[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 140 (Thursday, July 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36460-36462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17284]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XQ24


Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and notice of 
public meetings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces that 
the Draft Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan (Plan) is 
available for public review and comment. The Plan addresses the 
Southern California Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Distinct Population 
Segment (DPS), which spawns in watersheds from the Santa Maria River 
(just north of Point Conception) south to the Tijuana River at the 
U.S.-Mexico border. NMFS is soliciting review and comment from the 
public and all interested parties on the Draft Plan. In addition, 
public meetings will be held on August 25 and September 1, 2009, as 
opportunities for providing comments on the Draft Plan.

DATES: NMFS will consider and address all substantive comments received 
during the comment period. Comments must be received no later than 5 
p.m. Pacific daylight time on September 21, 2009. Public meetings will 
also be held (see Public Meetings below).

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and materials to Penny Ruvelas, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, 501 W. Ocean Blvd, Suite 4200, Long 
Beach, CA 90802. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to: 
[email protected]. Include in the subject line of the e-mail 
comment the following identifier: Comments on Southern California 
Steelhead Plan. Comments may be submitted via facsimile (fax) to 562-
980-4027.
    Persons wishing to review the Plan can obtain an electronic copy 
(i.e., CD-ROM) from Kimberly Speech by calling 562-980-4020 or by e-
mailing a request to [email protected] with the subject line 
``CD-ROM Request for Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan.'' 
Electronic copies of the Plan are also available on-line on the NMFS 
website http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/So_Cal.htm.
    For locations and times of public meetings, see Public Meetings 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Capelli, NMFS Southern California 
Steelhead Recovery Coordinator at 805-963-6478 x14 or Penny Ruvelas, 
NMFS SWR Protected Resources Division at 562-980-4197.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Recovery plans describe actions beneficial to the conservation and 
recovery of species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The ESA requires that 
recovery plans incorporate: (1) objective, measurable criteria which, 
when met, would result in a determination that the species is no longer 
threatened or endangered; (2) site-specific management actions 
necessary to achieve the plan's goals; and (3) estimates of the time 
required and costs to implement recovery actions. The ESA requires the 
development of recovery plans for each listed species unless such a 
plan would not promote its recovery.

[[Page 36461]]

    NMFS is responsible for developing and implementing ESA recovery 
plans for listed salmon and steelhead. In so doing, NMFS' goal is to 
restore endangered and threatened Pacific salmonids to the point that 
they are again self-sustaining members of their ecosystems and no 
longer need the protections of the ESA.
    Recovery Plans developed under the ESA are guidance documents, not 
regulatory documents. However, the ESA envisions Recovery Plans as the 
central organizing tool for guiding the recovery of listed species. 
Recovery Plans also guide Federal agencies in fulfilling their 
obligations under section 7(a) (1) of the ESA, which calls on all 
Federal agencies to ``utilize their authorities in furtherance of the 
purposes of this Act by carrying out programs for the conservation of 
endangered species and threatened species.'' In addition to outlining 
proactive measures to achieve species recovery, Recovery Plans provide 
a context and framework for implementing other provisions of the ESA 
with respect to a particular species, including consultations on 
Federal agency activities under section 7(a)(2) and the development of 
Habitat Conservation Plans in accordance with section 10(a)(1)(B).
    This Recovery Plan serves as a guideline for achieving recovery 
criteria and goals by describing the criteria by which NMFS would 
measure species recovery, the strategy to achieve recovery, and the 
recovery actions necessary to achieve viable populations of steelhead 
within the Southern California steelhead DPS.

