Notice of Availability of a Technical Agency Draft Recovery Plan for the Endangered Vermilion Darter for Review and Comment

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of the technical agency draft recovery plan for the vermilion darter (Etheostoma chermocki). The vermilion darter is found only in Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River, Jefferson County, Alabama. The species is threatened by degradation of water quality and substrate components of its habitat due to sedimentation and other pollutants. The technical agency draft recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives and criteria to be met in order to delist the vermilion darter under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1533 et seq.). We solicit review and comment on this technical agency draft recovery plan from local, State, and Federal agencies, and the public.