Department of the Interior July 6, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The State of Alaska has filed an application for a recordable disclaimer of interest from the United States in certain lands underlying the Chilkoot River and Chilkoot Lake.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to Teller Native Corporation. The lands are located in U.S. Survey No. 8892, T. 4 S., R 36 W., T. 5 S. R. 37 W., and T. 5 S., R. 40 W., Kateel River Meridian, in the vicinity of Teller, Alaska, and contain 6,596.51 acres. Notice of the decision will also be published four times in the Nome Nugget.

Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an Enhancement of Survival Permit for the Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application includes a proposed Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (Agreement) between the CDOW and the Service. The Agreement, the permit application, and the Environmental Assessment are available for public comment. The purpose of the Agreement is for the CDOW and the Service to implement conservation measures for the Gunnison sage-grouse in 15 counties in southwestern Colorado. The effort is in support of the CDOW's ongoing efforts to enhance the abundance and distribution of the Gunnison sage-grouse throughout its historic range in Colorado. The conservation measures would be implemented by the CDOW and by participating landowners. The selected conservation measures would primarily come from the Gunnison Sage-Grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan, which was completed in April 2005 by numerous cooperating agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Consistent with the Service's Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Final Policy (64 FR 32726, June 17,1999), the Agreement is intended to facilitate the conservation of Gunnison sage-grouse by giving the State of Colorado and cooperating private landowners incentives to implement conservation measures. Participating Landowners would receive regulatory certainty concerning land use restrictions that might otherwise apply should the Gunnison sage-grouse become listed under the ESA. Participating Landowners with eligible property in southwestern Colorado could sign up under the Agreement and the associated permit through a Certificate of Inclusion. The proposed term of the Agreement and the permit is 20 years. The Service has prepared an Environmental Assessment for approval of the Agreement and issuance of the permit. The environmental assessment considers the biological, environmental, and socioeconomic effects of the proposed Agreement and permit. The assessment also evaluates two alternatives to the Agreement and permit, and their potential impacts on the environment. We request comments from the public on the permit application, Agreement, and Environmental Assessment. All comments we receive, including names and addresses, will become part of the administrative record and may be released to the public.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 5- year review of the endangered Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus), Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus), northeaster bulrush (Scirpus ancistrochaetus), and the threatened Chittenango ovate amber snail (Novisuccinea chittenangoensis), and Virginia round-leaf birch (Betula uber) under section 4(c)(2)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). A 5-year review is a periodic process conducted to ensure that the listing classification of a species is accurate. A 5-year review is based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review; therefore, we are requesting submission of any such information on the Virginia northern flying squirrel, Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel, and northeastern bulrush that has become available since their original listings as endangered species in 1985 (50 FR 26999-27002), 1967 (32 FR 4001), and 1991 (56 FR 21091-21096), respectively. In addition, we are requesting submission of any such information on the Chittenango ovate amber snail that has become available since its listing as a threatened species in 1978 (43 FR 28932-28935), and on the Virginia round-leaf birch, which was originally listed as endangered in 1978 (43 FR 17910-17916) and reclassified as threatened in 1994 (59 FR 59173-59177). Based on the results of these 5-year reviews, we will make the requisite findings under section 4(c)(2)(B) of the ESA.

This rule designates areas where personal watercraft (PWC) may be used in Fire Island National Seashore, New York. This rule implements the provisions of the National Park Service (NPS) general regulations authorizing parks to allow the use of PWC by promulgating a special regulation. The NPS Management Policies 2001 require individual parks to determine whether PWC use is appropriate for a specific park area based on an evaluation of that area's enabling legislation, resources and values, other visitor uses, and overall management objectives.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day administrative finding on a petition to list the American eel (Anguilla rostrata) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find the petition presents substantial information indicating that listing the American eel may be warranted. We are initiating a status review to determine if listing the species is warranted. To ensure that the review is comprehensive, we are soliciting information and data regarding this species.