Recovery Criteria

    Recovery criteria are built upon criteria recommended by the NMFS 
Technical Recovery Team (TRT) for the identification of viable 
anadromous O. mykiss populations and DPS. A viable population is 
defined as a population having a negligible risk (<5%) of extinction 
due to threats from demographic variation, non-catastrophic 
environmental variation, and genetic diversity changes over a 100-year 
time frame. A viable DPS is comprised of a sufficient number of viable 
populations sufficiently dispersed spatially, but well connected enough 
to maintain long-term (1,000-year) persistence and evolutionary 
potential (McElhany et al. 2000). The viability criteria are intended 
to describe characteristics of the species and its natural environments 
necessary for both individual populations and the DPS as a whole to be 
viable, i.e., persist over a specific period of time, regardless of 
other ongoing anthropogenic effects.
    Recovery of the endangered Southern California Coast Steelhead DPS 
will require recovery of a sufficient number of viable populations 
within each of five Biogeographic Population Groups (BPGs) defined by 
the TRT. Recovery of these individual populations is necessary to 
conserve the natural diversity (genetic, phenotypic, and behavioral), 
spatial distribution, and abundance of the species, and thus the long-
term viability of the DPS as a whole. Additionally, the DPS as a whole 
must contain a minimal number of viable populations, or interacting 
trans-basin populations, within each BPG that inhabit watersheds with 
drought refugia (needed to sustain juvenile populations throughout the 
low-flow period), are geographically separated (to maintain maximum 
genetic diversity and also to spread out the risk of extinction due to 
local disasters or other mortality factors), and exhibit the natural 
life-history diversity of the species (fluvial-anadromous, lagoon-
anadromous, and freshwater resident).

Recovery Strategy

    Achieving species recovery will require a number of coordinated 
activities, including: implementation of the strategic and threat-
specific recovery actions identified in this Recovery Plan; monitoring 
of existing population's response to recovery actions; and further 
research into the diverse life-history patterns and adaptations of 
southern anadromous O. mykiss to a semi-arid and highly dynamic 
environment (e.g., the ecological relationship between anadromous and 
non-anadromous life-history patterns.
    Effective implementation of recovery actions will also entail: (1) 
Extensive public education (including the general public, non-
governmental agencies, and local, regional, State, and Federal 
governmental agencies,) regarding the role and value of the species 
within the larger watershed environment; (2) development of cooperative 
relationships with private land owners, special districts, federally-
recognized tribes, and local governments with direct control and 
responsibilities over non-federal land-use practices; (3) participation 
in the land use and water planning and regulatory processes of local, 
regional, State, and Federal agencies; (4) close cooperation with other 
state resource agencies such as the California Department of Fish and 
Game, California Coastal Commission, CalTrans, and the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, and (5) partnering with Federal 
resource agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency.
    A comprehensive strategic framework is necessary to serve as a 
guide to integrate the actions contributing to the larger goal of 
recovery of the Southern California Coast Steelhead DPS. This strategic 
framework incorporates the concepts of viability at both the population 
and DPS levels, and the identification of threats and recovery actions 
for specific BPGs.
    NMFS has identified core populations intended to serve as the 
foundation for the recovery of the species in the Recovery Planning 
Area. In addition, threats assessments for the species indicate that 
recovery actions related to the modification of existing passage 
barriers and changes in water storage and management regimes within 
certain rivers of the Recovery Planning Area are critical to the 
recovery of the species. High quality habitat exists above the 
significant passage barriers in these river systems. As a result, NMFS 
expects significant improvements in species status once they are able 
to access these areas for spawning and rearing of young steelhead.
    There remain uncertainties regarding the level of recovery 
necessary to achieve population viability, therefore, additional 
research and monitoring of anadromous O. mykiss populations within the 
SCCS Recovery Planning Area is an essential component of this Recovery 
Plan. As this Recovery Plan is implemented over time, additional 
information will become available to: (1) refine the viability 
criteria; (2) up-date and refine the threats assessment and related 
recovery actions; (3) determine whether individual threats have been 
abated; and (4) evaluate the overall viability of anadromous O. mykiss 
in the SCCS Recovery Planning Area. Additionally, there will be a 
review of the recovery actions implemented and population and habitat 
responses to these actions at the 5-year and 10-year status reviews of 
the DPS.

