Fish and Wildlife Service September 26, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) announce the availability of a Final Record of Decision on the issuance of incidental take permits to the state of Washington under section 10 of the Endangered Species Act for the Washington Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The two incidental take permits (one from each of the Services) authorize incidental take of aquatic species (16 listed fish species, 54 unlisted fish species, and 7 unlisted amphibian species) from covered forest practices implemented under the HCP. These forest practices affect approximately 9 million acres of non-Federal and non-tribal lands in Washington State. The permits were issued on June 5, 2006, and will remain in effect for 50 years.

We invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment period on the proposal to designate critical habitat for Astragalus ampullarioides (Shivwits milk-vetch) and Astragalus holmgreniorum (Holmgren milk-vetch) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of the draft economic analysis for the proposed designation of critical habitat for Holmgren and Shivwits milk-vetches. The draft economic analysis finds that, over 20 years, post-designation costs for Holmgren and Shivwits milk-vetch conservation-related activities are estimated to range between $8.8 and $14.1 million in undiscounted 2006 dollars. In discounted terms, potential post- designation economic costs are estimated to be $8.5 to $13.0 million (using a 3 percent discount rate) or $8.2 to $12.1 million (using a 7 percent discount rate). In addition, we announce the availability of a draft environmental assessment that has been prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) (NEPA). Finally, we propose to revise boundary descriptions for two critical habitat subunits: Holmgren milk-vetch's Unit 2a (Stucki Spring) and Unit 2b (South Hills).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) as threatened or endangered with critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The petitioners provided three listing scenarios for consideration by the Service: (1) Listing the United States population as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS); (2) listing Thamnophis eques megalops throughout its range in the United States and Mexico based on its rangewide status; or (3) listing Thamnophis eques megalops throughout its range in the United States and Mexico based on its status in the United States. After thorough analysis and review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing of the subspecies, under any of the three scenarios, is not warranted. Of the three listing scenarios specified above, we found scenario two provided the most rigorous evaluation of the status of the northern Mexican gartersnake and herein provide detailed discussion of our conclusions in that context. We also provide additional discussion of our evaluation of scenarios (1) listing the United States population as a DPS and (3) listing Thamnophis eques megalops throughout its range in the United States and Mexico based on its status in the United States.