[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30453-30455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14974]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Finding on 
Petitions To Change the Status of Grizzly Bear Populations in the North 
Cascades Area of Washington and the Cabinet-Yaak Area of Montana and 
Idaho From Threatened to Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition finding.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 
recycled 12-month petition finding for two petitions to amend the List 
of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife. The Service finds that 
reclassification of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the 
North Cascades Recovery Zone of Washington and Cabinet-Yaak Recovery 
Zone of Montana and Idaho from threatened to endangered status remains 
warranted but precluded.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was approved on June 1, 
1998.

ADDRESSES: Questions or comments concerning this finding should be sent 
to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, 
University Hall 309, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812. 
The petition, finding, and supporting data are available for public 
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the above 
office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Christopher Servheen, Grizzly Bear 
Recovery Coordinator (see ADDRESSES above) at telephone (406) 243-4903.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species 
Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that 
for any petition to revise the Lists of Endangered and Threatened 
Wildlife and Plants that contains substantial scientific and commercial 
information, the Service make a finding within 12 months of the date of 
the receipt of the petition on whether the petitioned action is (a) not 
warranted, (b) warranted, or `` warranted, but precluded. Section 
4(b)(3)(C) requires that petitions for which the requested action is 
found to be warranted but precluded should be treated as though 
resubmitted on the date of such finding, i.e., requiring a subsequent 
finding to be made within 12 months. The Service announces a new 12-
month finding on two petitions requesting the reclassification of 
grizzly bears from threatened to endangered status.
    The Service received a petition dated March 13, 1990, from the 
Humane Society of the United States, Greater Ecosystem Alliance, North 
Cascades Audubon Society, Kittitas Audubon Society, Pilchuck Audubon 
Society, Skagit Alpine Club, North Cascades Conservation Council, and 
Carol Rae Smith. The petition requested the Service to reclassify the 
grizzly bear in the North Cascades area of Washington State from 
threatened to endangered. The Service made a 90-day finding that the 
petition presented substantial information indicating that the 
requested action may be warranted. The Service announced the 90-day 
finding in the Federal Register on August 7, 1990, (55 FR 32103) and 
initiated a status review. The Service issued a 12-month finding that 
the petitioned action was warranted but precluded on July 24, 1991 (56 
FR 33892).
    A petition dated January 16, 1991, was received from Mr. D.C. 
Carlton on January 28, 1991. The petition requested the Service to 
reclassify the grizzly bear in the Selkirk ecosystem of Idaho and 
Washington; the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem of Montana and Idaho; and the 
North Cascades ecosystem of Washington from threatened to endangered. A 
petition dated February 4, 1991, was received from the Fund for 
Animals, Inc., on February 7, 1991. The petition requested the Service 
to reclassify the grizzly bear in the Selkirk ecosystem of Idaho and 
Washington; the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem of Montana and Idaho; the 
Yellowstone ecosystem of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho; and the Northern 
Continental Divide ecosystem of Montana from threatened to endangered. 
On April 20, 1992 (57 FR 14372) the Service issued a 90-day finding 
that there was not substantial information to warrant the 
reclassification of the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone and Northern 
Continental Divide ecosystems, but there was substantial information to 
indicate that reclassification in the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak 
ecosystems may be warranted. At the same time, the Service initiated a 
status review. On February 12, 1993 (58 FR 8250) the Service issued a 
12-month finding that reclassification in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem 
was

[[Page 30454]]

