[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22371]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 9, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
50 CFR Part 17

 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of Finding 
on a Petition To Change the Status of the Grizzly Bear Population in 
the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem From Threatened To Recovered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day Petition Finding.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces a 90-day finding 
for a petition to amend the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 
and Plants. The petitioners requested that the grizzly bear (Ursus 
arctos horribilis) population in the Northern Continental Divide 
Ecosystem be delisted from threatened to recovered.
    The Fish and Wildlife Service finds that the petitioners did not 
provide substantial information to indicate that the petitioned action 
may be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this notice was approved on August 31, 
1994.

ADDRESSES: Questions and comments concerning this finding should be 
sent to Field Supervisor, Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 100 N. Park., Suite 320, Helena, Montana, 59601. The petition, 
finding, and supporting data are available for public inspection, by 
appointment, during normal business hours at the Fish and Wildlife 
Service office at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Kemper McMaster (see ADDRESSES above), 
telephone (406) 449-5225.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (Service) make a 90-day finding on whether a petition 
to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents substantial 
scientific or commercial information to demonstrate that the petitioned 
action may be warranted. Notice of the finding is to be published 
promptly in the Federal Register. This notice meets the latter 
requirement for the 90-day finding made earlier for the petition 
discussed below. Information contained in this notice is a summary of 
the information in the 90-day finding, which is the Service's decision 
document.
    On March 14, 1994, the Service received a petition dated March 11, 
1994, from the Resource Organization On Timber Supply (ROOTS). The 
petitioners requested that the Service delist the grizzly bear (Ursus 
arctos horribilis) population in the Northern Continental Divide 
Ecosystem (NCDE) from threatened to recovered.
    Grizzly bears in the conterminous United States were listed as a 
threatened species under the Act in 1975 (41 FR 12382). In 1982, the 
Service identified the NCDE in Montana as one of four remaining 
ecosystems in the conterminous United States known to support a grizzly 
bear population (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1982). For each of 
these ecosystems, the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan (Recovery Plan) (U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service 1993) includes a chapter which outlines 
recovery actions and defines population subgoals that reflect 
conditions under which threats to the populations have been eliminated 
or significantly minimized.
    For each of the five factors listed in section 4(a)(1) of the Act, 
the petitioners presented information to suggest that threats to 
grizzly bears in the NCDE have been eliminated or minimized to the 
extent that the population no longer requires protection under the Act. 
In a second portion of their petition, the petitioners also submitted 
that the demographic recovery criteria for the NCDE specified in the 
Recovery Plan are being met except for female grizzly bear mortality 
subgoal, and that assumptions used in developing the recovery subgoals 
should be considered when evaluating female mortality.
    The Service agrees with most of the information presented by the 
petitioners regarding the five factors. However, only two of three 
demographic subgoals established in the Recovery Plan have been 
attained in the NCDE based on monitoring data from the past 6 years. 
The subgoal for the limit on known, human-caused female grizzly bear 
mortality for the NCDE was exceeded during 1992 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service 1993) and 1993 (Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and 
Parks, unpublished data, 1988-1993; U.S. Forest Service, Missoula, 
Montana, unpublished data, 1988-1993).
    The Service maintains that the assumptions used to develop the 
population subgoals were necessarily conservative in order to: (1) 
Facilitate recovery of the population, (2) allow for error in minimum 
population estimates, and (3) allow for unknown, unreported mortality. 
The Service recognizes that the resulting limits on human-caused 
mortality are conservative. The Service believes this to be a 
reasonable and prudent approach to the conservation of listed species, 
especially those species, including grizzly bears, for which there are 
no applicable scientific methods available to estimate the actual 
population with statistical confidence.
    Finally, the Service recommends that a Conservation Strategy for 
the grizzly bear in the NCDE be finalized and approved by all 
cooperating State and Federal land and wildlife management agencies 
prior to delisting a grizzly bear population. A draft Conservation 
Strategy for the NCDE has been prepared in anticipation that the 
population will achieve recovery goals. However, the document has not 
been finalized nor approved by all participating agencies.
    The Service will begin delisting proceedings for the grizzly bear 
population in the NCDE when: (1) The population has attained all 
population demographic parameters for that ecosystem within the 
monitoring period specified, and (2) a Conservation Strategy detailing 
the adequate regulatory mechanisms that will continue after delisting 
has been finalized and agreed to by cooperating agencies.
    In summary, the Service finds that the petitioners did not supply 
substantial information to indicate that the petitioned action may be 
warranted at this time.
    The Service's 90-day finding contains more detailed information 
regarding the above decision. A copy may be obtained from the Service's 
Helena office (see ADDRESSES above).

References Cited

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1982. Grizzly bear recovery plan. 
U.S.D.I. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Missoula, Mont. 195pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993. Grizzly bear recovery plan. 
U.S.D.I. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Missoula, Mont. 181pp.

Author

    This notice was prepared by Anne Vandehey at the Service's 
Helena Field Office (see ADDRESSES above).

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

    Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

    Dated: August 31, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-22371 Filed 9-8-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M