Fish and Wildlife Service December 5, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document informs the public that the Western Interior Alaska Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (Council) will hold a public meeting by teleconference on December 11, 2013. The public is invited to participate and to provide oral testimony. The purpose of the Council is to provide recommendations and information to the Federal Subsistence Board, to review policies and management plans, and to provide a public forum for subsistence issues.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), notify the public that we are making changes to our proposed rule of August 7, 2012, to reclassify the straight-horned markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) from endangered to threatened. We propose to combine the straight-horned markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) and the Kabul markhor (Capra falconeri megaceros) into one subspecies, the straight-horned markhor (Capra falconeri megaceros), under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) due to a change in taxonomy. We have conducted a status review of the straight-horned markhor (C. f. megaceros) and propose to list this subspecies as threatened under the Act. We are also proposing a concurrent special rule. The effects of these regulations will be to protect and conserve the straight-horned markhor, while encouraging local communities to conserve additional populations of the straight-horned markhor through sustainable-use management programs.