[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 1997)] [Notices] [Pages 2680-2681] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-1255] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service Revision of The National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks public input and comment on a revised National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands (Reed 1988) (hereafter, ``National list''). The revised National list conforms to Kartesz (1994). A wetland indicator was assigned to each species that expresses the fidelity to wetlands by region and sub-region. The National list was originally developed as an appendix to Cowardin et al.(1979). The National list has also been used to determine the presence of hydrophytic vegetation in the Clean Water Act Section 404 wetland regulatory program and in implementing the swampbuster provisions of the Food Security Act. DATES: Comments on the revised National list must be received by April 15, 1997. ADDRESSES: Copies of the revised National list including its regional subdivisions are available on February 15, 1997, from the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Suite 101, Monroe Building, 9720 Executive Center Drive, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2440. Electronic copies of the [[Page 2681]] above lists are available for downloading from the World Wide Web at http://www.nwi.fws.gov/ecology.htm. Written comments may be submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Suite 101, Monroe Building , 9720 Executive Center Drive, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2440, faxed to (813) 570-5409, or electronically transmitted to: [email protected]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Porter B. Reed, Jr., Fish and Wildlife Service, at (813) 570-5425, Dr. Russell Theriot, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at (601) 634-2733, Mr. William Sipple, Environmental Protection Agency, at (202) 260-6066, or Dr.Norman Melvin, Natural Resources Conservation Service, at (301) 497-5933. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1996 National list is a revision of Reed (1988). The revised National list is provided to encourage additional public review and comments on the draft regional wetland indicator assignments. The National list was produced under the guidance of National and Regional Interagency Review Panels composed of representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The National Panel provides guidance and direction for the development and maintenance of the National list. The wetland ecologist of the National Wetlands Inventory, Fish and Wildlife Service, coordinates the activities of the National Panel. The National Panel meets as necessary to review Regional Interagency Review Panel progress and to set future direction and goals. The Regional Panels solicit and obtain information from their agency personnel, regional reviewers, and from published literature. This information is used by the Regional Panels to assign regional wetland indicators. The Regional Panels are coordinated by a Fish and Wildlife Service representative, usually the Regional Wetland Inventory Coordinator. The Regional Panels also meet as necessary to consider and assess all new submissions recommending changes to the National list that relate to their respective regions. In 1996, the cooperating agencies responsible for the development and continued enhancement of the National list signed an ``Agreement for Coordination in the Refinement of the National list of Vascular Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands.'' The National list is a combination of the Regional lists into a single list and will be released as a Fish and Wildlife Service publication available to the other agencies and the public. The production of new National lists will occur every 5 years. If changes to the Regional lists become necessary outside the 5-year cycle, those changes will be made in compliance with these procedures. The National list will remain dynamic and the submission of well documented review comments based on field experience is encouraged. All scientific plant names included in a submission must be contained in the 1994 Synonymized Checklist or the Natural Resource Conservation Agency's PLANTS database http//trident.ftc.nrcs.usda.gov/npdc/. Complete documentation, including a description and explanation of the variety of field sites and/or data supporting the recommended wetland indicator, is necessary for the Regional Interagency Review Panels to adequately understand and consider a submission. To assist in documentation and to facilitate the review, a submission should contain a strong rationale supporting the proposed recommendation including the extent of the area that the field experience and data provided are based. Information presented in the submission from botanical and ecological texts and periodicals should be supplied with the citation of the source. The rationale should clearly discuss, as part of the field information, the percentage of occurrence of the taxon in both wetland and non-wetland areas. A complete submission ideally should present, for each field site referenced in the submission, community information including the scientific names, quantitative measurements of vegetation (e.g. density, frequency, cover, or importance data), soils data including classification and morphology (especially the presence of field indicators (USDA 1996), hydrologic data (especially any intensive water table and redox potential monitoring), and landscape position. A review form is provided with the 1996 National list on the Ecology Section World Wide Web site to facilitate review submission. Completed review forms can be delivered by the World Wide Web to [email protected]. Literature Cited Cowardin, L.M., V. Carter, F.C. Golet, and E.T. LaRoe. 1979. Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. FWS/OBS-79/31. 103pp. Kartesz, John T. 1994. A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume I--Checklist & Volume II--Thesaurus. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Vol. I: 622 pp. Vol. II: 816 pp. Reed, Jr., Porter B. 1988. National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands: National Summary. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Biol. Rep. 88 (24). 244 pp. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 1996. Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States. G.W. Hurt, Whited, P.M., and Pringle, R.F. (eds.). USDA, NRCS, Fort. Worth, TX. Dated: January 6, 1997 John G. Rodgers, Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service. [FR Doc. 97-1255 Filed 1-16-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-55-P