Fish and Wildlife Service November 2, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent a request to OMB to renew approval for our information collection associated with the Federal Assistance Grant Application Booklet. The current OMB control number for this information collection is 1018-0109, which expires October 31, 2005. We have requested that OMB renew approval of this information collection for a 3-year term.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are soliciting project proposals for Federal assistance under the Tribal Wildlife Grants program (TWG). The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 authorized an appropriation of $68,174,000 (subject to potential rescission to meet other important national priorities) for wildlife conservation grants to States and to the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and Tribes under provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, for the development and implementation of programs for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat, including species that are not hunted or fished. The Act further specified that the Service use $5,971,000 of the funds for a competitive grant program available to federally recognized Indian Tribes. This allows the Secretary, through the Director of the Service, to manage a separate Tribal grant program not subject to the provisions of the formula-based State Wildlife Grants program, or other requirements of the State Wildlife Grants portion of Public Law 107-63.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), list the Gila chub (Gila intermedia) as endangered with critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Gila chub were historically found throughout the Gila River basin in southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Sonora, Mexico. The Gila chub has been reduced in numbers and distribution in the majority of its historical range (Minckley 1973; Weedman et al. 1996). Where it is still present, populations are often small, fragmented, and at risk from known and potential threats and from random events such as drought, flood events, and wildfire. The primary threats to Gila chub include predation by and competition with nonnative organisms, including fish in the family Centrarchidae (Micropterus spp., Lepomis spp.), other fish species, bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), and crayfish (Orconectes virilis), and habitat degradation from surface water diversions and ground water withdrawals. Secondary threats include habitat alteration, destruction, and fragmentation resulting from numerous factors that are discussed in this final rule. The current status of the Gila chub is much degraded from historical levels. The species exists as a few, small isolated, populations. The small size of these populations, and their degree of fragmentation and isolation, cause them to be highly susceptible to threats. We believe that due to the current reduced status of the Gila chub and the severity of threats, including nonnative species predation and habitat destruction, the Gila chub is likely to become extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range. This final rule will implement the Federal protection and recovery provisions of the Act for this species. We are also designating approximately 160.3 river miles (mi) (258.1 kilometers (km)) of critical habitat located in Grant County, New Mexico, and Yavapai, Gila, Greenlee, Graham, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Pima, and Pinal Counties in Arizona.