[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54069-54070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18055]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of the Final Devils River Minnow Recovery 
Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the 
availability of the approved recovery plan for the Devils River Minnow 
(Dionda diaboli). The Devils River minnow is known to occur in streams 
in Kinney and Val Verde Counties, Texas, and Coahuila, Mexico. The 
threats facing the species include: Habitat loss due to declining 
surface water flows from springs, pollution to streams, and impacts 
from nonnative species. The recovery plan outlines the necessary 
criteria, objectives and tasks to reduce these threats and accomplish 
the goal of delisting the Devils River minnow.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the final recovery plan may be requested by 
contacting Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 10711 Burnet Road, 
Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78758, or on the Internet at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/recovery/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological 
Services Field Office, at the above address; telephone (512) 490-0057, 
facsimile (512) 490-0974.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point 
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem 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 conservation 
of species, establish criteria for downlisting or delisting them, and 
estimate time and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.
    The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.), 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 
considers all information presented during a public comment period 
prior to approval of each new or revised recovery plan. The Service and 
others also take these comments into account in the course of 
implementing recovery plans.
    The Devils River minnow (Dionda diaboli) was listed as threatened 
on October 20, 1999, under authority of the Act. A draft of the Devils 
River Minnow Recovery Plan was issued on February 23, 2005, and public 
comments and peer reviewer comments were received until April 11, 2005 
(70 FR 8818). The Service received 10 responses during the comment 
period from interested parties. Of these, 6 provided substantive 
comments. We also received comments from 5 peer reviewers. The recovery 
plan was updated to address many of the comments and specific responses 
for the most substantive comments are summarized in Appendix D of the 
final recovery plan.
    The recovery plan describes the goals, objectives, criteria, 
strategies, and specific tasks necessary for achieving recovery of the 
Devils River minnow. The goal is to improve the status of the species 
so that it may be removed from the list of species protected under the 
Act. Generally, the Devils River Minnow Recovery Plan describes the 
needs for conservation of the existing habitat (including conserving 
groundwater aquifers and surface water flows and preventing local 
pollution), control of non-native species, and possibly restoring an 
additional population within the historic range of Devils River minnow 
at Las Moras Creek. The recovery plan describes the specific criteria 
for delisting and the necessary recovery actions to accomplish that 
goal based on the best available scientific information.

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


[[Page 54070]]


    Dated: August 10, 2005.
Nancy J. Gloman,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 05-18055 Filed 9-12-05; 8:45 am]
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