficient habitat
is available to support a viable
population’’ (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service 1993, p. 76). The draft habitatbased recovery criteria were developed
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:03 Dec 11, 2017
Jkt 244001
in part by taking into account the oral
and written comments received at the
habitat-based recovery criteria
workshop, which was held on July 7,
2016, in Missoula, Montana (81 FR
29295, May 11, 2016), and during the
public comment period that followed
the workshop. The Service has decided
to hold a second habitat-based recovery
criteria workshop.
The ESA requires the Service to
provide public notice and opportunity
for public review and comment on
recovery plans prior to final approval
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(4)). The Service will
consider all information received during
a public comment period when
preparing each new or revised recovery
plan for approval. The Service and other
Federal agencies also will take these
comments into consideration in the
course of implementing approved
recovery plans. It is our policy to
request peer review of recovery plans.
Comments received at the upcoming
workshop announced in this Federal
Register notice and during the public
comment period will be used to inform
the final habitat-based recovery criteria,
which will be appended to the 1993
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for the
NCDE and incorporated into the NCDE
Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy. The
Recovery Plan sets out guidance for the
Service, States, and other partners on
methods to minimize threats to grizzly
bears and criteria that may be used to
measure if recovery has been achieved
while the Conservation Strategy guides
post-delisting management.
Workshop
As described above, the Service will
hold a public workshop seeking input
and ideas on objective, measurable
habitat-based recovery criteria available
at https://www.fws.gov/mountainprairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. We seek
ideas and information about
characteristics of habitat necessary to
support a recovered population of
grizzly bears and habitat parameters that
can be measured and directly related to
grizzly bear population health. The
Service also wants to obtain information
and comments on methods for
monitoring the habitat-based recovery
criteria. The workshop will be held in
Missoula, Montana, on the date
specified in DATES at the location
specified in ADDRESSES. Participants are
invited to present information in oral
and written form. All comments
presented orally should also be
submitted in writing to facilitate review
of these comments. Those wishing to
present information or comments orally
at the workshop are asked to contact the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Office (see
PO 00000
Frm 00068
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
58445
ADDRESSES) so that oral presentations
can be scheduled in advance.
All information and comments
received at the workshop or during the
public comment period will be
considered in finalizing the habitatbased recovery criteria for the NCDE.
Request for Public Comments
The Service solicits public comments
on a draft Supplement to the Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan. Specifically, this
supplement proposes to append habitatbased recovery criteria for the Northern
Continental Divide Ecosystem to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. All
comments received by the date specified
in DATES will be considered prior to
approval of the final Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. Written
comments and materials regarding the
plan should be submitted as specified in
ADDRESSES.
Availability of Public Comments
If you submit information via https://
www.regulations.gov, your entire
submission—including any personal
identifying information—will be posted
on the website. If your submission is
made via a hardcopy that includes
personal identifying information, you
may request at the top of your document
that we withhold this 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.
Comments and materials we receive will
be available for public inspection on
https://www.regulations.gov, or by
appointment, during normal business
hours, at the Grizzly Bear Recovery
Office address specified in ADDRESSES.
References Cited
A list of the references cited in this
notice may be found at https://
www.regulations.gov in Docket No.
FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057.
Authority
The authority for this action is section
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: October 5, 2017.
Noreen E. Walsh,
Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie Region,
Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 2017–26257 Filed 12–11–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
12DEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58444-58445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26257]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057; FXES11130600000-178-FF06E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Supplement
to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for
the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability; request for comments; notice
of public workshop.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan:
Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide
Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft supplement, which will be appended to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon finalization, proposes to establish
habitat-based recovery criteria for the NCDE grizzly bear population.
In addition, the Service hereby gives notice that a public workshop
will be held to review the habitat-based recovery criteria for the
grizzly bear in the NCDE. The workshop will allow scientists and the
public to submit oral and written comments. The Service solicits review
and comment from the public on this draft supplement.
DATES: Comment submission: Comments on the draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan must be received on or before January 26,
2018.
Public meeting: The public workshop will be held from 1 p.m. to 4
p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 3, 2018, at the Double Tree Hotel,
100 Madison Street, in Missoula, Montana.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: An electronic copy of the draft
Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan is available at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057, and also at
https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. Hard copies of
the draft habitat-based recovery criteria are available by request from
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
University Hall, Room 309, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812;
telephone 406-243-4903.
Comment submission: Submit comments on the draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan via any one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. In the Search
box, enter the docket number for this notice, which is FWS-R6-ES-2017-
0057. Then click on the Search button. You may submit a comment by
clicking on ``Comment Now!''
