[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 129 (Thursday, July 7, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39231-39232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13394]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 223 and 224
[I.D. 062005C]
Endangered and Threatened Species: Recovery Plan Preparation for
16 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of Pacific Salmon and
Steelhead
AGENCY: National Marine Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to develop recovery plans for 16
ESUs of Pacific salmon and steelhead in the Northwest listed as
threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and
requests information from the public. NMFS is required by the ESA to
develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation and survival
of listed species. NMFS is working with state, Federal, tribal and
local entities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho to produce draft
recovery plans by December 2005.
DATES: All information must be received no later than 5 p.m. Pacific
Daylight Time on September 6, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
E-mail: The mailbox address for submitting e-mail
information for recovery planning is [email protected]. Please
include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the identifier
``Information for ESA Recovery Planning, Attention: (insert name of
appropriate NMFS Recovery Coordinator)'' and specify the recovery
domain to which your information applies (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
Federal e-rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov
Mail: Submit written comments and information to Salmon
Recovery Branch Chief, NMFS, Salmon Recovery Division, 1201 NE Lloyd
Boulevard, Suite 1100, Portland, Oregon, 97232-1274. Please identify
information as regarding the ``Information for ESA Recovery Planning.''
Hand Delivery/Courier: NMFS, Salmon Recovery Division,
1201 NE Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, Portland, Oregon, 97232-1274. You
can hand-deliver written information to our office at the street
address above. Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 503-872-2737. Please identify the fax comment as
regarding ``Information for Recovery Plans'' and specify the recovery
domain to which your information applies (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: NMFS, Northwest Region, Salmon
Recovery Division, and contact the recovery coordinator listed below
for the area in which you are interested. Additional salmon-related
materials are available on the Internet at www.nwr.noaa.gov.
Puget Sound Recovery Domain: Elizabeth Babcock, (phone: 206-526-
4505), email address: Elizabeth.Babcock@noaagov; Upper Columbia
Recovery Domain: Lynn Hatcher, (phone: 509-962-8911 x 223), email
address: [email protected]; Mid Columbia Recovery Domain: Paula
Burgess, (phone: 503-808-6525), email address: [email protected];
Willamette/Lower Columbia Recovery Domain: Patty Dornbusch, (phone:
503-230-5430), email address: [email protected]; Oregon Coast
Recovery Domain: Rosemary Furfey, (phone: 503-231-2149), email address:
[email protected]; Snake River Recovery Domain: David Mabe,
(phone: 208-378-5698), email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is charged with the recovery of Pacific
salmon and steelhead species listed under the ESA. Recovery under the
Act means that listed species and their ecosystems are restored, and
their future secured, so that the protections of the ESA are no longer
necessary.
There are 15 ``distinct population segments'' or ESUs of salmon and
steelhead listed as threatened or endangered in Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho:
Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Upper Willamette River;
Lower Columbia River; Upper Columbia River Spring-run; Puget Sound;
Snake River Fall-run; and Snake River Spring/Summer-run.
Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta): Hood Canal summer-run; Columbia
River.
Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka): Snake River; Ozette Lake.
Steelhead Salmon (Oncorhynchus mykiss): Upper Willamette River;
Lower Columbia River; Middle Columbia River; Upper Columbia River;
Snake River Basin.
NMFS has proposed to list Oregon Coast coho and the Lower Columbia
River coho ESUs as threatened (69 FR 33102; June 14, 2004). If these
ESUs are listed, they will be included in the Oregon Coast and
Willamette/Lower Columbia River recovery planning efforts. Notice of
recovery plans for the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho
ESU will be announced separately with other California ESUs.
The ESA requires that NMFS develop and implement recovery plans for
the conservation and survival of endangered and threatened species.
These recovery plans provide blueprints to determine priority recovery
actions for funding and implementation. The ESA specifies that recovery
plans must include: (1) a description of site-specific management
actions as may be necessary to achieve the plan's goals for the
conservation and survival of the species; (2) objective, measurable
criteria, which when met, would result in the species being removed
from the list; and (3) estimates of the time and costs required to
achieve the plan's goal and achieve intermediate steps toward that
goal. NMFS will take into consideration information provided during
this comment period to prepare draft recovery plans.
In order to develop recovery plans that address multiple species in
an ecosystem context, NMFS organized the listed and proposed ESUs in
the Northwest into six recovery areas or
[[Page 39232]]
``domains'' (Puget Sound, Upper Columbia, Middle Columbia, Snake River,
Oregon Coast, and Willamette/Lower Columbia). Each domain will have a
recovery plan that addresses all listed salmon and steelhead ESUs
within that area. While each recovery plan will meet the requirements
of the ESA and will utilize consistent scientific principles, each plan
also will be unique because of conditions in that domain and because it
will be based on local initiatives such as the State of Washington's
regional recovery boards, the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council's subbasin plans and the State of Oregon's Oregon Plan for
Salmon and Watersheds' Oregon Coast Coho Project. To develop key
technical products and provide science support NMFS formed teams of
scientists, called ``Technical Recovery Teams'' for: Puget Sound,
Willamette/Lower Columbia, Interior Columbia, and Oregon Coast recovery
domains. Finally, NMFS has developed a schedule for producing draft
recovery plans in each recovery domain by December 2005. Because draft
recovery plans will be based on local recovery planning efforts, the
level of detail in these draft recovery plans completed by December
will vary. After further local public review by federal agencies, state
and tribal co-managers, and interested persons, NMFS will publish
proposed recovery plans in the Federal Register and public comment will
be sought for each proposed plan.
As part of its recovery planning process, NMFS published a Notice
of Availability of a Draft Interim Regional Recovery Plan for Portions
of Three ESUs of Salmon and Steelhead within the Washington Lower
Columbia Management Unit (70 FR 20531; April 20, 2005). Public comment
is being sought until June 20, 2005, on this draft regional recovery
plan.
NMFS requests relevant information from the public that should be
addressed during preparation of draft recovery plans. Such information
should address: (1) criteria for removing the ESUs from the list of
threatened and endangered species; (2) factors that are presently
limiting, or threaten to limit survival of the ESUs; (3) actions to
address limiting factors and threats; (4) estimates of time and cost to
implement recovery actions; and 5) research, monitoring, and evaluation
needs.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: June 30, 2005.
P. Michael Payne,
Acting Division Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-13394 Filed 7-6-05; 8:45 am]
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