Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Emergency Listing of the Blue Tree Monitor as an Endangered Species, 104891-104895 [2024-30375]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 104891-104895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30375]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0033; FXES1113090FEDR-256-FF09E22000]
RIN 1018-BH98


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Emergency Listing 
of the Blue Tree Monitor as an Endangered Species

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency action.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), exercise our 
authority pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act), to emergency list the blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei), a 
lizard species from Indonesia, as an endangered species. Due to 
overcollection for the international pet trade and

[[Page 104892]]

deforestation, there is a significant risk to the well-being of the 
species. We find that the emergency listing is necessary in order to 
provide the protective measures afforded by the Act to the blue tree 
monitor. This emergency action (emergency rule) provides Federal 
protection pursuant to the Act for a period of 240 days. A proposed 
rule to list the blue tree monitor is published concurrently with this 
emergency rule in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the 
Federal Register.

DATES: This temporary rule is effective December 26, 2024 through 
August 25, 2025.

ADDRESSES: This temporary rule, the species status assessment report 
and other materials related to this temporary rule, and the proposed 
rule published concurrently with this temporary rule are available on 
the internet at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-
2023-0033.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel London, Manager, Branch of 
Delisting and Foreign Species, Ecological Services Program, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, MS: ES, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 
22041-3803; telephone 703-358-2171. Individuals in the United States 
who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability 
may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications 
relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the 
relay services offered within their country to make international calls 
to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Previous Federal Actions

    On April 15, 2022, we received a petition from the Center for 
Biological Diversity requesting that the blue tree monitor be listed as 
an endangered or threatened species and that the petition be considered 
on an emergency basis. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), does not provide a process to petition 
for emergency listing; therefore, we evaluated the petition to 
determine if it presented substantial scientific or commercial 
information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. On 
August 17, 2023, we published in the Federal Register (88 FR 55991) a 
90-day finding that the petition presented substantial scientific and 
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be 
warranted.

Supporting Documents

    A species status assessment (SSA) team prepared an SSA report, 
which is currently under peer review, for the blue tree monitor. The 
SSA team was composed of Service biologists, in consultation with other 
species experts. The SSA report represents a compilation of the best 
scientific and commercial data available concerning the status of the 
species, including the impacts of past, present, and future factors 
(both negative and beneficial) affecting the species.
    In accordance with our joint policy on peer review published in the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1994 (59 FR 34270), and our August 22, 
2016, memorandum updating and clarifying the role of peer review in 
listing and recovery actions under the Act (https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/peer-review-policy-directors-memo-2016-08-22.pdf), we will solicit independent scientific review of the 
information contained in the blue tree monitor SSA report concurrent 
with the open comment period identified in the proposed rule that is 
published concurrently with this emergency action (emergency rule) and 
found in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal 
Register. The SSA report and other materials related to this emergency 
rule, including the proposed rule, can be found at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0033. We note that, 
because we were already conducting a status review of the species, we 
had completed an SSA report prior to publishing this emergency listing 
rule. Therefore, we discretionarily incorporate information from the 
SSA report here, recognizing emergency listing rules do not require 
this level of detail and analysis.

