[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22720-22721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9864]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2011-N073;10120-1113-0000-C2]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Revised 
Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl--Appendix C

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On September 15, 2010, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
announced the availability of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the 
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) for public review and 
comment. We are reopening the comment period on an updated version of 
Appendix C of that document, which describes the development of a 
spotted owl habitat modeling tool.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
May 23, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the draft 
revised recovery plan and the updated version of Appendix C are 
available online at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/NorthernSpottedOwl/Recovery/. Printed loose-leaf copies of the updated 
version of Appendix C are available by request from Diana Acosta, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 
98th Avenue, Ste. 100, Portland, OR 97266 (phone: 503-231-6179). 
Comment submission: Written comments regarding the updated version of 
Appendix C should be addressed to the above Portland address or sent by 
e-mail to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brendan White at the above address and 
phone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  On September 15, 2010, we published a 
Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131) announcing the availability of 
the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix 
occidentalis caurina) for public review and comment under the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We originally opened 
this comment period for 60 days, from September 15, 2010, to November 
15, 2010. On November 12, 2010, we announced by way of press release an 
extension of the comment period until December 15, 2010, in response to 
several requests for additional time to review and comment on the Draft 
Revised Recovery Plan. On November 30, 2010, we announced in the 
Federal Register the reopening of the public comment period until 
December 15, 2010 (75 FR 74073). At that time we also announced the 
availability of a synopsis of the population response modeling results 
for public review and comment. This and other information regarding the 
modeling process was posted on our Web site. Of the approximately 
11,700 comments received, many requested the opportunity to review and 
comment on more detailed information on the habitat modeling process in 
Appendix C of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan.

[[Page 22721]]

    For background information on the Draft Revised Recovery Plan, see 
our September 15, 2010, Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131). The 
version of Appendix C contained in the Draft Revised Recovery Plan 
described the modeling framework under development for evaluation of 
habitat conservation measures for the spotted owl. Since that was 
written, we have completed development and testing of this modeling 
framework for public review and comment. Once comments have been 
considered and incorporated as appropriate, this modeling framework 
will have a wide variety of applications in support of spotted owl 
recovery.
    The revised Appendix C, which is now available for comment, 
describes the three-part modeling framework, which includes: A spotted 
owl habitat suitability model; a spotted owl conservation planning 
model that can be used to design habitat conservation network 
scenarios; and a spotted owl population simulation model to predict 
relative population responses to different habitat conservation network 
scenarios and conservation measures. To test the modeling framework's 
ability to evaluate the influence of habitat conservation network size 
and spatial distribution on spotted owl population performance, revised 
Appendix C also describes the results of an analysis of 10 different 
habitat conservation network scenarios under different conditions. We 
are seeking comments on the modeling process, our test results and 
other aspects of revised Appendix C.
    We anticipate revising recovery action 4 in the Revised Recovery 
Plan to reflect completion of development and testing of the modeling 
framework as part of recovery plan development.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
ask us in your comment to withhold personal identifying information 
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Authority

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

    Dated: April 1, 2011.
Richard Hannan,
Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-9864 Filed 4-21-11; 8:45 am]
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