[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26062-26063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10064]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098; FXES11130500000-212-FF05E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery
Plan for the Rufa Red Knot
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the draft recovery plan for rufa red knot, a bird
subspecies listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We
request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from local,
State, and Federal agencies, and the public.
DATES: We must receive comments by July 12, 2021.
ADDRESSES:
Document availability: The draft recovery plan, along with any
comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for
public inspection at http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R5-
ES-2020-0098.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods:
Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and
submit comments on Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098.
U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS:
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
For more information, see Availability of Public Comments under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Schrading, Field Supervisor by
phone at 609-382-5272, via email at eric_schrading@fws.gov, or via the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), announce the availability of the draft recovery plan for the
threatened rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) for public review and
comment. The draft recovery plan includes objective, measurable
criteria and management actions as may be necessary for removal of the
species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We
request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from local,
State, and Federal agencies, and the public.
Recovery Planning
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires the development of recovery
plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote the
conservation of a particular species. Also pursuant to section 4(f) of
the Act, a recovery plan must, to the maximum extent practicable,
include (1) a description of site-specific management actions as may be
necessary to achieve the plan's goals for the conservation and survival
of the species; (2) objective, measurable criteria that, when met,
would support a determination under section 4(a)(1) that the species
should be removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Species;
and (3) estimates of the time and costs required to carry out those
measures needed to achieve the plan's goal.
Species Background
The rufa red knot is a medium-sized, highly migratory shorebird
that ranges across nearly the full latitude gradient of the Western
Hemisphere. This subspecies is among the longest-distance migrants in
the animal kingdom, and among the best-studied shorebirds in the world.
Rufa red knots migrate annually between their breeding grounds on the
central Canadian arctic tundra and four wintering regions that include
the Atlantic coasts of Argentina and Chile, the northern coast of South
America, the western Gulf of Mexico, and the southeast United States
and the Caribbean. During migration, rufa red knots require a reliable
network of coastal and inland staging areas and an ample supply of
other coastal and inland stopover habitats distributed across the
range. In the final listing rule published on December 12, 2014 (79 FR
73705), the Service determined that the rufa red knot is threatened
under the ESA due to the following primary threats: Loss of breeding
and nonbreeding habitat (including sea level rise, coastal engineering,
coastal development, and arctic ecosystem change); likely effects
related to disruption of natural predator cycles on the breeding
grounds; reduced prey availability throughout the nonbreeding range;
and increasing frequency and severity of asynchronies (mismatches) in
the timing of the birds' annual migratory cycle relative to favorable
food and weather conditions. Refer to the Species Status Assessment
Report (USFWS 2020) for a full discussion of the species' biology and
threats.
Recovery Strategy
The recovery strategy is to prevent loss of the rufa red knot's
adaptive capacity by maintaining representation within and among four
Recovery Units, and improving their resiliency and redundancy. Recovery
efforts will focus on protecting, restoring, maintaining, and managing
important nonbreeding habitats for adults and juveniles. Recovery
actions will directly abate threats to red knots in their wintering and
migration ranges, and will also increase resiliency of populations to
withstand threats that stem from climate change in their Arctic
breeding range and elsewhere. These actions include monitoring and
safeguarding ample food supplies; preventing impacts from development
and shoreline stabilization; managing human disturbance; and restoring
key habitats. They may also include land acquisition, facilitated
migration of certain beaches or tidal flats, and restoring natural
coastal processes that create and maintain red knot habitat.
Availability of Public Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email 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.
[[Page 26063]]
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Sharon Marino,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, North Atlantic--
Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2021-10064 Filed 5-11-21; 8:45 am]
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