[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 27 (Friday, February 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9409-9410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02889]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2013-N033; FXES11130300000-134-FF03E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Revised 
Indiana Bat Summer Survey Guidelines

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), are extending 
the public comment period on documents related to the draft revised 
summer survey guidelines for the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) for an 
additional 30 days. We announced availability of these documents in our 
January 9, 2013, Federal Register notice, which opened a 30-day public 
comment period. If you have previously submitted comments, you do not 
need to resubmit them. We have already incorporated them in the public 
record and will fully consider them in our final USFWS guidelines. The 
draft guidelines were prepared by representatives of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, U.S. Department of 
Defense's Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Interior's 
Geological Survey and USFWS, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife 
Resources, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and 
the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. We request review and 
comment on the guidelines--along with acoustic identification software 
testing criteria our 2013 contingency plan--from local, State, and 
Federal agencies and the public.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments on or 
before March 11, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: The draft survey guidelines, acoustic 
identification software testing criteria, and 2013 contingency plan are 
available at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/mammals/inba/inbasummersurveyguidance.html. The documents are also available by 
request, by U.S. mail from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Ecological Services Field Office, 620 South Walker Street, Bloomington, 
IN 47403-2121; or by phone at 812-334-4261, x1216.
    Submitting Comments: If you wish to comment on the documents, you 
may submit your comments in writing by any one of the following 
methods:
     U.S. mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 620 South 
Walker Street, Bloomington, IN 47403-2121;
     Hand-delivery: Field Supervisor at the above U.S. mail 
address;
     Email: [email protected]; or
     Fax: 812-334-4273. Include ``Indiana Bat Summer Survey 
Guidelines'' in the subject line of the facsimile transmittal.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions or requests for additional 
information may be directed to any of the following: (1) Mr. Andrew 
King, Endangered Species Biologist, at the Bloomington, Indiana, Field 
Office address or phone above; (2) Ms. Robyn Niver, Endangered Species 
Biologist, by U.S. mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological 
Services Field

[[Page 9410]]

Office, 3817 Luker Road, Cortland, NY 13045; or by phone at 607-753-
9334; or (3) Mr. Mike Armstrong, Endangered Species Biologist, by U.S. 
mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services Field 
Office, J.C. Watts Federal Building, Room 265, 330 West Broadway, 
Frankfort, KY 40601-8670; or by phone at 502-229-4632.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Indiana bat was originally listed as in danger of extinction 
under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. It was 
subsequently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended. Summer survey guidelines (mist-netting protocols) 
were first developed for the species in the early 1990s and the USFWS 
provided revised mist-netting guidelines in our 2007 Draft Revised 
Recovery Plan. The USFWS recently convened a group of State and Federal 
agency representatives to revise existing survey guidelines. We 
solicited peer review through the bat working groups across the range 
of the Indiana bat between February and March 2012 and received 
comments from 57 individuals. Based upon comments received and the 
results of pilot testing of the survey guidelines at known Indiana bat 
maternity colonies in the summer of 2012, we offer the revised 
guidelines for public review and comment.
    In addition to soliciting comments on draft survey guidelines for 
determining presence or probable absence of Indiana bats in the summer, 
we request comment on our proposed approach and criteria for testing 
the accuracy and suitability of available acoustic identification 
software programs. Only programs that pass our suitability test would 
be approved by the USFWS for official survey use. Our goal is to 
incorporate comments and finalize the draft survey guidelines and 
testing criteria in time for implementation in the 2013 field season. 
However, should no USFWS-approved software programs be concurrently 
available, we propose to follow an intermediary contingency plan. The 
draft survey guidelines, draft acoustic identification software testing 
criteria, and 2013 contingency plan, with instructions for commenting, 
are available on the Internet (see ADDRESSES).

Request for Public Comments

    We invite written comments on (1) The draft survey guidelines, (2) 
the acoustic identification software testing criteria, and (3) the 2013 
contingency plan. Substantive comments may or may not result in changes 
to the USFWS guidance document. Please include sufficient information 
with your comments to allow us to verify any scientific or commercial 
information you include.
    While all comments we receive will be considered in developing 
final documents, we encourage commenters to focus on those portions of 
the guidelines that have been revised, particularly those topics noted 
above that address peer-review comments. If you have previously 
submitted comments, you need not resubmit them because we have already 
incorporated them in the public record and will fully consider them in 
our final USFWS summer survey guidelines for the Indiana bat.
    All comments received by the date specified in DATES will be 
considered in preparing final documents. Methods of submitting comments 
are in ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    Responses to individual commenters will not be provided; however, 
we will provide the comments we receive and a summary of how we 
addressed substantive comments in a frequently asked questions document 
on the Web site listed above. If you submit comments or information by 
email to [email protected], your entire submission--including any 
personal identifying information--will be posted on the Web site. If 
your submission is made by hard copy that includes personal identifying 
information, you may request at the top of your document that we 
withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hard copy and 
email submissions on the Web site listed above in ADDRESSES.
    Comments and materials we receive will be available on our Web 
site; however, individuals without internet access may request an 
appointment to inspect the comments during normal business hours at our 
office in Bloomington, Indiana (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: February 4, 2013.
Sean O. Marsan,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Midwest 
Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-02889 Filed 2-7-13; 8:45 am]
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