Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans, 71379-71381 [2019-27913]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 248 (Friday, December 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71379-71381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27913]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XG573]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the adoption of a Final Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) recovery plan for the threatened Puget Sound steelhead Distinct 
Population Segment (DPS) (herein referred to as steelhead). The Final 
Recovery Plan for this species (Final Recovery Plan) is now available.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Final Recovery Plan are available 
online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/esa-recovery-plan-puget-sound-steelhead-distinct-population-segment-oncorhynchus

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Price, (360) 753-9598, 
[email protected]; or Elizabeth Babcock, (206) 526-4505, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) requires that we develop and implement recovery plans for 
the conservation and survival of threatened and endangered species 
under our jurisdiction, unless it is determined that such plans would 
not result in the conservation of the species. The Puget Sound 
steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) DPS was listed as a threatened species 
under the ESA in May 11, 2007 (72 FR 26722). We published a Notice of 
Availability of the Draft Recovery Plan in the Federal Register on 
December 13, 2018 (83 FR 64110) to obtain comments on the Draft Plan. 
The public comment period for this action was set to end on February 
11, 2019; however, we extended the public comment period through March 
28, 2019, to provide additional opportunity for public comment (84 FR 
1707). We received extensive comments on the Draft Plan, summarized the 
comments and identified comments that prompted revisions for the Final 
Recovery Plan. We revised the Draft Plan based on comments received, 
and this final version now constitutes the Recovery Plan for the Puget 
Sound steelhead DPS.

The Final Plan

    We are responsible for developing and implementing recovery plans 
for Pacific salmon and steelhead listed under the ESA. Section 4(f)(1) 
of the ESA requires that recovery plans include, to the extent 
practicable: (1) Objective, measurable criteria which, when met, would 
result in a determination that the species is no longer threatened or 
endangered; (2) site-specific management actions necessary to achieve 
the plan's goals; and (3) estimates of the time required and costs to 
achieve the recovery plan's goal. Our goal is to restore Puget Sound 
steelhead to the point where they are viable and no longer need the 
protections of the ESA. The ESA requires the development of recovery 
plans for each listed species unless such a plan would not promote its 
recovery.
    We believe it is essential to have local support of recovery plans 
by those whose activities directly affect the listed species and whose 
continued commitment and leadership will be needed to implement the 
necessary recovery actions. We therefore support and participate in 
collaborative efforts to develop recovery plans that involve state, 
tribal, and federal entities, local communities, and other 
stakeholders. For this Final Recovery Plan for threatened Puget Sound 
steelhead, we worked collaboratively with local, state, tribal, and 
federal partners to produce a recovery plan that satisfies the ESA 
requirements. We have determined that this ESA recovery plan for Puget 
Sound steelhead meets the statutory requirements for a recovery plan 
and are adopting it as the Final Recovery Plan for this threatened 
species. This notice provides a notice of availability of the Plan.
    The geographic area covered by the Final Recovery Plan is the Puget 
Sound basin, from the Elwha River (inclusive) eastward, including 
rivers in Hood Canal, South Sound, and North Sound, including steelhead 
from six artificial propagation programs: the Green River Natural 
Program; White River Winter Steelhead Supplementation Program; Hood 
Canal Steelhead Supplementation Off-station Projects in the Dewatto, 
Skokomish, and Duckabush Rivers; and

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the Lower Elwha Fish Hatchery Wild Steelhead Recovery Program.
    For the purpose of recovery planning for the ESA-listed species of 
Pacific salmon and steelhead in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, NMFS 
designated five geographically based ``recovery domains.'' The Puget 
Sound Steelhead DPS spawning range is in the Puget Sound domain. For 
each domain, NMFS appointed a team of scientists, nominated for their 
geographic and species expertise, to provide a solid scientific 
foundation for recovery plans. The Puget Sound Steelhead Technical 
Recovery Team included biologists from NMFS, other federal agencies, 
state agencies, tribes, and academic institutions.
    We also collaborated with the state of Washington, tribes, other 
federal agencies, local governments, representatives of industry and 
environmental groups, other stakeholders, and the public to develop the 
Plan. The Final Recovery Plan for the Puget Sound steelhead DPS was 
developed by NMFS in cooperation with a recovery team made up of 
experts from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northwest 
Indian Fisheries Commission, Nooksack Tribe, Seattle Light, Long Live 
the Kings, Puget Sound Partnership, and NMFS' Northwest Fisheries 
Science Center. These groups provided vital input during the planning 
process, and their continued involvement during recovery plan 
implementation is critical to the success of our joint efforts to 
recover Puget Sound steelhead.

