[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 103 (Friday, May 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30957-30958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13044]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2011-XXXX; 12345-1234-0000-C2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of
Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan, First Revision, Mount Graham Red
Squirrel for Review and Comment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability for review and public comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability
of our draft recovery plan, first revision, for the Mount Graham Red
Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This species is endemic to
upper-elevation forests in the Pinale[ntilde]o Mountains in
southeastern Arizona. We request review and comment on our plan from
local, State, and Federal agencies, Tribes, and the public. We will
also accept any new information on the species' status throughout its
range.
DATES: We must receive written comments on or before July 26, 2011.
However, we will accept information about any species at any time.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the draft recovery plan, you may
obtain a copy by visiting our Web site at http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans. Alternatively, you may contact the Arizona
Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2321 W.
Royal Palm Road, Suite 103, Phoenix, AZ 85021-4951 (602-242-0210,
phone). If you wish to comment on the plan, you may submit your
comments in writing by any one of the following methods:
U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the above address;
Hand-delivery: Arizona Ecological Services Office at the
above address;
Fax: (602) 242-2513; or
E-mail: MGRSrecovery@fws.gov.
For additional information about submitting comments, see the
``Request for Public Comments'' section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marit Alanen, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above address, phone number, or e-mail.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status
of listed species to the point at which listing is no longer
appropriate under the criteria set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
The Act requires the development of recovery plans for listed species,
unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a particular
species.
Species' History
We listed the Mount Graham red squirrel as an endangered species
under the Act on June 3, 1987 (52 FR 20994). We designated critical
habitat on January 5, 1990 (55 FR 425).
We originally completed and announced a recovery plan for the
species on May 3, 1993. However, given the species' current status, the
recommendations in that plan are now outdated.
The Mount Graham red squirrel exists only in the upper-elevation
forests of the Pinale[ntilde]o Mountains in southeastern Arizona, and
likely represents a relictual population of what was once a much more
widely distributed taxon. Threats to the subspecies at the time of
listing included its small population size and range; changes in forest
age structure and density within the squirrel's habitat; loss of
habitat due to development, road construction, and forest fire; and
competition with the introduced Abert's squirrel. These same threats to
the red squirrel's habitat continue today, compounded by the additional
threats of climate change (including drought), insect infestation, and
fire suppression activities. Recent research also indicates that
predation, competition with Abert's squirrels, and demographic factors
(mainly due to its small population size) may impact the Mount Graham
red squirrel population more than expected.
Recovery Plan Goals
The objective of an agency recovery plan is to provide a framework
for the recovery of a species so that protection under the Act is no
longer necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about
the species and provides criteria and actions necessary for us to be
able to reclassify the species to threatened status or remove it from
the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants
(List). Recovery plans help guide our recovery efforts by describing
actions we consider necessary for the species' conservation, and by
estimating time and costs for implementing needed recovery measures. To
achieve its goals, this draft recovery plan identifies the following
objectives:
Restore and maintain sufficient Mount Graham red squirrel
habitat to ensure the species' survival despite environmental
stochasticity and the threat of climate change.
Maintain a self-sustaining population of Mount Graham red
squirrels sufficient to ensure the species' survival.
The draft revised recovery plan contains new downlisting and
delisting criteria based on maintaining and increasing population
numbers and habitat quality. The revised recovery plan focuses on
protecting and managing the remaining population and habitat, restoring
and creating habitat to allow for the existence of a viable and robust
population, researching the conservation biology of the Mount Graham
red squirrel with the objective of facilitating efficient recovery,
developing support and building partnerships to facilitate recovery,
and monitoring progress toward recovery and practicing adaptive
management.
As the species meets reclassification and recovery criteria, we
will review the species' status and consider the species for
reclassification on or removal from the List.
Request for Public Comments
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery
plans (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). In an appendix to the approved
recovery plan, we will summarize and respond to the issues raised by
the public and peer reviewers. Substantive comments may or may not
result in changes to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery
plan implementation will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or
[[Page 30958]]
other entities so that they can be taken into account during the course
of implementing recovery actions. Responses to individual commenters
will not be provided, but we will provide a summary of how we addressed
substantive comments in an appendix to the approved recovery plan.
We invite written comments on the draft revised recovery plan. This
plan has undergone significant revision since the original plan,
incorporating the most recent scientific research specific to the Mount
Graham red squirrel and input from the Technical and Stakeholder
Subgroups of the Recovery Team. Therefore, we encourage commenters to
review the recovery plan in its entirety.
Before we approve the plan, we will consider all comments we
receive by the date specified in DATES above. Methods of submitting
comments are in the ADDRESSES section above.
Public Availability of Comments
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 in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive will be available, by
appointment, for public inspection during normal business hours at our
office (see ADDRESSES).
Authority
We developed our draft recovery plan under the authority of section
4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this notice under
section 4(f) Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.).
Dated: April 18, 2011.
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-13044 Filed 5-26-11; 8:45 am]
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