warranted but precluded and that reclassification in the Selkirk 
ecosystem was not warranted.
    Section 4(b) of the Act states that the Service may make warranted 
but precluded findings only if it can demonstrate that (1) an immediate 
proposed rule is precluded by other pending proposals, and that (2) 
expeditious progress is being make on other listing actions. On 
September 21, 1983 (48 FR 43098), the Service published in the Federal 
Register its priority system for listing species under the Act. The 
system considers magnitude of threat, immediacy of threat, and 
taxonomic distinctiveness in assigning species numerical listing 
priorities on scale of one through twelve. The two grizzly bear 
populations discussed here have been assigned a listing priority of 6.
    The magnitude of the threat to the continued existence of the North 
Cascades and Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear populations remains high. The 
reasons for this are detailed in the Service's 12-month petition 
findings in 1991 for the North Cascades (56 FR 33892) and in 1993 for 
the Cabinet-Yaak (58 FR 8250). However, grizzly bear habitat protection 
in the North Cascades and the Cabinet-Yaak areas is facilitated by 
Federal ownership of most of the land within both recovery zones. In 
the North Cascades, large portions of the recovery zone are designated 
wilderness or lie within North Cascades National Park. In the Cabinet-
Yaak there is some designated wilderness and additional proposed 
wilderness. All actions on Federal lands which may affect grizzly bears 
undergo consultation under section 7 of the Act. The Grizzly Bear 
Recovery Plan was revised in 1993 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993) 
and a supplemental chapter specific to the North Cascades was completed 
in 1997 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997). These plans outline 
grizzly bear habitat and population management policies to be applied 
in the North Cascades and the Cabinet-Yaak.
    On private land, the northern portion of the planning area for the 
Plum Creek Timber Company Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) is within the 
North Cascades grizzly bear recovery area. After approval of the HCP, 
an incidental take permit under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act was 
issued to Plum Creek Timber Company in June of 1996. At present, 
grizzly bears are not known to be present in the HCP planning area. 
Plum Creek HCP calls for implementation of a series of Best Management 
Practices that will address two major habitat-related concerns for 
grizzly bears: open road density and habitat diversity. Best Management 
Practices will include restriction of public use, reduction of open 
road density, maintenance of visual screening along open roads, and 
prohibition of firearms in company vehicles. Once the Service verifies 
that grizzly bears have recolonized the area, additional practices will 
be implemented to address road location, road closures, cover, size of 
openings, and timing of operations.
    Potential threats to the continued existence of the grizzly bear 
populations in both recovery zones include low numbers of individuals, 
alteration of habitat, and human intrusion into grizzly habitat. 
Cumulative impacts of recreation, timber harvest, mining, and other 
forest uses with associated road construction can reduce the amount of 
effective habitat for grizzly bears. Potential threats to grizzly bear 
habitat and the animals remaining in the North Cascades and the 
Cabinet-Yaak areas persist, but are nonimminent. Prior to this notice, 
the Service reviewed the status of the finding on the Cabinet-Yaak 
population in September 1992 and March 1996, and the status of the 
finding on the North Cascades population in March 1993. In these 
reviews, the Service determined that the threats to the grizzly bear 
populations in the North Cascades and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems 
remain of high magnitude and of a nonimminent nature and that a listing 
priority of 6 for the petitioned reclassification remained appropriate.
    On December 6, 1996, the Service adopted a listing priority 
guidance for Fiscal Year 1997 (61 FR 64475) and this guidance was 
extended on October 23, 1997. Final listing priority guidance for 
Fiscal Year 1998 and Fiscal Year 1999 was published in the Federal 
Register on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502). Both the Fiscal Year 1997 and 
1998/1999 guidance described a multi-tiered listing approach that 
assigns relative priorities to listing actions to be carried out under 
Section 4 of the Act. This guidance supplements, but does not replace 
the 1983 listing priority guidelines.
    Grizzly bear reclassification from threatened to endangered status 
in the North Cascades and Cabinet-Yaak recovery zones falls into Tier 3 
under Fiscal Year 1997 guidance and under Tier 2 in the Fiscal Year 
1998 guidance. In both guidance documents, determinations and 
processing of proposed listings to add new species to the lists of 
threatened and endangered species receives higher priority than 
reclassifications of already listed species. Because the Service must 
devote listing funds to addressing high priority candidate species, 
preparation of a proposed rule to reclassify the grizzly bear in the 
North Cascades or Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems remains warranted but 
precluded by higher listing priorities.
    Based on a review of the status and threats affecting the grizzly 
bear in the North Cascades and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems, the Service 
finds that there is no information to indicate that a change in the 
listing priority of 6 is appropriate for either of these populations.
    The Notice of Review of Plant and Animal Taxa published in the 
Federal Register on September 19, 1997 (62 FR 49397), provided a 
discussion of the expeditious progress made in the past year on listing 
decisions and recycling of petition findings throughout all regions of 
the Service. In that publication, the Service provided notice of review 
of 18 recycled petitions and described its progress in completing final 
listing actions for 152 taxa, proposed listing actions for 23 taxa, and 
proposed delisting action for one taxa.
    Since publication of the 12-month finding on the Cabinet-Yaak 
ecosystem in 1993, the Service has made expeditious progress in making 
listing decisions on 14 candidate species in the Mountain-Prairie 
Region (Region 6). At the present time, there remain in Region 6 an 
additional 19 candidate species with listing priority numbers of 1-5. 
These listing priority numbers are higher than the listing priority 
number of 6 given to reclassification of the grizzly bear in the North 
Cascades and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems.
    The Service reaffirms that both the North Cascades and Cabinet-Yaak 
populations of grizzly bears continue to face threats of high magnitude 
that are nonimminent, and therefore are assigned listing priorities of 
6. Work on species with a listing priority of 6 is precluded by work on 
species of a higher priority.
    Author: The primary author of this document is Wayne Kasworm, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Missoula, Montana (see ADDRESSES above).

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered 
Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

References Cited

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993. Grizzly bear recovery plan. 
Missoula, Montana. 181 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1997. Grizzly bear recovery plan 
supplement: North Cascades Ecosystem Recovery Plan Chapter. 
Missoula, Montana. 28 pp.


[[Page 30455]]


    Dated: June 1, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-14974 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P