[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 64 (Friday, April 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17442-17443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7480]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of a Technical/Agency Draft Implementation 
Schedule for the South Florida Multi-Species Recovery Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (``we,'' ``our,'' or 
``Service'') announces the availability of the implementation schedule 
for the South Florida Multi-Species Recovery Plan (MSRP) for public 
review. The MSRP, as approved in 1999, included a discussion of the 
need for a coordinated effort to develop an implementation schedule. 
This implementation schedule was prepared with the assistance of the 
South Florida Multi-species/Ecosystem Recovery Implementation Team 
(MERIT). The implementation schedule prioritizes the recovery tasks as 
described in the MSRP on a community level, and identifies the 
associated participating parties, time frame, and costs necessary to 
accomplish those tasks. We are asking for the public's review and 
comment on the recovery plan implementation schedule.

DATES: Comments on the draft implementation schedule must be received 
on or before June 1, 2004 to ensure consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft implementation schedule can be obtained 
by contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Florida 
Ecological Services Office, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida 
32960. We encourage requests for the CD-ROM version of the 
implementation schedule, as the hard (paper) copies encompasses 
approximately 221 pages. Written comments and materials regarding the 
implementation schedule should be addressed to Cindy Schulz at the 
address above. Comments and materials received are available on request 
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at 
the South Florida Ecological Services Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Schulz at the South Florida 
Ecological Services Office, (772) 562-3909, ext. 305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Comments Solicited

    We are asking for written comments on the MSRP implementation 
schedule as described above. All comments received by the date 
identified above will be considered. We particularly seek comments 
concerning: (1) Recommended changes to the Priority Number for recovery 
tasks; (2) recommendations for additions or deletions to the 
participants identified for each recovery task; and (3) additional 
information to assist us with determining costs for accomplishing 
recovery tasks.
    Please note that these recovery tasks are taken directly from the 
MSRP. Any changes needed to update the language of the tasks themselves 
would be addressed in a future revision of the MSRP rather than at this 
time. These changes, if any, would be subject to public comment only 
during such future revision.
    We will take into account all comments and any additional 
information we receive. Such communications may lead to a final version 
of this implementation schedule that differs from this Technical/Agency 
draft.

Background

    Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point 
where they are again secure, self-sustaining components of their 
ecosystems is a primary goal of our threatened and endangered species 
program. To help guide the recovery effort, we prepare recovery plans 
for listed species native to the United States, pursuant to section 
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (16 U.S.C. 
et seq.), which requires the development of recovery plans for listed 
species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a 
particular species. Recovery plans describe actions that may be 
necessary for conservation of these species, establish criteria for 
reclassification from endangered to threatened status or removal from 
the list, and estimate the time and cost for implementing the needed 
recovery measures.
    Section 4(f) of the Act also requires that a public notice and an 
opportunity for public review and comment be provided during recovery 
plan development. Accordingly, the MSRP was made available for public 
review and comment, before its approval in May 1999. The MSRP 
identifies the recovery needs of the 68 threatened and endangered 
species and 23 natural communities in the South Florida ecosystem, 
which encompasses 67,346 square kilometers (26,002 square miles), 
covering the 19 southernmost counties in Florida.
    The final chapter of the MSRP describes the process for developing 
an implementation schedule. This process involved the collaborative 
effort of a team appointed by the Service to focus specifically on 
recovery implementation efforts. This team, known as MERIT, is 
comprised of 36 members representing Federal, State and local 
government agencies; Tribal governments; academia; industry; and the 
private sector. MERIT members assisted in assigning priorities to 
recovery tasks, and estimating the expected duration and cost to 
complete each task. They also identified the organizations or agencies 
that would likely be involved in accomplishing each task.
    The implementation schedule for the MSRP contains recovery tasks 
for those species that occur only in South Florida, and for which the 
South Florida Ecological Services Office has recovery lead. Other 
Service field offices have recovery responsibility for those species 
that occur in South Florida but also occur elsewhere. Implementation 
schedules for those species can be found in the approved individual 
recovery plans for those species. Recovery tasks are provided in this 
implementation schedule for the following species:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Status/species                      Scientific name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mammals:
    E Key deer.........................  Odocoileus virginianus clavium
    E Key Largo cotton mouse...........  Peromyscus gossypinus
                                          allapaticola
    E Key Largo woodrat................  Neotoma floridana smalli
    E Silver rice rat..................  Oryzomys palustris natator (=
                                          O. argentatus)
    E Lower Keys marsh rabbit..........  Sylvilagus palustris hefneri

