[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 111 (Friday, June 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31334-31336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12304]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2020-N150; FXES11130000-212-FF08E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery
Plan for Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (La Graciosa thistle)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the Draft Recovery Plan for Cirsium scariosum var.
loncholepis (La Graciosa thistle) for public review and comment. The
draft recovery plan includes objective, measurable criteria, and site-
specific management actions as may be necessary to ameliorate threats,
such that the species can be removed from the Federal List of
Endangered and Threatened Plants.
DATES: We must receive any comments on the draft recovery plan on or
before July 12, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain a copy of the recovery
plan from our website at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html. Alternatively, you may contact the Ventura Fish
and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road,
Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003 (telephone 805-644-1766).
Comment submission: If you wish to comment on the draft recovery
plan, you may submit your comments in writing by any one of the
following methods:
U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the above address; or
Email: r8ventura-recoverycomments@fws.gov.
For additional information about submitting comments, see the
Request for Public Comments section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Henry, Field Supervisor, at the
above street address above or telephone 805-644-1766.
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
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (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 necessary under the criteria
specified 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.
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 which, 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
and to achieve intermediate steps toward that goal.
The Service has revised its approach to recovery planning; the
revised process is called Recovery Planning and Implementation (RPI).
The RPI process is intended to reduce the time needed to develop and
implement recovery
[[Page 31335]]
plans, increase recovery plan relevancy over a longer timeframe, and
add flexibility to recovery plans so they can be easily adjusted to
accommodate new information or circumstances. Under RPI, a recovery
plan will include statutorily required elements (objective, measurable
criteria; site-specific management actions; and estimates of time and
costs), along with a concise introduction and our strategy for how we
plan to achieve species recovery. The RPI recovery plan is supported by
a separate Species Status Assessment, or in some cases, a species
biological report that provides the background information and threat
assessment, which are key to recovery plan development. The essential
component to flexible implementation under RPI is producing a separate
working document called the Recovery Implementation Strategy
(implementation strategy). The implementation strategy steps down from
the more general description of actions described in the recovery plan
to detail the specific, near-term activities needed to implement the
recovery plan. The implementation strategy is adaptable, so that new
information can easily be incorporated without having to concurrently
revise the recovery plan, unless changes to the statutory elements are
required.
The Service listed Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (La Graciosa
thistle) as endangered in 2000 (65 FR 14888), and critical habitat was
revised for the species in 2009 (74 FR 56978). Cirsium scariousum var.
loncholepis is considered to be a biennial or short-lived perennial
species, but has proven to be an annual under certain environmental
conditions. The species is in the Asteraceae (daisy and sunflower)
family and is restricted to coastal dune wetland, marsh and riparian
habitats on sandy soils, along a small portion of the Central Coast of
California. Its current geographic range is restricted to several sites
within the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex located in southwestern San
Luis Obispo and northwestern Santa Barbara Counties.
Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis occurs in wetland habitats with
sandy soils, within arid and semiarid landscapes, including coastal
dune wetlands, lakes, marshes, ponds, seeps and swales. It also occurs
along the upper margins and floodplains of intermittent and perennial
coastal streams within its range. Most occurrences are associated with
wetland features scattered throughout the backdunes of two coastal sand
dune complexes; the Callender Dunes, which are located south of the
City of Arroyo Grande, and the contiguous Guadalupe Dunes that are
found immediately north of the Santa Maria River. Characteristically,
these coastal dune wetlands occur where the groundwater table is at or
near the surface and the local hydrology varies annually with seasonal
rainfall.
The primary threats the species include (1) reduced water/lack of
water, with groundwater decline as the likely major cause, along with
hydrological alteration and climate change, including severe drought
and increased temperatures (Factors A and E), and (2) flooding
resulting from hydrological alteration (Factor A). Several other
threats also affect the species, with the most notable being stochastic
events (Factor E), reproductive failure due to a variety of issues,
including inbreeding and other genetic factors associated with small
population size (Factor E), invasive species (Factor E), and loss of
connectivity among occurrences and between populations (Factor E).
Recovery Strategy
The purpose of a 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 that enable us to gauge whether
downlisting or delisting the species is warranted. Furthermore,
recovery plans help guide our recovery efforts by describing actions we
consider necessary for each species' conservation and by estimating
time and costs for implementing needed recovery measures.
The goal of this recovery plan is to control or ameliorate impacts
from current threats to Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis such that
the taxon no longer requires protections afforded by the Act and,
therefore, warrants delisting. The site-specific management actions
identified in the draft recovery plan are as follows:
1. Habitat restoration at all extant sites, which may include
invasive weed treatments, woody debris removal, and renovation of local
hydrologic regimes.
2. Supplemental watering when necessary during drought or lack of
water, specifically to ensure survival of particular individual plants
and/or colonies.
3. Installation of exclusionary fencing and/or cages around
individuals and colonies to prevent herbivory from mammals.
4. Propagation and outplanting at locations that are extirpated,
that have extremely low numbers of individuals and could become
extirpated, or at appropriate sites located within close proximity to
the extant occurrences.
5. Annual monitoring and reporting to assess the effectiveness of
the near-term actions, track and census the numbers of individuals at
each occurrence and to both guide and determine future recovery
actions.
6. Establish and maintain a conservation seed bank at a facility
that is certified by the Center for Plant Conservation.
7. Conduct research to evaluate the seed viability and pursue
efforts to bulk the seed for outplanting.
8. Facilitate outplanting efforts at numerous sites that are likely
to have cooperative recovery partners based on the current land
ownership status and land use practices and/or that are conducive to
these efforts because conservation easements are already established.
9. Continue attempts to gain access to other sites and occurrences
within the historic range to conduct census surveys and assessments for
potentially suitable habitat f or additional outplanting efforts.
10. Fulfill research needs, including the following: Best
management practices and methods for the various life stages of the
species; species response to disturbance from grazing, to thatch
removal and to other vegetation management techniques; demographic
studies, pollination ecology research, genetics research, habitat
suitability analyses and modeling, groundwater testing and mapping and
other hydrologic modeling for evaluating variable climate change
scenarios.
Request for Public Comments
We request written comments on the draft recovery plan described in
this notice. All comments received by the date specified in DATES will
be considered in development of a final recovery plan for Cirsium
scariosum var. loncholepis. You may submit written comments and
information by mail, email, or in person to the Ventura Fish and
Wildlife Office at the above address (see ADDRESSES).
Public Availability of 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 31336]]
Authority
We developed this recovery plan and publish this notice under the
authority of section 4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Martha Maciel,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2021-12304 Filed 6-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P