Contents of the Plan

    The Final Recovery Plan contains biological background and 
contextual information that includes description of the DPS, the 
planning area, and the context of the plan's development. It presents 
relevant information on DPS structure and guidelines for assessing 
salmonid population and DPS status. It provides background on the 
natural history of steelhead, population status, and threats to their 
sustainability.
    The Puget Sound steelhead DPS consists of three Major Population 
Groups (MPGs) and 32 Demographically Independent Populations (DIPs). 
Major risk factors facing Puget Sound steelhead are widespread declines 
in abundance and productivity for most natural steelhead populations in 
the DPS, including those in Skagit and Snohomish Rivers, previously 
considered strongholds for steelhead in the DPS; the low abundance of 
several summer-run populations; and the sharply diminishing abundance 
of some steelhead populations, especially in south Puget Sound, Hood 
Canal, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Continued releases of out-of-DPS 
hatchery fish from Skamania-derived summer run were a major concern for 
diversity in the DPS.
    The most recent status assessment of the DPS found ``[t]he 
biological risks faced by the Puget Sound steelhead DPS have not 
substantively changed since the listing in 2007 (NMFS 2016; 81 FR 
33468). The abundance of natural spawners is very low and productivity 
remains predominately negative. Degradation and fragmentation of 
freshwater habitat, with consequential effects on connectivity, remain 
the primary limiting factors and threats facing the Puget Sound 
steelhead DPS. The DPS is at very low viability, as are all three of 
its constituent MPGs, and many of its 32 DIPs.
    The Final Recovery Plan presents NMFS' recovery goals and the 
viability and listing factor criteria for making a delisting decision. 
The viability criteria for the Puget Sound steelhead DPS are designed 
to improve the DPS so it ``has a negligible risk of extinction due to 
threats from demographic variation, local environmental variation, and 
genetic diversity changes over a 100-year time frame'' based on the 
status of the MPGs and DIPs, and supporting ecosystems (McElhany et 
al., 2000). A self-sustaining viable population has a negligible risk 
of extinction due to reasonably foreseeable changes in circumstances 
affecting its abundance, productivity, spatial structure, and diversity 
characteristics and achieves these characteristics without dependence 
upon artificial propagation. The viability criteria for Puget Sound 
steelhead require that all three MPGs be viable because the three MPGs 
differ substantially in key biological and habitat characteristics that 
contribute in distinct ways to the overall viability, diversity, and 
spatial structure of the DPS.
    The Final Recovery Plan lays out a recovery strategy to address the 
potential threats based on the best available science and includes 
goals that incorporate objective, measurable criteria which, when met, 
would result in a determination that the species be removed from the 
list. The Final Recovery Plan is not regulatory, but presents guidance 
for use by agencies and interested parties to assist in the recovery of 
steelhead. The Final Recovery Plan identifies substantive actions 
needed to achieve recovery by addressing the threats to the species. 
The strategy for recovery includes a linkage between management actions 
and an active research and monitoring program intended to fill data 
gaps and assess effectiveness. The Final Recovery Plan incorporates an 
adaptive management framework by which management actions and other 
elements will evolve and adapt as we gain information through research 
and monitoring. The Final Recovery Plan references many of the 
significant efforts already underway to allow steelhead in the Puget 
Sound to access a diversity of high quality habitats that have been 
lost or degraded due to human land use.
    The Final Recovery Plan also describes specific information on the 
following: Current status of Puget Sound steelhead; pressures (limiting 
factors) and threats throughout the life cycle that have contributed to 
the species decline; recovery strategies to address the threats based 
on the best available science; site-specific actions with timelines; 
and an adaptive management framework for focusing needed research and 
evaluations and revising our recovery strategies and actions. The Final 
Recovery Plan also summarizes time and costs required to implement 
recovery actions.

How NMFS and Others Expect To Use the Plan

    With this Final Recovery Plan, we commit to implementing the 
actions in the plan for which we have authority and funding; encourage 
other federal, state and local agencies and tribal governments to 
implement recovery actions for which they have responsibility, 
authority, and funding; and work cooperatively with the public and 
local stakeholders on implementation of other actions. We expect the 
recovery plan to guide us and other federal agencies in evaluating 
federal actions under ESA section 7, as well as in implementing other 
provisions of the ESA and other statutes. For example, the plan will 
provide greater biological context for evaluating the effects that a 
proposed action may have on a species by providing delisting criteria, 
information on priority areas for addressing specific limiting factors, 
and information on how the DPS can tolerate varying levels of risk.
    When we are considering a species for delisting, the agency will 
examine whether the section 4(a)(1) listing factors have been 
addressed. To assist in this examination, we will use the delisting 
criteria described in Chapter 4 of the Plan, which include both 
viability criteria and listing factor criteria addressing each of the 
ESA section 4(a)(1) listing factors, as well as any other relevant data 
and policy considerations.

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Conclusion

    NMFS has reviewed the Plan for compliance with the requirements of 
the ESA section 4(f), determined that it does incorporate the required 
elements and is therefore adopting it as the Final Recovery Plan for 
the Puget Sound steelhead DPS.

Literature Cited

    The complete citations for the references used in this document can 
be obtained by contacting NMFS (See ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: December 20, 2019.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-27913 Filed 12-26-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P