Fish and Wildlife Service 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), invite the public to comment on the following applications for a permit to conduct certain activities with endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), which requires that we solicit public comment on permit applications involving endangered species.

We are advising the public that a National Aquatic Animal Health Plan (NAAHP) for the United States is being made available for public review and comment. The NAAHP was developed by a Task Force led by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department Agriculture, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is anticipated that this plan will provide a framework for how APHIS, FWS, and NMFS should develop programs for diseases that affect the health of aquatic animals such as finfish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2010. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The following applicants have applied for scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Act requires that we invite public comment on these permit applications.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the Sonoma County distinct population segment (DPS) of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 74,223 acres (30,037 hectares) are being proposed for designation as critical habitat. The proposed critical habitat is located in Sonoma County, California.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species. The Endangered Species Act requires that we invite public comment on these permit applications.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) is proposing to establish the 2009-10 late-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. We annually prescribe frameworks, or outer limits, for dates and times when hunting may occur and the number of birds that may be taken and possessed in late seasons. These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of seasons and limits and to allow recreational harvest at levels compatible with population and habitat conditions.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service, Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2010. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the following seven Brazilian bird species and subspecies (collectively referred to as ``species'' for purposes of this proposed rule) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.): black-hooded antwren (Formicivora erythronotos), Brazilian merganser (Mergus octosetaceus), cherry-throated tanager (Nemosia rourei), fringe-backed fire-eye (Pyriglena atra), Kaempfer's tody-tyrant (Hemitriccus kaempferi), Margaretta's hermit (Phaethornis malaris margarettae), and southeastern rufous-vented ground-cuckoo (Neomorphus geoffroyi dulcis). This proposal, if made final, would extend the Act's protection to these species. The Service seeks data and comments from the public on this proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species. The Endangered Species Act requires that we invite public comment on these permit applications.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus) (salamander) as threatened or endangered and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Following a review of the petition, we find that the petition provides substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Jemez Mountains salamander may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this species. At the conclusion of this review, we will issue a 12-month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. We will make a determination on critical habitat for this species if we initiate a listing action.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service propose to approve tungsten-iron-fluoropolymer shot alloys for hunting waterfowl and coots. We published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for this group of alloys in the Federal Register on March 3, 2009, under RIN 1018-AW46 (74 FR 9207). Having completed our review of the application materials, we have concluded that these alloys are very unlikely to adversely affect fish, wildlife, or their habitats.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the initiation of a status review for mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in the Big Lost River, Idaho. The status review will help us determine whether this population warrants listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). At the conclusion of the review, we will issue a 12-month finding on our determination as to whether listing is warranted. If listing is warranted, we will also determine whether or not to propose critical habitat for mountain whitefish in the Big Lost River.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce that our draft environmental assessment (EA) for limiting mountain lion (Puma concolor) predation on desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) is available. The Refuge is located in southwest Arizona. The draft EA describes

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species. The Endangered Species Act requires that we invite public comment on these permit applications.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for two plants, Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora (large-flowered woolly meadowfoam) and Lomatium cookii (Cook's lomatium) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are proposing to designate 2,561 hectares (ha) (6,327 acres (ac)) as critical habitat for Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora in Jackson County, Oregon, and 2,875 ha (7,104 ac) as critical habitat for Lomatium cookii in Jackson and Josephine Counties, Oregon. The total critical habitat area proposed in this rule, including critical habitat units that overlap for the two species, is 4,467 ha (11,038 ac).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and draft environmental assessment (EA) for Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for a 30-day public review and comment period. In this draft CCP/EA, we describe three alternatives, including our Service-preferred Alternative B, for managing this refuge for the next 15 years. Also available for public review and comment are the draft compatibility determinations, which are included as Appendix B in the draft CCP/EA.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the white-sided jackrabbit (Lepus callotis) as an endangered species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Following a review of the petition, we find the petition provides substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this species may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review to determine if listing this species is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are requesting the public to submit scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the white-sided jackrabbit. We will make a determination on critical habitat if and when we initiate a listing action for this species.

We, the Federal Subsistence Board, are withdrawing the proposed rule to amend the regulations governing subsistence use of fish and wildlife in Alaska by creating an additional subsistence resource region for the Kenai Peninsula. We received significant adverse comments on our proposal, and we have decided not to pursue this action.

In December 2008 we completed an Environmental Assessment on take of peregrine falcons for use in falconry. This notice is to inform the public of the allocation of take of nestling and migrant peregrine falcons in 2009 agreed on by the States. It also will inform interested individuals about which States will allow take of nestling or migrant peregrine falcons.

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The permit application includes a proposed programmatic safe harbor agreement (Agreement) between ODF, the U.S. Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Service. The proposed term of the permit and Agreement is 50 years. The requested permit would authorize ODF to extend incidental take coverage with assurances through issuance of Certificates of Inclusion to eligible landowners who are willing to carry out habitat management measures that would benefit the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), which is federally listed as threatened. The covered area or geographic scope of this Agreement includes non-Federal forest lands within the range of the spotted owl in Oregon. We request comments from the public on the permit application, proposed Agreement,

Notice is hereby given that the NMFS Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP), Silver Spring, MD (Dr. Teri Rowles, Principal Investigator), has been issued a permit to conduct enhancement and research activities on marine mammals.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. OMB approval for this information collection is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2009. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to remove the Utah (desert) valvata snail (Valvata utahensis) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Based on a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial data, the Utah valvata snail is more widespread and occurs in a greater variety of habitats in the Snake River than known at the time of listing in 1992. We now know that the Utah valvata snail is not limited to areas of cold-water springs or spring outflows; rather, it persists in a variety of aquatic habitats, including cold-water springs, spring creeks and tributaries, the mainstem Snake River and associated tributary stream habitats, and reservoirs influenced by dam operations. Given our current understanding of the species' habitat requirements and threats, the species does not meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species under the Act. Therefore, we are proposing to remove the Utah valvata snail from the List, thereby removing all protections provided by the Act.