[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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