[Federal Register: October 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 207)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 55524-55525]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28oc09-29]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[FWS-R6-ES-2009-0065]
[MO 9221050083-B2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Status Review of
Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in the Upper Missouri River System
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct status review.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), under the
authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), give
notice of our intent to conduct a status review of Arctic grayling
(Thymallus arcticus) in the upper Missouri River system. We conduct
status reviews to determine whether the entity should be listed as
endangered or threatened under the Act. Through this notice, we
encourage all interested parties to provide us information regarding
Arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River basin.
DATES: We must receive information no later than November 27, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit information by one of the following methods:
Via e-mail to: fw6_arcticgrayling@fws.gov
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Arctic Grayling Status Review,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Field Office, 585 Shepard Way,
Helena, Montana 59601.
We will not accept faxes.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Wilson, Montana Field Office;
telephone (406) 449-5225. Individuals who are hearing-impaired or
speech-impaired may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Information
To ensure that the status review is based on the best available
scientific and commercial information and to provide an opportunity to
any interested parties to provide information for consideration during
the status assessment, we are requesting information concerning Arctic
grayling in the upper Missouri River system. We request information be
provided within 30 days. We request information from the public, other
concerned governmental agencies, Native American tribes, the scientific
community, industry, and any other interested party. We are seeking:
(1) General information concerning the taxonomy, biology, ecology,
genetics, and status of the Arctic grayling of the upper Missouri River
system;
(2) Specific information relevant to the consideration of the
potential distinct population segment (DPS) status of Arctic grayling
in the upper Missouri River system in accordance with our Policy
Regarding the Recognition of Distinct Vertebrate Population Segments
(61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996) (known as the DPS Policy), which
specifically considers two elements: (i) discreteness of the population
segment in relation to the remainder of the species to which it
belongs; and (ii) the significance of the population segment to the
species to which it belongs. Per our recent settlement, we will
consider various DPS designations that include different life histories
of Arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River system. Specifically, we
may consider DPS configurations that include the fluvial (relating to,
or inhabiting, a river or stream) and/or adfluvial (fish that live in
lakes and migrate into streams to spawn) Arctic grayling in the upper
Missouri River system;
(3) Specific information on the conservation status of Arctic
grayling in the upper Missouri River system, including information on
distribution, abundance, and population trends;
(4) Specific information on threats to Arctic grayling in the upper
Missouri River, including: (i) the present or threatened destruction,
modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (ii)
overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or
educational purposes; (iii) disease or predation; (iv) the inadequacy
of existing regulatory mechanisms; and (v) other natural or manmade
factors affecting its continued existence; and
(5) Specific information on conservation actions designed to
improve Arctic grayling habitat or reduce threats to grayling in the
upper Missouri River system.
If you submit information, we request you support it with
documentation such as data, maps, bibliographic references, methods
used to gather and analyze the data, or copies of any pertinent
publications, reports, or letters by knowledgeable sources.
Section 4(b)(1)(A) of the Act directs that determinations as to
whether any species is an endangered or threatened species must be made
``solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data
available.''
You may submit your information concerning this status review by
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. If you submit
information that includes personal identifying information, you may
request at the top of your document that we withhold this personal
identifying information from public review. However, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Information and supporting documentation that we receive and use in
preparing this finding will be available for you to review by
appointment during normal business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Montana Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
The Arctic grayling is a fish belonging to the family Salmonidae
(salmon, trout, charr, whitefishes), subfamily Thymallinae (graylings),
and is represented by a single genus, Thymallus (Scott and Crossman
1973, pp. 301-302; Behnke 2002, pp. 327-331). Arctic grayling have
long, thin bodies with deeply forked tails, and adults typically
average 254 to 330 millimeters (10 to 13 inches) in length. Coloration
varies from silvery or iridescent blue and lavender, to dark blue
(Behnke 2002, pp. 327-328). Arctic grayling have a prominent sail-like
dorsal fin, which is large and vividly colored with rows of orange to
bright green spots, and often has an orange border. Dark spots often
appear on the body toward the head (Behnke 2002, pp. 327-328).
Arctic grayling are native to Arctic Ocean drainages of
northwestern Canada and Alaska; the Peace, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca
River drainages in Alberta, eastward to Hudson Bay and westward to the
Bering Straits; and eastern Siberia and northern Eurasia (Scott and
Crossman 1973, pp. 301-302). Arctic grayling also are native to Pacific
coast drainages of Alaska and Canada as far south as the Stikine River
in British Columbia (Scott and
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Crossman 1973, pp. 301-302; Nelson and Paetz 1991, pp. 253-256; Behnke
2002, pp. 327-331).
