Fish and Wildlife Service 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS) are revising the 1978 listing of the Minnesota population of gray wolves (Canis lupus) to conform to current statutory and policy requirements. We rename what was previously listed as the Minnesota population of the gray wolf as the Western Great Lakes (WGL) Distinct Population Segment (DPS), and delineate the boundaries of the expanded Minnesota population segment to include all of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan and portions of the adjacent states. We are removing the WGL DPS from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We are taking this action because the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the WGL DPS does not meet the definitions of threatened or endangered under the Act. This final rule also removes the designated critical habitat for the wolf in Minnesota and Michigan and the special regulations under section 4(d) of the Act for wolves in Minnesota. We are separating our determination on the delisting of the Western Great Lakes DPS from the determination on our proposal regarding all or portions of the 29 eastern States we considered to be outside the historical range of the gray wolf. This rule finalizes our determination for the WGL DPS. A subsequent decision will be made for the rest of the eastern United States.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) for Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge. We will also prepare an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential effects of various CCP alternatives. We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise the public, Federal and State agencies, and Tribes of our intentions, and to obtain public comments, suggestions, and information on the scope of issues to consider during the planning process.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and a finding of no significant impact for the environmental assessment for the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge (refuge). In this final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to conduct a wilderness review (WR) to evaluate lands and waters within the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge Complex), to identify Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), and to determine if the WSAs are suitable for recommending Congressional designation as wilderness. We will also prepare a legislative environmental impact statement (LEIS), to evaluate the effects of various WR/LEIS alternatives. We provide this notice to advise the public, other agencies, and organizations of our intent, and to obtain public comments, suggestions, and information on the scope of issues to consider during development of the WR/LEIS.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the record of decision (ROD) for the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge and Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White- tailed Deer (Refuges). We completed a thorough analysis of the environmental, social, and economic considerations and presented it in our final EIS, which we released to the public on August 13, 2010.

We, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services), announce a draft policy to provide our interpretation of the phrase ``significant portion of its range'' in the Endangered Species Act's (Act's) definitions of ``endangered species'' and ``threatened species.'' The purpose of this notice is to provide a draft interpretation and application of ``significant portion of its range'' that reflects a permissible reading of the law and its legislative history and minimizes undesirable policy outcomes, while fulfilling the conservation purposes of the Act. We seek public comments on this draft policy. It is our intent to publish a final policy that will provide a consistent standard for interpretation of the phrase and its role in listing determinations that will be accorded deference by the federal courts.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge, NWR). We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise other Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and the public of our intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to consider in the planning process. In addition, we will use special mailings, newspaper articles, Internet postings, and other media announcements to inform people of opportunities for input.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, we are proposing as critical habitat approximately 146 miles (234 kilometers) of streams and 117,848 acres (47,691 hectares) of lakes and reservoirs for Lost River sucker and approximately 128 miles (207 kilometers) of streams and 123,590 acres (50,015 hectares) of lakes and reservoirs for shortnose sucker. The proposed critical habitat is located in Klamath and Lake Counties, Oregon, and Modoc County, California. On December 1, 1994, we published proposed critical habitat for Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker. This new proposed rule uses updated information concerning Lost River sucker's and shortnose sucker's ecology, as well as the technological advancements made available since preparing the 1994 proposed rule, to inform our proposed critical habitat designation for Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 6-month extension of the final determination of whether to list the dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) (lizard) as endangered and reopen the comment period on the proposed rule to list the species. We are taking this action because there is substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the proposed listing rule, making it necessary to solicit additional information by reopening the comment period for 45 days.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a public teleconference of the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council (Council).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 375,562 acres (151,985 hectares) are being proposed for designation as critical habitat. The proposed critical habitat is located in Boundary and Bonner counties in Idaho, and Pend Oreille County in Washington.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the CCP for Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). The CCP describes how we will manage the Refuge for the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA laws require that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

We (U.S. 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 May 31, 2012. 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), intend to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Otay River Estuary Restoration Project. The proposed project involves the restoration of 66.4 acres of estuarine (subtidal and intertidal) wetland habitat within the western terminus of the Otay River, part of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This notice advises the public that we intend to gather information necessary to prepare an EIS, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We encourage the public and other agencies to participate in the NEPA scoping process by sending written suggestions and information on the issues and concerns that should be addressed in the draft EIS, including the range of alternatives, appropriate mitigation measures, and the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise the definition of ``hybrid'' as it relates to birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. At present, the definition applies only to hybrids of two species on the list of migratory birds at 50 CFR 10.13. We propose to revise the definition to make it clear that it applies to the offspring of any species listed at 50 CFR 10.13.

The North American Wetlands Conservation Council will meet to select North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant proposals for recommendation to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission. This meeting is open to the public, and interested persons may present oral or written statements.

To implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or the Convention), the Parties to the Convention meet periodically to review what species in international trade should be regulated and other aspects of the implementation of CITES. The sixteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) is tentatively scheduled to be held in March 2013 in Thailand. This is our second in a series of Federal Register notices that, together with an announced public meeting, provide you with an opportunity to participate in the development of the U.S. negotiating positions for CoP16. We published our first CoP16-related Federal Register notice on June 14, 2011, in which we requested information and recommendations on species proposals for the United States to consider submitting for consideration at CoP16. Further input from the public on species proposals will be sought in a future notice. With this notice we are soliciting and invite you to provide us with information and recommendations on resolutions, decisions, and agenda items that the United States might consider submitting for discussion at CoP16. In addition, with this notice we provide preliminary information on how to request approved observer status for nongovernmental organizations that wish to attend the meeting.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), published a proposed rule and notice of availability of a revised draft supplemental environmental impact statement on the translocation of southern sea otters (revised draft SEIS) in the Federal Register on August 26, 2011. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concurrently published a notice of availability of the revised draft SEIS. The 60- day comment period for our notice ended on October 24, 2011. This notice announces a 15-day reopening of the comment period.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. We issue these permits under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the reopening of the public comment period on our July 6, 2011, advance notice of proposed rulemaking in which we solicited comments and suggestions on migratory bird permit regulations for a permit to use raptors (birds of prey) in abatement activities. Abatement means the use of trained raptors to flush, scare (haze), or take birds or other wildlife to mitigate damage or other problems, including risks to human health and safety. We have permitted this activity under special purpose permits since 2007 pursuant to a migratory bird permit policy memorandum. We now intend to prepare a specific permit regulation to authorize this activity. We seek information and suggestions from the public to help us formulate any proposed regulation. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties another opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in preparation of a proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA laws require that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.