[Federal Register: September 22, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 182)]
[Notices]
[Page 48284-48285]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22se09-96]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2009-N0096; 10120-1113-0000-C2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Recovery
Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability; revised recovery plan.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the Revised Recovery Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas
laysanensis). This species, found only on Laysan Island and Midway
Atoll in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, was federally listed as
endangered in 1967.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the recovery plan is available at
http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans. The recovery plan
is also available by request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room
3-122, Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850 (phone: 808/792-9400).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly Freifeld, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office
address and phone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants is a
primary goal of the Endangered Species Act (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) and our endangered species program. Recovery means improvement of
the status of listed species to the point at which listing is no longer
required under the criteria in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
The Act requires the development of recovery plans for endangered
or threatened species unless such a plan would not promote the
conservation of the species. Recovery plans help guide the recovery
effort by describing actions considered necessary for the conservation
of the species, and estimating time and cost for implementing the
measures needed for recovery. We originally completed a recovery plan
for the Laysan duck in 1982, but the recommendations contained in that
plan are outdated given the species' current status.
Section 4(f) of the Act requires that public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment be provided during recovery
plan development. In fulfillment of this requirement, we made the Draft
Revised Recovery Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis) available
for public comment from November 4, 2004, to January 3, 2005 (69 FR
64317; November 4, 2004). Information provided during the public
comment period was considered in our preparation of this recovery plan,
and is summarized in an appendix to the plan. We welcome continuing
public comment on this recovery plan, and we will consider all
substantive comments on an ongoing basis to inform the implementation
of recovery activities and future updates to the recovery plan.
The Laysan duck is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where subfossil
remains of the species have been found throughout the archipelago. This
species has been listed as an endangered species by the United States
since the first Federal listing of endangered species in 1967 (32 FR
4001; March 11, 1967). It is also listed as endangered by the State of
Hawaii. Currently, the Laysan duck occurs in only two locations: the
single remaining natural population on Laysan Island; and at Midway
Atoll, where a population has become established through two
translocations conducted in 2004 and 2005. Laysan and Midway both are
part of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the Papahanaumokuakea
Marine National Monument.
The Laysan duck was extirpated from the main Hawaiian Islands in
prehistory, likely because of a combination of predation by introduced
mammals and habitat loss and degradation. In recorded history, the
Laysan duck occurred naturally on Laysan Island and on neighboring
Lisianski. The species was lost from Lisianski during the 19th century,
following the accidental introduction of mice and near-devegetation of
the island. Similar habitat destruction took place on Laysan in the
early 20th century, when rabbits were introduced to that island. The
Laysan duck population dwindled to as few as a dozen individuals, and
several other bird species endemic to the island became extinct.
Although the duck population on Laysan eventually recovered to several
hundred individuals, and the island is now substantially vegetated, the
loss of some freshwater seeps and the slow infilling of the hypersaline
lake in the island's interior are enduring consequences of the island's
devegetation a century ago and continued erosion today.
Forty-two fledged juvenile Laysan ducks were translocated to Midway
Atoll during 2004 and 2005, following
[[Page 48285]]
intensive habitat restoration and wetland creation in the atoll.
Subsequently, the duck population at Midway Atoll has grown rapidly and
currently comprises 200 to 300 individuals despite mortality from an
outbreak of avian botulism in 2008.
This revised recovery plan replaces the original recovery plan for
the Laysan duck, which was published in 1982. The strategy presented in
this revised recovery plan includes (1) management to address threats
to the species where it occurs now (Laysan Island and Midway Atoll) and
(2) improvement of the species' distribution and total population size
through protection and enhancement of suitable habitat in the
Northwestern and Main Hawaiian Islands and reduction or elimination of
threats to allow reestablishment of additional wild populations. The
recovery actions are designed to assess and address threats to the
Laysan duck; create, monitor, and manage new self-sustaining
populations; and fill critical gaps in our scientific knowledge of the
species. The recovery goal is to downlist the Laysan duck to threatened
status and eventually delist the species (remove it from the List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants).
Authority: The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: July 7, 2009.
David J. Wesley,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-22829 Filed 9-21-09; 8:45 am]
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