Pleistocene glaciations isolated two North American populations of
Arctic grayling outside of Canada and Alaska (Vincent 1962, pp. 23-31).
One population occurred in streams and rivers of the Great Lakes region
of northern Michigan, but was extirpated in the 1930s (Hubbs and Lagler
1949, p. 44; Scott and Crossman 1973, p. 301). The second population
(Arctic grayling of the upper Missouri River) inhabits watersheds in
the upper Missouri River basin upstream of Great Falls, Montana. This
population is the subject of our status review.
Previous Federal Actions
We have published a number of documents on Arctic grayling, and we
describe our actions relevant to this notice below:
We initiated a status review for the Montana Arctic grayling
(Thymallus arcticus montanus) in a Federal Register notice on December
30, 1982 (47 FR 58454). In that notice, we designated the purported
subspecies Montana Arctic grayling as a Category 2 species. At that
time, we designated a species as Category 2 if a listing as endangered
or threatened was possibly appropriate, but we did not have sufficient
data to support a proposed rule to list the species.
On October 9, 1991, the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and George
Wuerthner petitioned us to list the fluvial Arctic grayling in the
upper Missouri River basin as an endangered species throughout its
historical range in the coterminous United States.
We published a notice of a 90-day finding in the January 19, 1993,
Federal Register (58 FR 4975), concluding the petitioners presented
substantial information indicating that listing the fluvial Arctic
grayling of the upper Missouri River in Montana and northwestern
Wyoming may be warranted. This finding noted that taxonomic recognition
of the Montana Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus montanus) as a
subspecies (previously designated as a category 2 species) was not
widely accepted and that the scientific community generally considered
this population a geographically isolated member of the wider species
(T. arcticus).
On July 25, 1994, we published a notice of a 12-month finding in
the Federal Register (59 FR 37738) concluding that listing the DPS of
fluvial Arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River was warranted but
precluded by other higher priority listing actions (it should be noted
that this DPS determination predated our DPS policy (61 FR 4722,
February 7, 1996), so it did not undergo a formal DPS analysis as
required by the policy). This finding placed fluvial Arctic grayling of
the upper Missouri River on the candidate list and assigned it a
listing priority of 9. On May 4, 2004, we elevated the listing priority
number of the fluvial Arctic grayling to 3 (69 FR 24881).
On May 31, 2003, the Center for Biological Diversity and Western
Watersheds Project (Plaintiffs) filed a complaint in U.S. District
Court in Washington, D.C., challenging our ``warranted but precluded''
determinations. On July 22, 2004, the Plaintiffs amended their
complaint to challenge our failure to emergency list this population.
We settled with the Plaintiffs in August 2005, and we agreed to submit
a final determination on whether this population warranted listing as
endangered or threatened to the Federal Register on or before April 16,
2007.
On April 24, 2007, we published a revised 12-month finding on the
petition to list the upper Missouri River DPS of fluvial Arctic
grayling (72 FR 20305). In this finding, we determined that fluvial
Arctic grayling of the upper Missouri River did not constitute a
species, subspecies, or DPS under the Act. Therefore, we found that the
upper Missouri River population of fluvial Arctic grayling was not a
listable entity under the Act, and as a result listing was not
warranted. With that notice, we withdrew the fluvial Arctic grayling
from the candidate list.
On November 15, 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a
complaint to challenge our revised 12-month finding. We initiated a
voluntary remand of our finding in May 2009. With this notice, we are
initiating a new status review for Arctic grayling of the upper
Missouri River system. Per our recent settlement, we will consider
various DPS designations that include different life histories of
Arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River system. Specifically, we
may consider DPS configurations that include the fluvial and/or
adfluvial Arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River system.
For additional information on the biology or previous Federal
actions on grayling, see the April 24, 2007, revised 12-month finding
(72 FR 20305).
References Cited
Behnke, R.J. 2002. Trout and salmon of North America. The Free
Press, New York.
Hubbs, C.L., and K.F. Lagler. 1949. Fishes of the Great Lakes
Region. Cranbrook Institute of Science. Bulletin No. 26, Bloomfield
Hills, Michigan.
Nelson, J.S., and M.J. Paetz. 1991. The fishes of Alberta, second
edition. University of Alberta Press, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Scott, W.B., and E.J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada.
Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184, Ottawa.
Vincent, R.E. 1962. Biogeographical and ecological factors
contributing to the decline of Arctic grayling, (Thymallus arcticus),
in Michigan and Montana. PhD Dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan. 169 pp.
Author
The primary author of this document is Douglas Peterson, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Montana Field Office.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 20, 2009
Daniel M. Ashe,
Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
[FR Doc. E9-25990 Filed 10-27-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-S