[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43544-43545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21545]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Kokia Cookei for Review
and Comment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the availability
for public review of a draft recovery plan for Kokia cookei. This
species is known only from the island of Molokai and is federally
listed as endangered. There are no naturally occurring populations of
Kokia cookei. It currently exists only in cultivation at two locations
and in managed outplantings at three sites. The total number of
individual plants remaining is 28.
DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or
before October 14, 1997, to receive consideration by the Service.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft recovery plan are available for
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the
following location: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands
Ecoregion, Room 3108, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, P.O. Box 50088,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 (phone: 808/541-3441). A copy will also be
available for inspection at the Molokai Public Library, 15 Ala Malama
Street, Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748 (phone: 808/553-5483). Requests for
copies of the draft recovery plan and written comments and materials
regarding the plan should be addressed to Field Supervisor-Ecological
Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific
[[Page 43545]]
Islands Ecoregion at the Honolulu address given above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Rosa, Assistant Field
Supervisor-Endangered Species, at the Honolulu address given above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point
where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their ecosystem
is a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, the Service is working to prepare recovery
plans for most of the listed species native to the United States, its
Territories and Commonwealths. Recovery plans describe actions
considered necessary for conservation of the species, establish
criteria for the recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and
estimate time and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) (Act), requires the development of recovery plans for listed
species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a
particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988,
requires that a public notice and an opportunity for public review and
comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will
consider all information presented during a public comment period prior
to approval of each new or revised recovery plan. Substantive technical
comments will result in changes to the plan. Substantive comments
regarding recovery plan implementation may not necessarily result in
changes to the recovery plan, but will be forwarded to appropriate
Federal or other entities so that they can take these comments into
account during the course of implementing recovery actions.
Individualized responses to comments will not be provided.
The species being considered in this recovery plan is Kokia cookei.
Known only from the island of Molokai, Kokia cookei has been described
as the rarest plant in the world. When first discovered in the 1860s,
three trees of this species were known. By the twentieth century, only
a single wild tree remained. The species became extirpated from the
wild in 1918. Currently, only 28 cloned individuals of Kokia cookei
exist. These individuals were produced by grafting to root stocks of
the two related Kokia species, Kokia kauaiensis and Kokia drynarioides.
Seven individuals are in artificial cultivation facilities on the
islands of Maui and Oahu. The remaining 21 individuals are in small
(10,000 square feet or less) outplanting sites on privately owned
Molokai Ranch lands, at Puu Nana, about 365 meters (1200 feet)
elevation.
The destruction of dryland habitats throughout the Hawaiian
Islands, which began 1,500 years ago with the coming of the Polynesians
to Hawaii and increased greatly with the arrival of the Europeans a
little over 200 years ago, has led to the elimination of Kokia cookei
in the wild. Kokia cookei was directly impacted by browsing, bark
stripping, and soil trampling by domestic and feral cattle, goats, and
sheep. Currently, this species is most threatened by the extremely low
number of individuals remaining, the lack of naturally rooted plants,
and the lack of viable seed production by the remaining individuals.
The objective of this plan is to provide a framework for the
recovery of Kokia cookei so that its protection by the Act is no longer
necessary. Recovery efforts will focus on increasing the numbers of
cloned individuals while pursuing research into other methods, such as
embryo culture methodology, for the production of individuals capable
of setting viable seed. Suitable sites for outplanting of individuals
on Molokai, Maui, and Lanai will be located and steps taken to manage
these lands for the perpetuity of Kokia cookei and other native
components of the dryland forest.
Public Comments Solicited
The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan
described. All comments received by the date specified above will be
considered prior to approval of this plan.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: August 8, 1997.
Thomas J. Dwyer,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1.
[FR Doc. 97-21545 Filed 8-13-97; 8:45 am]
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