[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2753-2754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-926]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2010-N252; FXES11130100000C2-123-FF01E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Recovery Plan for
Hawaiian Waterbirds, Second Revision
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the final approved Recovery Plan for Hawaiian
Waterbirds, Second Revision. The recovery plan addresses four
endangered bird species. This plan includes recovery objectives and
criteria, and specific recovery actions necessary to achieve
downlisting and delisting of the species and their removal from the
Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.
ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the recovery plan is available at
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html and http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/plans.html. Copies
of the recovery plan are 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 (telephone:
(808) 792-9400).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Annie Marshall, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above Honolulu address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the approved
Recovery Plan for Hawaiian Waterbirds, Second Revision. The recovery
plan addresses the following four bird species listed as endangered:
Hawaiian duck or koloa maoli (Anas wyvilliana), Hawaiian coot or alae
keokeo (Fulica alai), Hawaiian common moorhen or alae ula (Gallinula
chloropus sandvicensis), and Hawaiian stilt or aeo (Himantopus
mexicanus knudseni).
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 set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for the
conservation of listed species, establish criteria for downlisting or
delisting, and estimate time and cost for implementing the measures
needed for recovery.
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. Section 4(f) of the Act requires that
public notice, and an opportunity for public review and comment, be
provided during recovery plan development. A recovery plan for these
four waterbirds was first published in 1978, and the first revision of
the recovery plan was published in 1985. A draft of the second revision
to the recovery plan was made available for public comment from July 9
through September 7, 1999 (64 FR 37148). However, that draft was never
finalized. From August 24 through October 24, 2005, we made a second
draft of the
[[Page 2754]]
second revision available for public comment (70 FR 49668). We have
considered information we received from public comments and peer
reviewers in our preparation of the recovery plan, and have summarized
that information in an appendix of the approved recovery 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 four species of waterbirds addressed in the recovery plan
occurred historically on all of the main Hawaiian Islands except Lanai
and Kahoolawe. Currently, Hawaiian ducks are found on the islands of
Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii; Hawaiian coots and Hawaiiian
stilts are found on all of the main Hawaiian Islands except Kahoolawe;
and Hawaiian common moorhens are found only on the islands of Kauai and
Oahu. These species use a variety of wetland habitats, including
freshwater marshes and ponds, coastal estuaries and ponds, artificial
reservoirs, taro patches, irrigation ditches, sewage treatment ponds,
and, in the case of the Hawaiian duck, montane streams and swamplands.
Historically, the primary cause of population declines for the
endangered Hawaiian waterbirds has been loss of wetland habitat. Other
factors that have contributed to waterbird population declines, and
which continue to be detrimental, include predation by introduced
animals, altered hydrology, grazing, alteration of habitat by invasive
nonnative plants, disease, and possibly environmental contaminants.
Hunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s took a heavy toll on Hawaiian
duck populations and, to a lesser extent, populations of the other
three endemic waterbirds. Currently, predation by introduced animals
may be the greatest threat to the coot, moorhen, and stilt;
hybridization with feral mallards is the most serious threat to the
Hawaiian duck.
The recovery of the endangered waterbirds focuses on the following
objectives: (1) Increasing population numbers to be consistently stable
or increasing, with a minimum of 2,000 birds for each species; (2)
establishing multiple, self-sustaining breeding populations throughout
each species' historical range; (3) establishing and protecting a
network of both core and supporting wetlands that are managed as
habitat suitable for waterbirds, including the maintenance of
appropriate hydrological conditions and control of invasive nonnative
plants; (4) eliminating or controlling the threats posed by introduced
predators, avian diseases, and contaminants; and (5) for the Hawaiian
duck, removing the threat of hybridization with feral mallards.
Authority: The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: October 28, 2011.
Richard R. Hannan,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-926 Filed 1-18-12; 8:45 am]
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