Fish and Wildlife Service June 21, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the reopening of the comment period on our August 18, 2009, proposed designation of critical habitat for the Sonoma County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. We also announce revisions to the proposed critical habitat unit. In this revised proposal, we add 4,945 ac (2,001 ha) to the proposed critical habitat unit in the general area of Roblar Road, based on peer review and other information submitted in the previous public comment period. In total, we are proposing to designate approximately 55,800 acres (ac) (22,580 hectares (ha)) of land as critical habitat for the Sonoma California tiger salamander. We are reopening the comment period to allow interested parties an opportunity to comment on the revised proposed critical habitat. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), jointly with the State of Oregon, and in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Mt. Hood National Forest (USFS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (CTWSRO), will establish a nonessential experimental population (NEP) of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Clackamas River and its tributaries in Clackamas and Multnomah Counties, Oregon, under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The geographic boundaries of the NEP include the entire Clackamas River subbasin as well as the mainstem Willamette River, from Willamette Falls to its points of confluence with the Columbia River, including Multnomah Channel. The best available data indicate that reintroduction of bull trout to the Clackamas River subbasin is biologically feasible and will promote the conservation of the species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a revised 90-day finding on a petition to reclassify the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens) from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). As we concluded in our 90-day finding published on February 21, 2007, we find that the February 3, 2003, petition does not present substantial information indicating that reclassifying the Utah prairie dog from threatened to endangered may be warranted. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response to the February 3, 2003, petition. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats to, the Utah prairie dog or its habitat at any time.