[[Page 17443]]

 
Birds:
    T Audubon's crested caracara.......  Polyborus plancus audubonii
    E Cape Sable seaside sparrow.......  Ammodramus (= Ammospiza)
                                          maritimus mirabilis
    E Snail kite.......................  Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus
    E Florida grasshopper sparrow......  Ammodramus savannarum
                                          floridanus
Reptiles:
    E American crocodile...............  Crocodylus acutus
    T Bluetail (blue-tailed) mole skink  Eumeces egregius lividus
    T Sand skink.......................  Neoseps reynoldsi
Invertebrates:
    E Schaus swallowtail butterfly.....  Heraclides (= Papilio)
                                          aristodemus ponceanus
    T Stock Island tree snail..........  Orthalicus reses
Plants:
    E Avon Park harebells..............  Crotalaria avonensis
    E Beach jacquemontia...............  Jacquemontia reclinata
    E Beautiful pawpaw.................  Deeringothamnus pulchellus
    E Carter's mustard.................  Warea carteri
    E Crenulate lead-plant.............  Amorpha crenulata
    E Deltoid spurge...................  Chamaesyce (= Euphorbia)
                                          deltoidea
    E Florida perforate cladonia.......  Cladonia perforata
    E Florida ziziphus.................  Ziziphus celata
    E Four-petal pawpaw................  Asimina tetramera
    E Fragrant prickly-apple...........  Cereus eriophorus var. fragrans
    T Garber's spurge..................  Chamaesyce (= Euphorbia)
                                          garberi
    E Garrett's mint...................  Dicerandra christmanii
    E Highlands scrub hypericum........  Hypericum cumulicola
    E Key tree-cactus..................  Pilosocereus (= Cereus) robinii
    E Lakela's mint....................  Dicerandra immaculata
    E Lewton's polygala................  Polygala lewtonii
    E Okeechobee gourd.................  Cucurbita okeechobeensis ssp.
                                          okeechobeensis
    T Papery whitlow-wort..............  Paronychia chartacea (= Nyachia
                                          pulvinata)
    T Pigeon wings.....................  Clitoria fragrans
    E Pygmy fringe-tree................  Chionanthus pygmaeus
    E Sandlace.........................  Polygonella myriophylla
    E Scrub blazing star...............  Liatris ohlingerae
    E Scrub mint.......................  Dicerandra frutescens
    E Short-leaved rosemary............  Conradina brevifolia
    E Small's milkpea..................  Galactia smallii
    E Snakeroot........................  Eryngium cuneifolium
    E Tiny polygala....................  Polygala smallii
    E Wireweed.........................  Polygonella basiramia (=
                                          ciliata var. b.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We will consider all information presented during this 60-day 
public comment period prior to approval of this implementation 
schedule.
    See ADDRESSES section above to request copies of the draft 
implementation schedule. Note that paper copies of both the MSRP and 
the draft implementation schedule are available for public inspection 
at the following locations:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service South Florida Ecological Services 
Office, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida 32960, (772) 562-3909;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Merritt Island National Wildlife 
Refuge, 4 miles east of Titusville, State Road 402, Titusville, Florida 
32782, (321) 861-0667;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, J.N. ``Ding'' Darling National Wildlife 
Refuge, 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel, Florida 33957, (239) 472-1100;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Panther National Wildlife 
Refuge, 3860 Tollgate Boulevard, Suite 300, Naples, Florida 34114, 
(239) 353-8442;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Key Deer Refuge, Winn Dixie 
Shopping Plaza, Big Pine Key, Florida 33043-1510, (305) 872-2239;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 
10216 Lee Road, Boynton Beach, Florida 33437-4796, (561) 732-3684.

Authority

    The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: February 24, 2004.
J. Mitch King,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 04-7480 Filed 4-1-04; 8:45 am]
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