[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]


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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.

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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