(2) U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn:
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS:
BPHC; 5257 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
Public meeting: The public workshop will be held on at the Double
Tree Hotel, 100 Madison Street, Missoula, Montana 59812.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery
Office (see ADDRESSES), 406-243-4903.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce the availability of a draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the
Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft supplement,
which will be appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon
finalization, proposes to establish habitat-based recovery criteria for
the NCDE grizzly bear population. In addition, the Service hereby gives
notice that a public workshop will be held to review the habitat-based
recovery criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE. The workshop will
allow scientists and the public to submit oral and written comments.
The Service solicits review
[[Page 58445]]
and comment from the public on this draft supplement. In the lower 48
States, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) are federally listed as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; ESA), outside of the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem.
Background
Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is
a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, the Service prepares recovery plans for the
federally listed species native to the United States where a plan will
promote the conservation of the species. Recovery plans describe site-
specific actions necessary for the conservation of the species;
establish objective, measurable criteria which, when met, may result in
a determination that the species no longer needs the protection of the
ESA; and provide estimates of the time and cost for implementing the
needed recovery measures (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)).
We approved the first Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for grizzly bears
in the lower 48 States on January 29, 1982 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service 1982). In 1993, we approved a revision to the Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993), which included
additional tasks and new information that increased the focus and
effectiveness of recovery efforts. The 1993 Recovery Plan identifies
distinct Recovery Zones and unique recovery criteria for six different
grizzly bear populations, including the NCDE, with the intent that
these individual populations would be delisted as they each achieve
recovery (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993, pp. ii, 33-34).
Supplements to the Recovery Plan were approved in 1997, 1998, 2007, and
2017 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997, 1998, 2007a, 2007b, 2017).
Under the ESA, recovery plans must include objective, measurable
recovery criteria, including habitat-based recovery standards (16
U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)(ii)). A Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Task Force also
recommended further consideration of this issue, stating that we should
work to ``establish a threshold of minimal habitat values to be
maintained within each Cumulative Effects Analysis Unit in order to
ensure that sufficient habitat is available to support a viable
population'' (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993, p. 76). The draft
habitat-based recovery criteria were developed in part by taking into
account the oral and written comments received at the habitat-based
recovery criteria workshop, which was held on July 7, 2016, in
Missoula, Montana (81 FR 29295, May 11, 2016), and during the public
comment period that followed the workshop. The Service has decided to
hold a second habitat-based recovery criteria workshop.
The ESA requires the Service to provide public notice and
opportunity for public review and comment on recovery plans prior to
final approval (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(4)). The Service will consider all
information received during a public comment period when preparing each
new or revised recovery plan for approval. The Service and other
Federal agencies also will take these comments into consideration in
the course of implementing approved recovery plans. It is our policy to
request peer review of recovery plans. Comments received at the
upcoming workshop announced in this Federal Register notice and during
the public comment period will be used to inform the final habitat-
based recovery criteria, which will be appended to the 1993 Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan for the NCDE and incorporated into the NCDE Grizzly
Bear Conservation Strategy. The Recovery Plan sets out guidance for the
Service, States, and other partners on methods to minimize threats to
grizzly bears and criteria that may be used to measure if recovery has
been achieved while the Conservation Strategy guides post-delisting
management.
Workshop
As described above, the Service will hold a public workshop seeking
input and ideas on objective, measurable habitat-based recovery
criteria available at https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. We seek ideas and information about characteristics of
habitat necessary to support a recovered population of grizzly bears
and habitat parameters that can be measured and directly related to
grizzly bear population health. The Service also wants to obtain
information and comments on methods for monitoring the habitat-based
recovery criteria. The workshop will be held in Missoula, Montana, on
the date specified in DATES at the location specified in ADDRESSES.
Participants are invited to present information in oral and written
form. All comments presented orally should also be submitted in writing
to facilitate review of these comments. Those wishing to present
information or comments orally at the workshop are asked to contact the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Office (see ADDRESSES) so that oral presentations
can be scheduled in advance.
All information and comments received at the workshop or during the
public comment period will be considered in finalizing the habitat-
based recovery criteria for the NCDE.
Request for Public Comments
The Service solicits public comments on a draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. Specifically, this supplement proposes to
append habitat-based recovery criteria for the Northern Continental
Divide Ecosystem to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. All comments
received by the date specified in DATES will be considered prior to
approval of the final Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.
Written comments and materials regarding the plan should be submitted
as specified in ADDRESSES.
Availability of Public Comments
If you submit information via https://www.regulations.gov, your
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will
be posted on the website. If your submission is made via a hardcopy
that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the
top of your document that we withhold this 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.
Comments and materials we receive will be available for public
inspection on https://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, during
normal business hours, at the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office address
specified in ADDRESSES.
References Cited
A list of the references cited in this notice may be found at
https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: October 5, 2017.
Noreen E. Walsh,
Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie Region, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 2017-26257 Filed 12-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P