[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 906-907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-252]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Six plants from the 
Mountains Surrounding the Los Angeles Basin 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 Six Plants from the 
Mountains Surrounding the Los Angeles Basin. These plants occur in the 
mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin in Ventura, Los Angeles, 
and Orange counties, California.

DATES: Comments received on the draft recovery plan by April 6, 1999, 
will be considered by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the draft recovery plan and written 
comments and materials regarding this plan should be addressed to the 
Field Supervisor at the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 9393 
(phone: 805/644-1766).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Thomas, Botanist, at the Ventura 
address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point 
where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems 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. Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for 
the 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, 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 
public notice and an opportunity for public review and comment be 
provided during recovery plan development. The Service will consider 
all information presented during the public comment period prior to 
approval of each new or revised Recovery Plan. Substantive technical 
comments will result in changes to the plans. Substantive comments 
regarding recovery plan implementation may not necessarily result in 
changes to the recovery plans, 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 six plants from the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin 
addressed in this recovery plan were added to the list of endangered 
and threatened plants on January 29, 1997 (62 FR 4172). Two of the 
plant species, Braunton's milkvetch (Astragalus brauntonii) and Lyon's 
pentachaeta (Pentachaeta lyonii), were listed as endangered. The 
remaining four species were listed as threatened. They are Conejo 
dudleya (Dudleya abramsii ssp. parva), marcescent dudleya (Dudleya 
cymosa ssp. marcescens (marcescent dudleya), Santa Monica Mountains 
dudleya (Dudleya cymosa ssp. ovatifolia), and Verity's dudleya (Dudleya 
verityi). These plants occur in grassland, chaparral, or coastal sage 
scrub vegetation in the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin,

[[Page 907]]

California. The six plants are threatened by one or more of the 
following--urban development, recreational activities, alteration of 
fire cycles and fire suppression activities, excessive collecting, 
habitat fragmentation and degradation, and competition from invasive 
weeds. Several of the plants are also threatened with stochastic 
extinction by virtue of their small numbers and small population sizes.
    The goal of this plan is to stabilize and protect existing 
populations to allow for the downlisting of Astragalus brauntonii and 
Pentachaeta lyonii and their eventual delisting, and the delisting of 
all four of the Dudleya species. These plants all have very restricted 
distributions in specialized habitats, so the main conservation actions 
will be to protect existing populations of these plants, ensuring that 
the sites are managed for their benefit. The voluntary cooperation of 
private landowners will be sought.

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: December 8, 1998.
Michael J. Spear,
Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 99-252 Filed 1-5-99; 8:45 am]
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