Species Information

    A thorough review of the taxonomy, life history, and ecology of the 
blue tree monitor is presented in the SSA report (Service 2024, 
entire).
    The blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei) is a species of monitor 
lizard that was first described in 2001 (B[ouml]hme and Jacobs 2001, 
entire), and genetic testing confirms it is a distinct species (Ziegler 
et al. 2007, p. 16) that occupies the V. prasinus species complex 
(subgenus Hapturosaurus; Bucklitsch et al. 2016, pp. 37-38). The blue 
tree monitor has sharp claws, a long prehensile tail, and smooth and 
unkeeled neck scales, and it is distinguished from other tree monitor 
species by a unique blue spotted pattern throughout its body 
(B[ouml]hme and Jacobs 2001, pp. 7-9; Auliya and Koch 2020, p. 72). 
Adults average a snout vent length of 31 centimeters (cm) (12.2 inches 
(in)) and total length of 88 cm (34.6 in) (Arida et al. 2021, p. 115; 
Del Canto 2013, p. 19; Ziegler et al. 2009, p. 123).
    The blue tree monitor is a narrow-ranging endemic (highly local and 
known to exist only in their place of origin), and is native to the 
island of Batanta, within the Raja Ampat Islands of Papua, Indonesia 
(B[ouml]hme and Jacobs 2004, p. 214). The species is rarely encountered 
on Batanta, so there is little detail available on its life-history and 
habitat requirements (Philipp and Philipp 2007, p. 867; Auliya and Koch 
2020, p. 72). The blue tree monitor is diurnal and arboreal (B[ouml]hme 
and Jacobs 2004, p. 214; Del Canto 2013, p. 19; Ziegler et al. 2009, p. 
122), primarily feeds on invertebrates (Auliya and Koch 2020, p. 72; 
Del Canto 2013, p. 20), and occupies low-lying forested habitats with 
an ambient humidity that ranges from 65 to 100 percent (Del Canto 2013, 
p. 19; Sprackland 2011, unpaginated).
    No quantitative population information exists for the species 
(Bennett 2015, p. 50), though there is evidence of declines in the wild 
population on Batanta as a result of overcollection for the pet trade 
(Arida et al. 2021, pp. 113-114; Del Canto 2013, p. 19). Blue tree 
monitors are valuable on the international pet market, and collecting 
and selling them is a source of income for local residents on Batanta 
(Arida et al. 2021, pp. 112-115). Blue tree monitors have been 
overcollected to the point that the species is now undetectable or 
extirpated from multiple localities on eastern Batanta (Del Canto 2013, 
p. 19; Arida et al. 2021, pp. 112-114), and lizard hunters report they 
are finding fewer specimens during week-long hunting sessions than they 
were historically and now must travel to more remote areas of the 
island to collect the species (Arida et al. 2021, pp. 114-116). Monitor 
lizards have a high mortality rate along the trade route and in 
captivity (Natusch and Lyons 2012, p. 2902; Mendyk 2015, p. 3), and 
many individuals are injured or die before they are exported from 
Indonesia (Natusch and Lyons 2012, p. 2902). Thus, the number of 
individuals in trade reported by the Convention on International Trade 
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Trade Database 
are likely a fraction of those that are taken from the wild.
    According to the CITES Trade Database, between 2003 and 2022, a 
total of 5,502 individual blue tree monitors were exported from 
Indonesia for commercial purposes (Service 2024, p. 11). The Service's 
Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) recorded the 
importation of 1,584 live blue tree monitors into the

[[Page 104893]]

United States between March 2004 and August 2024 (Service 2024, p. 11). 
During this period, the declared value per individual blue tree monitor 
has nearly doubled, which is likely a reflection of the increasing 
rarity of the species, and the increasing demand for the species 
driving further pressure on the species in the wild (Service 2024, p. 
9). In 2023, LEMIS recorded the importation of 153 individual blue tree 
monitors, the highest annual importation on record, and a clear signal 
that the trade of blue tree monitors is continuing at a likely 
unsustainable level (Service 2024, p. 11). Because reptile collectors 
often desire to keep rare and brightly colored species in their 
collection (Altherr and Lameter 2020, p. 6), the demand for blue tree 
monitors on the international pet market will likely continue to remain 
high. Overcollection for the pet trade is known to cause extirpations 
in newly described reptile species (Stuart et al. 2006, p. 1137). 
Overcollection represents an immediate threat to the blue tree 
monitor's viability because unsustainable exploitation will likely lead 
to the species becoming a rarer and more valuable commodity on the pet 
market, thus a more appealing target for collection, and may ultimately 
drive the wild population into an extinction vortex (Janssen and 
Krishnasamy 2018, pp. 2-3). Furthermore, much of the blue tree 
monitor's limited habitat has already been lost due to deforestation 
(Webb 2005, p. 25; Newman and Valentinus 2005, p. 19; Takeuchi 2003, p. 
105), and the species' viability is further threatened by a projected 
increase in extreme weather events resulting from climate change 
(Kurniadi et al. 2024, p. 160; Christensen et al. 2007, p. 879; Lee et 
al. 2023, p. 12; Ahmad et al. 2019, p. 2).
    After evaluating threats to the species and assessing the 
cumulative effect of the threats under the Act's section 4(a)(1) 
factors, we determined that the blue tree monitor population has been 
reduced across its range, due to the loss of its limited habitat and 
overcollection for the international pet trade. Because the blue tree 
monitor exists in a single population that is endemic to a small island 
that is threatened by historical and current habitat loss, it is at 
increased risk of extirpation due to stochastic and catastrophic 
events, leaving the species immediately susceptible to extinction. The 
blue tree monitor currently maintains insufficient resiliency, 
redundancy, and representation for its continued existence to be 
secure. Thus, after assessing the best scientific and commercial data 
available, we determine that the blue tree monitor is in danger of 
extinction throughout all of its range.
    For further discussion of the blue tree monitor's biological 
background information and biological status, previous Federal actions 
concerning the species, our threats analysis for the species, 
conservation efforts and regulatory mechanisms affecting the species, 
our determination of the species' status under the Act, and 
conservation measures available to listed and proposed species under 
the Act, consult the proposed rule to list the blue tree monitor as an 
endangered species that is published in this issue of the Federal 
Register. The information contained in the proposed rule supports, and 
provides further detail on, the rationale for this temporary rule 
(emergency action) to list the blue tree monitor as an endangered 
species under the Act.

