[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 151 (Wednesday, August 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45838-45840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18548]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-ES-2014-0020; 50120-1112-0000]


Availability of a Revised Environmental Assessment and Incidental 
Take Plan for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's 
Trapping Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On November 9, 2011, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), published a notice of availability of a draft environmental 
assessment (DEA) and receipt of an application for an incidental take 
permit (permit) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (ESA), submitted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries 
and Wildlife (MDIFW), for the Maine Trapping Program Incidental Take 
Plan (ITP). MDIFW is requesting a permit

[[Page 45839]]

under the ESA to authorize take of the federally threatened Canada lynx 
incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with MDIFW's 
statewide furbearer trapping program. The permit would be in effect for 
15 years.
    During the 60-day comment period, the Service received numerous 
comments on the DEA and the ITP. MDIFW revised the draft ITP to address 
public and Service comments and submitted a revised ITP to the Service 
in July 2013. The Service then revised its DEA. This notice announces 
the availability for a 30-day supplemental public comment period of 
both the revised DEA and the revised ITP for MDIFW's incidental take 
permit application.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments 
by September 5, 2014. Comments submitted electronically using the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) must be 
received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted electronically via the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, or in hard 
copy, via U.S. mail, to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R5-ES-
2014-0020; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: BPHC; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laury Zicari, by U.S. mail at the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Field Office, 17 Godfrey Drive, Suite 
#2, Orono, ME 04473; or by phone at 207-866-3344.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 9, 2011 (76 FR 69758), the Service published a notice 
of availability of a draft environmental assessment (DEA) and receipt 
of an application for an incidental take permit (permit), pursuant to 
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), for the Maine 
Trapping Program Incidental Take Plan (ITP). The Maine Department of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) is requesting a permit under the 
ESA to authorize take of the federally threatened Canada lynx (Lynx 
canadensis) incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with 
MDIFW's statewide furbearer trapping programs (i.e., fur trapping, 
animal damage, and predator management control). The permit would be in 
effect for 15 years.
    During the 60-day comment period, which ran through January 9, 
2012, the Service received numerous comments on the DEA and the draft 
ITP. The MDIFW revised the draft ITP to address public and Service 
comments and submitted a revised ITP to the Service on July 29, 2013. 
The Service then revised its DEA. This notice announces the 
availability for a 30-day supplemental public comment period of the 
both the revised DEA and the revised ITP for MDIFW's incidental take 
permit application.

How Incidental Take Permits Work

    Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations prohibit the ``take'' of animal species listed as 
endangered or threatened. Take is defined under the ESA as to ``harass, 
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect 
listed animal species, or to attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 
U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA, we may 
issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed species. 
``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that is incidental 
to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. 
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and 
endangered species, respectively, are found in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32).
    If an incidental take permit is granted to MDIFW, the State and 
licensed trappers conducting otherwise legal trapping activities would 
be authorized to incidentally take Canada lynx according to limitations 
prescribed in the revised ITP, along with any additional conditions the 
Service determines are necessary and appropriate for issuance of an 
incidental take permit.

Applicant's Revised Incidental Take Permit Application

    On July 29, 2013, the Service received a revised ITP from MDIFW 
that incorporates changes responding to comments from the public and 
the Service. The revised ITP includes important changes and 
clarifications from MDIFW's previous draft ITP, which was submitted to 
the Service in 2008 and released for comment in 2011 (76 FR 69758). 
Under the covered activities of the revised ITP, MDIFW includes 
predator management and animal damage control programs, in addition to 
recreational fur trapping. Several new methods of trapping and new 
trapping regulations would be implemented, including lifting the size 
restrictions on foothold traps. Measures to avoid and minimize take 
have been updated to include increased veterinary oversight, protocols 
for responding to orphan kittens, increased trapper outreach, and 
increased compliance monitoring. Further, the revised ITP incorporates 
additional contingencies to address a number of potential changed 
circumstances. The requested incidental take over the 15-year duration 
of the permit is increased to 195 incidentally trapped lynx, of which 9 
may experience major injury and 3 may die. The other incidentally 
trapped lynx would be released with no or minor injuries. Finally, 
MDIFW has clarified the mitigation strategy and seeks to address the 
impact of lynx mortalities. Mitigation consists of maintaining and 
enhancing at least 4,785 acres of lynx habitat on a 10,411-acre area on 
the Maine Division of Parks and Public Lands Seboomook Unit in northern 
Maine.

Service's Revised Draft Environmental Assessment

    The Service has revised its DEA to reflect MDIFW's revised ITP. The 
changes to the DEA include: (1) A revised purpose and need for a 
permit; (2) new alternatives to the proposed action; (3) a description 
of the aspects of the human environment that would be affected by 
MDIFW's trapping programs; and (4) an evaluation of the environmental 
consequences of the proposed project and the mitigation measures.
    The DEA considers four alternatives:
    (1) Status quo: No action, no incidental take permit is issued, and 
trapping continues in its current form consistent with the requirements 
of the 2007 Consent Decree. The Consent Decree is a settlement 
agreement stemming from an earlier lawsuit, Animal Protection Institute 
v. Roland D. Martin, which imposes a number of restrictions on trapping 
activities in lynx wildlife management districts. Fur trapping, 
predator management, and animal damage control continue statewide in 
this alternative.
    (2) No action: No incidental take permit is issued, and, to avoid 
take of lynx, MDIFW discontinues all trapping programs in lynx wildlife 
management districts.
    (3) Proposed action: An incidental take permit is issued to MDIFW, 
and measures in the 2013 revised ITP are implemented.
    (4) An incidental take permit is issued to MDIFW for statewide fur 
trapping, but the predator management and animal damage control 
programs in lynx wildlife management districts are discontinued. Fur 
trapping measures in the 2013 revised ITP are implemented.
    For alternatives 2 to 4, we presume that the described programs 
would

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replace the requirements of the 2007 Consent Decree, which would 
ultimately be rescinded. A number of issues that were raised during the 
initial public comment period on the DEA are still relevant to the 
revised proposed action. Therefore, the Service's DEA also has included 
a response to comments to explain how those issues are handled in 
MDIFW's revised ITP and the Service's revised DEA.

Next Steps

    We will evaluate the revised ITP and comments we receive on the 
Service's revised DEA to determine whether the permit application meets 
the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
We will also evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B) permit 
would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service 
section 7 consultation. We will use the results of this consultation, 
in combination with the above findings, in our final analysis to 
determine whether to issue a permit. If the requirements are met, we 
will issue the permit to the applicant.

Authority

    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA and 
the National Environmental Policy Act regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: July 22, 2014.
Paul R. Phifer,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-18548 Filed 8-5-14; 8:45 am]
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