[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 27 (Friday, February 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9409-9410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02889]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-ES-2013-N033; FXES11130300000-134-FF03E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Revised
Indiana Bat Summer Survey Guidelines
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), are extending
the public comment period on documents related to the draft revised
summer survey guidelines for the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) for an
additional 30 days. We announced availability of these documents in our
January 9, 2013, Federal Register notice, which opened a 30-day public
comment period. If you have previously submitted comments, you do not
need to resubmit them. We have already incorporated them in the public
record and will fully consider them in our final USFWS guidelines. The
draft guidelines were prepared by representatives of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, U.S. Department of
Defense's Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Interior's
Geological Survey and USFWS, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
Resources, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and
the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. We request review and
comment on the guidelines--along with acoustic identification software
testing criteria our 2013 contingency plan--from local, State, and
Federal agencies and the public.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments on or
before March 11, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The draft survey guidelines, acoustic
identification software testing criteria, and 2013 contingency plan are
available at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/mammals/inba/inbasummersurveyguidance.html. The documents are also available by
request, by U.S. mail from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Ecological Services Field Office, 620 South Walker Street, Bloomington,
IN 47403-2121; or by phone at 812-334-4261, x1216.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to comment on the documents, you
may submit your comments in writing by any one of the following
methods:
U.S. mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 620 South
Walker Street, Bloomington, IN 47403-2121;
Hand-delivery: Field Supervisor at the above U.S. mail
address;
Email: indiana_bat@fws.gov; or
Fax: 812-334-4273. Include ``Indiana Bat Summer Survey
Guidelines'' in the subject line of the facsimile transmittal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions or requests for additional
information may be directed to any of the following: (1) Mr. Andrew
King, Endangered Species Biologist, at the Bloomington, Indiana, Field
Office address or phone above; (2) Ms. Robyn Niver, Endangered Species
Biologist, by U.S. mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological
Services Field
[[Page 9410]]
Office, 3817 Luker Road, Cortland, NY 13045; or by phone at 607-753-
9334; or (3) Mr. Mike Armstrong, Endangered Species Biologist, by U.S.
mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services Field
Office, J.C. Watts Federal Building, Room 265, 330 West Broadway,
Frankfort, KY 40601-8670; or by phone at 502-229-4632.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Indiana bat was originally listed as in danger of extinction
under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. It was
subsequently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended. Summer survey guidelines (mist-netting protocols)
were first developed for the species in the early 1990s and the USFWS
provided revised mist-netting guidelines in our 2007 Draft Revised
Recovery Plan. The USFWS recently convened a group of State and Federal
agency representatives to revise existing survey guidelines. We
solicited peer review through the bat working groups across the range
of the Indiana bat between February and March 2012 and received
comments from 57 individuals. Based upon comments received and the
results of pilot testing of the survey guidelines at known Indiana bat
maternity colonies in the summer of 2012, we offer the revised
guidelines for public review and comment.
In addition to soliciting comments on draft survey guidelines for
determining presence or probable absence of Indiana bats in the summer,
we request comment on our proposed approach and criteria for testing
the accuracy and suitability of available acoustic identification
software programs. Only programs that pass our suitability test would
be approved by the USFWS for official survey use. Our goal is to
incorporate comments and finalize the draft survey guidelines and
testing criteria in time for implementation in the 2013 field season.
However, should no USFWS-approved software programs be concurrently
available, we propose to follow an intermediary contingency plan. The
draft survey guidelines, draft acoustic identification software testing
criteria, and 2013 contingency plan, with instructions for commenting,
are available on the Internet (see ADDRESSES).
Request for Public Comments
We invite written comments on (1) The draft survey guidelines, (2)
the acoustic identification software testing criteria, and (3) the 2013
contingency plan. Substantive comments may or may not result in changes
to the USFWS guidance document. Please include sufficient information
with your comments to allow us to verify any scientific or commercial
information you include.
While all comments we receive will be considered in developing
final documents, we encourage commenters to focus on those portions of
the guidelines that have been revised, particularly those topics noted
above that address peer-review comments. If you have previously
submitted comments, you need not resubmit them because we have already
incorporated them in the public record and will fully consider them in
our final USFWS summer survey guidelines for the Indiana bat.
All comments received by the date specified in DATES will be
considered in preparing final documents. Methods of submitting comments
are in ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
Responses to individual commenters will not be provided; however,
we will provide the comments we receive and a summary of how we
addressed substantive comments in a frequently asked questions document
on the Web site listed above. If you submit comments or information by
email to indiana_bat@fws.gov, your entire submission--including any
personal identifying information--will be posted on the Web site. If
your submission is made by hard copy that includes personal identifying
information, you may request at the top of your document that we
withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hard copy and
email submissions on the Web site listed above in ADDRESSES.
Comments and materials we receive will be available on our Web
site; however, individuals without internet access may request an
appointment to inspect the comments during normal business hours at our
office in Bloomington, Indiana (see ADDRESSES).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: February 4, 2013.
Sean O. Marsan,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Midwest
Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-02889 Filed 2-7-13; 8:45 am]
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