Reasons for Emergency Determination

    Under section 4(b)(7) of the Act and regulations at 50 CFR 424.20, 
we may emergency list a species if the threats to the species 
constitute an emergency posing a significant risk to its wellbeing. An 
emergency listing will take effect immediately upon publication in the 
Federal Register, and it expires 240 days following publication in the 
Federal Register unless, during this 240-day period, we list the 
species following the normal listing procedures. In accordance with the 
Act, if at any time after we publish this emergency rule, we determine 
that substantial evidence does not exist to warrant such a rule, we 
will withdraw it.
    We conclude that emergency listing the blue tree monitor as an 
endangered species is warranted. In making this determination, we have 
carefully assessed the best scientific and commercial data available 
regarding the past, present, and future threats faced by the blue tree 
monitor. As discussed above, and in the proposed rule published 
concurrently with this rule, ongoing and recently increasing 
overcollection for the pet trade, combined with habitat loss, poses a 
significant and imminent threat to the blue tree monitor, such that 
continued unsustainable exploitation may soon lead to the extirpation 
of the species. Significant and possibly irreversible negative impacts 
to the species may occur before listing could become effective 
following completion of the usually required rulemaking procedures for 
listing a species. We, therefore, conclude that the current 
circumstances constitute an emergency.
    By emergency listing the blue tree monitor as an endangered 
species, the protections of the Act (through sections 7, 9, and 10) and 
recognition that will immediately become available to the species will 
increase the likelihood that it can be saved from extinction. Published 
concurrently in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal 
Register (see also Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0033 in https://www.regulations.gov), we are proposing to list the blue tree monitor 
(Varanus macraei) as an endangered species due to the imminent risk of 
extinction resulting from habitat loss and overcollection for the pet 
trade. For the reasons discussed in the preamble of that proposed rule, 
we propose in that document to make this emergency listing permanent.

Available Conservation Measures

    The purposes of the Act are to provide a means whereby the 
ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend 
may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such 
endangered species and threatened species, and to take such steps as 
may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and 
conventions set forth in the Act. Under the Act, a number of steps are 
available to advance the conservation of species listed as endangered 
or threatened species. As explained further below, these conservation 
measures include: (1) recognition, (2) recovery actions, (3) 
requirements for Federal protection, (4) financial assistance for 
conservation programs, and (5) prohibitions against certain activities.
    Recognition through listing results in public awareness, as well as 
in conservation by Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, foreign 
governments, private organizations, and individuals. The Act encourages 
cooperation with the States and other countries and calls for recovery 
actions to be carried out for listed species.
    Section 7 of the Act is titled, ``Interagency Cooperation,'' and it 
mandates all Federal action agencies to use their existing authorities 
to further the conservation purposes of the Act and to ensure that 
their actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of 
listed species or adversely modify critical habitat. Regulations 
implementing section 7 are codified at 50 CFR part 402.
    Section 7(a)(2) states that each Federal action agency shall, in 
consultation with the Secretary, ensure that any action they authorize, 
fund, or carry out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence 
of a listed species or result in