Recovery Actions

    Many complex and inter-related biological, economic, social, and 
technological issues must be addressed in order to recover anadromous 
O. mykiss in the Southern California Coast Steelhead DPS. Policy 
changes at the Federal, state and local levels will likely be necessary 
to implement many of the recovery actions identified in this Recovery 
Plan. For example, without

[[Page 36462]]

substantial strides in water conservation throughout southern 
California, flow conditions for anadromous salmonids will limit 
recovery. Similarly, recovery is unlikely without programs to restore 
properly functioning historic habitat such as estuaries, and access to 
upstream spawning and rearing habitat.
    Although the recovery of this species is expected to be a long 
process, the TRT recommended certain actions that should be implemented 
as soon as possible to help guide the recovery process for the Southern 
California Steelhead DPS (Boughton et al. 2007). Additional and more 
specific recovery actions to address specific threat sources in 
individual watersheds are discussed in the text.

Implementation and Cost Estimates

    Implementation of this Recovery Plan by NMFS will take many forms. 
To achieve recovery, NMFS will need to promote the Recovery Plan and 
provide needed technical information and assistance to other entities 
responsible for actions that may impact the species' recovery. NMFS 
should work with key partners on planning and implementation of all 
high priority recovery actions. Additionally it will be important to 
work with local governments to ensure that protective measures 
consistent with recovery objectives are included in their general plans 
and local coastal plans. NMFS should also work with state and Federal 
regional entities on Regional Water Control Board Basin Plans and U.S. 
Forest Service Plans.
    An implementation schedule describing time frames and costs 
associated with individual recovery actions is under development. 
Estimating total cost to recovery is much more challenging, if not 
impossible to estimate for a variety of reasons. These include the 
large geographic extent of the DPS; the need to refine recovery 
criteria; the need to complete watershed-specific investigations such 
as barrier inventories and assessments; the establishment of flow 
regimes for individual watersheds; and the review and possible 
modification of a variety of exiting land-use and water management 
plans (including waste discharge requirements) under a variety of 
local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Additionally, the biological 
response of many of the recovery actions is uncertain, and achieving 
full recovery will be a long-term effort likely requiring decades, and 
addressing new stressors that emerge over time. In some instances, 
however, NMFS is able to estimate the costs associated with certain 
common restoration activities such as those undertaken as part of the 
California Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Restoration Grants 
Program. An appendix to the Plan contains estimates for these 
categories of typical watershed restoration actions.
    The criteria and recovery actions identified in this Recovery Plan 
provide a comprehensive road-map for recovery and are consistent with 
many ongoing activities intended to protect and or restore ecosystem 
functions in southern California watersheds. As a result, many of these 
recovery actions will be undertaken by local, state and Federal 
agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations and other private 
entities as a part of their local ecosystem protection efforts. Also, 
the wide variety of threats to steelhead provide for a variety of 
potential funding sources available to develop and implement these 
recovery actions, often as part of other ongoing natural resource 
restoration, management, and mitigation programs.

Public Comments Solicited

    NMFS solicits written comments on the Draft Plan. All comments 
received by the date specified above will be considered prior to NMFS' 
decision whether to approve the Plan. NMFS seeks comments particularly 
in the following areas: (1) the analysis of limiting factors and 
threats; (2) the recovery objectives, strategies, and actions; (3) the 
criteria for removing the DPS from the Federal list of endangered and 
threatened wildlife and plants; and (4) estimates of time and cost to 
implement recovery actions. NMFS will also hold public meetings to 
provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about the Draft 
Plan, ask questions of NMFS staff, and submit oral or written comments 
on the Draft Plan.

Public Meetings

    NMFS will hold public meetings on the dates and at locations as 
follows:
    -August 25, 2009, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Carlsbad Fish and 
Wildlife Office, 6010 Hidden Valley Road., Carlsbad, CA 92011.
    -September 1, 2009, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fess Parker's Double 
Tree Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard , Santa Barbara, CA 93103.
    These meetings will provide an opportunity for the public to learn 
more about the Proposed Plan, ask questions of NMFS staff, and submit 
oral or written comments on the Proposed Plan.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: July 15, 2009.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-17284 Filed 7-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S