[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 90 (Friday, May 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27430-27431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09255]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-NWRS-2020-N035; FXRS126101HMBHS-201-FF01RSHM00]
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Lake County, OR; Notice
of Intent To Prepare a Bighorn Sheep Management Plan and Environmental
Impact Statement
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
prepare a management plan (plan) for bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)
for Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (refuge). We will also
prepare an environmental impact statement to develop alternatives for
management actions in the plan and evaluate the environmental effects
of those actions. We provide this notice in compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act to advise the public, other Federal
and State agencies, and Tribes of our intentions, and to obtain public
comments and suggestions on the scope of the issues to consider in the
planning process.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received or
postmarked on or before June 8, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Information concerning the refuge and the bighorn sheep
population is available on our website, at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Hart_Mountain/What_We_Do/Resource_Management/Bighorn_Sheep_Plan.html.
Send your questions or comments by any of the following methods:
Email: Sheldon-Hart@fws.gov. Include ``Hart Mountain
Bighorn Sheep Plan'' in the subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Project Leader, Sheldon-Hart Mountain National
Wildlife Refuge Complex, P.O. Box 111, Lakeview, OR 97630.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Danielle Fujii-Doe, Refuge Manager, by
email at Sheldon-Hart@fws.gov or by phone at 541-947-2731. Individuals
who are hearing or speech impaired may call the Federal Relay Service
at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare
a management plan (plan) for bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) for Hart
Mountain National Antelope Refuge (refuge). We will also prepare an
environmental impact statement to develop alternatives for management
actions in the plan and evaluate the environmental effects of those
actions. We provide this notice in compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) to advise the
public, other Federal and State agencies, and Tribes of our intentions,
and to obtain public comments and suggestions on the scope of the
issues to consider in the planning process.
Background
Located in a remote area of south central Oregon, Hart Mountain
National Antelope Refuge, managed by the Service, encompasses 278,000
acres of sagebrush-steppe habitat within the Great Basin and includes
the 19,267-acre proposed Poker Jim Wilderness Area. Originally
established in 1936 for the conservation and protection of the once-
imperiled pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), the refuge also conserves
habitat for many native, rare, and imperiled species of fish, wildlife,
and plants that depend upon the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem.
Bighorn sheep are an iconic species native to Oregon and the
refuge. Originally extirpated in Oregon by 1912, sheep were
successfully reintroduced to the State in 1954, when 20 sheep were
translocated to Hart Mountain. Since that time, refuge and Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) staff have conducted annual
surveys to track population variables, including number of sheep, lamb
production and recruitment, and ram size/age class. The number of sheep
counted on the refuge increased yearly from 1954, reaching a high of
350 to 415 sheep during the period 1982-1992. However, beginning in the
1990s, the number steadily declined to approximately 150 animals, and
then remained relatively stable during the period 2009-2017. The last
three annual surveys represent the most significant declines in
population variables to date. The number of sheep counted dropped from
149 in 2017, to 100 in 2018, to 68 in 2019. Lamb production declined by
approximately half from 54.4 lambs per 100 ewes in 2017, to 21.5 and
22.7 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. In addition, recruitment reached a
low level in 2019, with no 1-year-old class I rams and only two oldest
age class IV rams seen.
Sheep habitat encompasses approximately 34,000 acres on the western
escarpment of the refuge (Hart Mountain and Poker Jim Ridge), including
the proposed Poker Jim Wilderness Area. However, ecological trends over
the last several decades, such as juniper encroachment and the spread
of invasive herbaceous plants, may be resulting in the decline in the
quality of sheep habitat.
In January 2019, ODFW, in cooperation with refuge staff, captured
21 sheep on the refuge. Nineteen were fitted with GPS collars to
monitor movements and track adult survival. In addition, health-
screening samples were obtained on all 21 sheep. The ODFW Wildlife
Heath and Population Laboratory analyzed the health screening samples
and submitted tonsillar swabs and blood serum for diagnostic tests to
both Oregon State University and Washington Animal
[[Page 27431]]
Disease Diagnostics Laboratory in Pullman, Washington, to be screened
for a number of pathogens, including Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi),
a bacterium known to be associated with acute pneumonia mortality
events. However, M. ovi was not detected in any of the samples, and
there does not appear to be a clear association of the population
decline with respiratory disease or other common diseases. Since
January 2019, eight of 19 radio-collared sheep have died; six because
of mountain lion predation, one killed legally by a hunter, and one
from unknown causes.
Given rapidly declining sheep numbers and 2 years of poor lamb
recruitment, the herd is at risk of extirpation from the refuge in the
next few years unless appropriate management actions are taken. In
response, ODFW suspended sheep hunting on the Refuge following the 2019
hunting season. Because there is considerable uncertainty about what
the proximate and ultimate causes of this decline are, development of a
management plan and EIS are warranted in order to analyze existing data
and identify short- and long-term alternatives and actions needed to
restore the bighorn sheep herd to a self-sustaining population level.
Possible management actions include continued monitoring, management of
the sheep and associated predator populations, and restoration and
maintenance of habitat.
Preliminary Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities
Based on the fundamental principles of wildlife management, we have
identified the following preliminary issues, concerns, and
opportunities regarding the sheep population that we may address in the
plan. Additional issues may be identified during the public scoping
process.
Bighorn sheep population objectives. What parameters
should the Service use to define a self-sustainable population on the
refuge? What criteria or triggers should the Service consider when
deciding to implement or suspend management actions?
Bighorn sheep survival and mortality. What actions can the
Service take to improve sheep survival and lamb recruitment? What are
the effects of the various sources of mortality--including disease,
predation, and hunting--on the long-term viability of the sheep
population? Given risks of disease introductions, is there a role for
augmenting the sheep population?
Habitat quality and quantity. What actions can the Service
take to maintain and restore sheep habitat? How are western juniper
expansion and invasive plant species (invasive annual grasses including
cheatgrass) affecting the sheep population? Is there a role for
prescribed fire to manage sheep habitats? Is natural water availability
a limiting resource?
Potential alternatives and environmental analysis.
Potential alternatives include a focus on habitat, a focus on
population management, or a combination of approaches. What
alternatives for restoring the bighorn sheep population should the
Service explore? Which components of the human environment should the
Service emphasize in the environmental analysis?
Public Availability of Comments
All comments received from individuals become part of the official
public record. We will handle all requests for such comments in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and the CEQ's NEPA
regulations at 40 CFR 1506.6(f). The Service's practice is to make
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents
may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which
we will honor to the extent allowable by law. If you wish us to
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at
the beginning of your comments.
Charles Stenvall,
Acting Regional Refuge Chief, Pacific Region, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2020-09255 Filed 5-7-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P