[[Page 104894]]

the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat.
    A Federal ``action'' that is subject to the consultation provisions 
of section 7(a)(2) of the Act is defined in our implementing 
regulations at 50 CFR 402.02 as all activities or programs of any kind 
authorized, funded, or carried out, in whole or in part, by Federal 
agencies in the United States or upon the high seas. With respect to 
the blue tree monitor, no known actions will require consultation under 
section 7(a)(2) of the Act. Given the regulatory definition of 
``action,'' which clarifies that it applies to activities or programs 
``in the United States or upon the high seas,'' the blue tree monitor 
is unlikely to be the subject of section 7 consultations, because the 
entire life cycle of this species occurs in terrestrial areas outside 
of the United States and the species is unlikely to be affected by U.S. 
Federal actions. Additionally, no critical habitat will be designated 
for this species because, under 50 CFR 424.12(g), we will not designate 
critical habitat within foreign countries or in other areas outside of 
the jurisdiction of the United States.
    Section 8(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1537(a)) authorizes the 
provision of limited financial assistance for the development and 
management of programs that the Secretary of the Interior determines to 
be necessary or useful for the conservation of endangered or threatened 
species in foreign countries. Sections 8(b) and 8(c) of the Act (16 
U.S.C. 1537(b) and (c)) authorize the Secretary to encourage 
conservation programs for foreign listed species, and to provide 
assistance for such programs, in the form of personnel and the training 
of personnel.
    The Act and its implementing regulations set forth a series of 
general prohibitions and exceptions that apply to endangered wildlife. 
The prohibitions of section 9(a)(1) of the Act, and the Service's 
implementing regulations codified at 50 CFR 17.21, make it illegal for 
any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to commit, 
to attempt to commit, to solicit another to commit, or to cause to be 
committed any of the following acts with regard to any endangered 
wildlife: (1) import into, or export from, the United States; (2) take 
(which includes harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 
capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct) 
within the United States, within the territorial sea of the United 
States, or on the high seas; (3) possess, sell, deliver, carry, 
transport, or ship, by any means whatsoever, any such wildlife that has 
been taken illegally; (4) deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship 
in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the 
course of commercial activity; or (5) sell or offer for sale in 
interstate or foreign commerce. Certain exceptions to these 
prohibitions apply to employees or agents of the Service, the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, other Federal land management agencies, and 
State conservation agencies.
    We may issue permits to carry out otherwise prohibited activities 
involving endangered wildlife under certain circumstances. Regulations 
governing permits for endangered wildlife are codified at 50 CFR 17.22, 
and general Service permitting regulations are codified at 50 CFR part 
13. With regard to endangered wildlife, a permit may be issued: for 
scientific purposes, for enhancing the propagation or survival of the 
species, or for take incidental to otherwise lawful activities. The 
statute also contains certain exemptions from the prohibitions, which 
are found in sections 9 and 10 of the Act.
    The Service may also register persons subject to the jurisdiction 
of the United States through its captive-bred wildlife (CBW) program if 
certain established requirements are met under the CBW regulations (see 
50 CFR 17.21(g)). Through a CBW registration, the Service may allow a 
registrant to conduct certain otherwise prohibited activities under 
certain circumstances to enhance the propagation or survival of the 
affected species, including take; export or re-import; delivery, 
receipt, carriage, transport, or shipment in interstate or foreign 
commerce in the course of a commercial activity; or sale or offer for 
sale in interstate or foreign commerce. A CBW registration may 
authorize interstate purchase and sale only between entities that both 
hold a registration for the taxon concerned. The CBW program is 
available for species having a natural geographic distribution not 
including any part of the United States and other species that the 
Service Director has determined to be eligible by regulation. The 
individual specimens must have been born in captivity in the United 
States.
    The provisions in section 9(b)(1) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1538(b)(1)) 
provide a limited exemption from certain otherwise prohibited 
activities regarding wildlife specimens held in captivity or in a 
controlled environment on the pre-Act date (for species first listed 
after the enactment of the Endangered Species Act, the pre-Act date is 
the date of publication in the Federal Register of the final regulation 
adding such species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 
for the first time), provided that such holding and any subsequent 
holding or use of the wildlife was not in the course of a commercial 
activity (commonly referred to as ``pre-Act'' specimens) (96 Stat. 
1426-27 (1982); H.R. Rep. No. 97-835, 97th Cong., 2nd Sess., at 35 
(1982) (Conf. Rep.); S. Rep. No. 97-418, 97th Cong., 2nd Sess., at 24-
25 (1982)). Specifically, section 9(b)(1) of the Act states that the 
prohibitions of sections 9(a)(1)(A) and 9(a)(1)(G) shall not apply to 
any fish or wildlife which was held in captivity or in a controlled 
environment on (A) December 28, 1973, or (B) the date of the 
publication in the Federal Register of a final regulation adding such 
fish or wildlife to any list of species published pursuant to section 
4(c) of the Act (as relevant to listed wildlife, the List of Endangered 
and Threatened Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11(h)) that such holding and any 
subsequent holding or use of the fish or wildlife was not in the course 
of a commercial activity.
    Therefore, for pre-Act wildlife, there is a limited exemption from 
the prohibitions associated with: (1) import into, or export from, the 
United States of any endangered wildlife, or (2) violation of 
regulations pertaining to endangered or threatened wildlife. Other 
prohibitions of section 9--including those at section 9(a)(1)(B)-(F), 
regarding take of endangered wildlife, possession and other acts with 
unlawfully taken wildlife, interstate or foreign commerce in endangered 
wildlife, and sale or offer for sale of endangered wildlife--continue 
to apply to activities with qualifying endangered pre-Act wildlife 
specimens. Specimens born after the pre-Act date and specimens taken 
from the wild after the pre-Act date do not qualify as ``pre-Act'' 
wildlife under the text of section 9(b)(1) of the Act. If a person 
engages in any commercial activity with a ``pre-Act'' specimen on or 
after the pre-Act date, the wildlife would immediately cease to qualify 
as pre-Act wildlife and become subject to the relevant prohibitions, 
because it has been held or used in the course of a commercial 
activity.
    Additional requirements apply to activities with all blue tree 
monitors, separate from their listing or proposed listing as endangered 
species or threatened species. As a CITES-listed species, all 
international trade of any blue tree monitor by persons subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States must also comply with CITES 
requirements pursuant to section 9, paragraphs (c) and (g), of the Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1538(c) and (g)) and to 50 CFR part 23. As ``fish or 
wildlife'' (16 U.S.C. 1532(8)), blue tree monitor imports and

