[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 213 (Thursday, November 4, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 64317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24619]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas laysensis)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability for review and comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (we) announces the
availability of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Laysan Duck
(Anas laysanensis) for public review and comment.
DATES: Comments on the draft revised recovery plan must be received on
or before January 3, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft revised recovery plan are available for
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the
following location: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands
Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3-122,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 (telephone: (808) 792-9400). Requests for copies
of the draft revised recovery plan and written comments and materials
regarding this plan should be addressed to the Field Supervisor,
Ecological Services, at the above Honolulu address. An electronic copy
of the draft revised recovery plan is also available at http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly Freifeld, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above Honolulu address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants is a
primary goal of the Endangered Species Act (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) and our endangered species program. Recovery means improvement of
the status of listed species to the point at which listing is no longer
required under the criteria set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for the
conservation of the species, establish criteria for downlisting or
delisting listed species, and estimate time and cost for implementing
the measures needed for recovery.
The Act requires the development of recovery plans for endangered
or threatened species unless such a plan would not promote the
conservation of the species. Section 4(f) of the Act requires that
public notice, and an opportunity for public review and comment, be
provided during recovery plan development. We will consider all
information presented during the public comment period on each new or
revised recovery plan. Substantive technical comments may result in
changes to a recovery plan. Substantive comments regarding recovery
plan implementation may not necessarily result in changes to the
recovery plans, but will be forwarded to appropriate Federal agency or
other entities so that they can take these comments into account during
the course of implementing recovery actions. Individual responses to
comments will not be provided.
The Laysan duck is federally listed as endangered and is also
listed as endangered by the State of Hawaii. This species currently is
found only on the small island of Laysan in the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands, but it was also known historically from the island of
Lisianski, and bones or fossils have been found in the Main Hawaiian
Islands on Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai, indicating it
previously had a much wider distribution. The Main Hawaiian Island
populations of this species likely were extirpated by nonnative
mammalian predators around the time of human settlement. The Laysan
duck's current population is estimated to be 459 birds, but its numbers
on Laysan have fluctuated from 7 to 688 adult birds during the past
century. This species uses all available habitats on Laysan, including
coastal areas, a hypersaline lagoon, mudflats, and densely vegetated
upland areas. It eats a variety of arthropods, sometimes seeds, leaves,
and algae, and at certain seasons consumes large quantities of aquatic
midge larvae. The primary threats to this species are its small
population size and restricted range, stochastic fluctuations in food
availability that cause its numbers to vary, potential inbreeding
depression and disease susceptibility, and storms that could cause
direct mortality and destroy the duck's habitat on the single low-lying
island to which it is currently restricted.
The recovery goals are to conserve and recover the Laysan duck to
the point where it can be downlisted (reclassified from endangered to
threatened status) and eventually to delist the species (remove it from
the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants). The
objectives by which these goals will be met are to protect the existing
population on Laysan and reestablish additional viable populations of
the duck in areas that are managed to be free of predators. To
accomplish these objectives, this recovery plan outlines high priority
tasks that fall generally into four categories. First, the duck
population on Laysan must be monitored and its habitat restored and
protected. Second, wild juvenile ducks must be translocated to
appropriate predator-free Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and eventually
to sites in the Main Hawaiian Islands where predators are effectively
controlled. Translocated populations must be closely monitored and
managed to enhance population growth. Third, a captive propagation
program must be initiated, with the aim of producing Laysan ducks for
release primarily at predator-controlled Main Hawaiian Island sites.
Fourth, further research must be undertaken on the life history,
demography, disease susceptibility, and genetics of the Laysan duck to
refine the recovery criteria and management techniques for this
species.
Public Comments Solicited
We solicit written comments on the draft revised 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 12, 2004.
David J. Wesley,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 04-24619 Filed 11-3-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P