[Federal Register: October 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 204)]
[Notices]
[Page 62526-62527]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc08-83]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2008-N0177; 20124-1115-0000-F4]
Draft Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances and
Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit for the Lesser
Prairie-Chicken and Sand Dune Lizard (Center of Excellence for
Hazardous Materials Management)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft candidate conservation
agreement with assurances and draft environmental assessment; receipt
of application.
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SUMMARY: The Center of Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management
(CEHMM) (Applicant) has applied for an enhancement of survival permit
under Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973,
as amended. The permit application includes a draft Candidate
Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) between the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) and CEHMM for the lesser prairie-chicken
(Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) (LPC) and the dunes sagebrush lizard
(Sceloporus arenicolus), commonly known as the sand dune lizard (SDL)
throughout their range in New Mexico. The Applicant proposes to
implement conservation measures for the LPC and SDL by removing threats
to the survival of these species and protecting their habitat. We
invite public comment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive written comments on or
before November 20, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application may obtain a copy
by writing to the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
P.O. Box 1306, Room 4102, Albuquerque, NM 87103. Persons wishing to
review the draft CCAA or the draft environmental assessment may obtain
a copy by written or telephone request to Nancy Riley, New Mexico
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2105
Osuna NE., Albuquerque, NM 87113 (505/761-4707). Documents will be
available for public inspection by written request, or by appointment
only during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), at the above
Albuquerque address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Riley, New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2105 Osuna NE.,
Albuquerque, NM 87113 (505/761-4707).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With the assistance of the Service, the
Applicant proposes to implement conservation measures for the LPC and
SDL by removing threats to the survival of these species and protecting
their habitat. The proposed CCAA would be in effect for 20 years in
southeastern New Mexico. This area constitutes the CCAA's Planning
Area, with Covered Areas being private lands and state trust lands that
provide suitable habitat or are being improved or restored to provide
suitable habitat for the LPC and/or SDL. This CCAA is part of a larger
conservation effort for the LPC and SDL within New Mexico in the form
of a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) among the Service, the
Bureau of Land Management, and CEHMM that would address conservation
measures on Federal lands. The CCA contains more information regarding
both species, including the life history, historic ranges, threats to
the species, and conservation measures to reduce and/or eliminate those
threats. There are no assurances associated with the CCA.
Under the CCAA, LPC and SDL conservation will be enhanced by
providing assurances such that, should the Participating Landowner or
Other Cooperator have or attract LPCs or SDLs to their property, the
Participating Landowner or Other Cooperator will not incur additional
land use restrictions in the event either species is listed. Without
regulatory assurances, landowners may be unwilling to initiate
conservation measures for these species.
Background
The historic range of the LPC encompassed habitats with sandy soils
supporting shinnery oak-bluestem and sand sage-bluestem communities in
the high plains of southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, western
Oklahoma, west Texas, the Texas panhandle, and eastern New Mexico. The
Service was petitioned to list the LPC as threatened in 1995. The
Service ruled that listing of the LPC was warranted, but precluded
because of other higher priority species. The LPC was designated as a
candidate for listing in 1997.
The SDL is native to a small area of southeastern New Mexico and
west Texas. The species only occurs in sand dune complexes associated
with shinnery oak. Oil and gas development near dunal complexes along
with shinnery oak removal for the enhancement of forage production for
grazing has increased fragmentation of SDL habitat and gaps in the
species' range. In 2001, the Service determined that listing of the SDL
was warranted, but precluded because of other higher priority species,
and the species was designated a candidate for listing under the Act.
This CCAA was initiated in order to facilitate conservation and
restoration of the LPC and SDL on private lands and state trust lands.
Conservation benefits for both species are expected in the form of
habitat enhancement and restoration. The Applicant also proposes to
encourage creative partnerships among public, private, and government
entities to conserve the LPC and SDL and their habitats. In addition to
habitat enhancement and restoration activities, release of captive-
reared or trans-located LPCs will be conducted in order to establish
viable populations within the Planning Area. The Applicant has
committed to guiding the implementation of these conservation measures
and requests issuance of the permit in order to address the take
prohibitions of Section 9 of the Act
[[Page 62527]]
should the species become listed in the future.
The draft CCAA and permit application are not eligible for
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969. A draft Environmental Assessment has been prepared to
further analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the
CCAA on the quality of the human environment or other natural
resources.
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), and the
National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR part 1506.6).
Public Availability of Comments
All comments we receive become part of the public record. Requests
for copies of comments will be handled in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act, NEPA, and Service and Department of the Interior
policies and procedures. Before including your address, phone number,
e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including your
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee we will be able to
do so.
Brian Millsap,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. E8-24678 Filed 10-20-08; 8:45 am]
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