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exports must also meet applicable wildlife import/export requirements 
established under section 9, paragraphs (d), (e), and (f), of the Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1538(d), (e), and (f)); the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 
U.S.C. 3371 et seq.); and 50 CFR part 14. Questions regarding whether 
specific activities with blue tree monitor would constitute a violation 
of section 9 of the Act should be directed to the Service's Division of 
Management Authority ([email protected]; 703-358-2104).

Required Determinations

National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

    We have determined that environmental assessments and environmental 
impact statements, as defined under the authority of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), need not be prepared 
in connection with listing a species as an endangered or threatened 
species under the Endangered Species Act. We published a notice 
outlining our reasons for this determination in the Federal Register on 
October 25, 1983 (48 FR 49244).

References Cited

    A complete list of references cited in this rulemaking is available 
on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov and upon request from 
the Branch of Delisting and Foreign Species (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authors

    The primary authors of this rule are the staff members of the Fish 
and Wildlife Service's Species Assessment Team and the Branch of 
Delisting and Foreign Species.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

    Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Plants, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation, Wildlife.

Signing Authority

    Martha Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
approved this action on December 3, 2024. Acting Director Steve Guertin 
approved these packages December 15, 2024. On December 16, 2024, the 
acting Director authorized the undersigned to sign the document 
electronically and submit it to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication as an official document of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.

Regulation Promulgation

    Accordingly, we amend part 17, subchapter B of chapter I, title 50 
of the Code of Federal Regulations, as set forth below:

PART 17--ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 1531-1544; and 4201-4245, 
unless otherwise noted.


0
2. In Sec.  17.11, in paragraph (h), amend the List of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife by adding an entry for ``Monitor, blue tree'' in 
alphabetical order under REPTILES to read as follows:


Sec.  17.11  Endangered and threatened wildlife.

* * * * *
    (h) * * *

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                                                                                              Listing citations
           Common name               Scientific name        Where listed         Status         and applicable
                                                                                                    rules
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                                                  * * * * * * *
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                                                    Reptiles
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Monitor, blue tree...............  Varanus macraei....  Wherever found.....  E               89 [Insert Federal
                                                                                              Register Page
                                                                                              Where Document
                                                                                              Begins], 12/26/
                                                                                              2024.
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Madonna Baucum,
Regulations and Policy Chief, Division of Policy, Economics, Risk 
Management, and Analytics of the Joint Administrative Operations, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-30375 Filed 12-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P