[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33541-33543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14334]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-IA-2015-N115; FXIA16710900000-156-FF09A30000]


Endangered Species; Marine Mammals; Receipt of Applications for 
Permit

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of applications for permit.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to 
comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities 
with endangered species or marine mammals. With some exceptions, the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) 
prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is 
acquired that allows such activities.

DATES: We must receive comments or requests for documents on or before 
July 13, 2015. We must receive requests for marine mammal permit public 
hearings, in writing, at the address shown in the ADDRESSES section by 
July 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Brenda Tapia, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of 
Management Authority, Branch of Permits, MS: IA, 5275 Leesburg Pike, 
Falls Church, VA 22041; fax (703) 358-2281; or email [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brenda Tapia, (703) 358-2104 
(telephone); (703) 358-2281 (fax); [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Comment Procedures

A. How Do I Request Copies of Applications or Comment on Submitted 
Applications?

    Send your request for copies of applications or comments and 
materials concerning any of the applications to the contact listed 
under ADDRESSES. Please include the Federal Register notice publication 
date, the PRT-number, and the name of the applicant in your request or 
submission. We will not consider requests or comments sent to an email 
or address not listed under ADDRESSES. If you provide an email address 
in your request for copies of applications, we will attempt to respond 
to your request electronically.
    Please make your requests or comments as specific as possible. 
Please confine your comments to issues for which we seek comments in 
this notice, and explain the basis for your comments. Include 
sufficient information with your comments to allow us to authenticate 
any scientific or commercial data you include.
    The comments and recommendations that will be most useful and 
likely to influence agency decisions are: (1) Those supported by 
quantitative information or studies; and (2) Those that include 
citations to, and analyses of, the applicable laws and regulations. We 
will not consider or include in our administrative record comments we

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receive after the close of the comment period (see DATES) or comments 
delivered to an address other than those listed above (see ADDRESSES).

B. May I Review Comments Submitted by Others?

    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the street address listed under 
ADDRESSES. The public may review documents and other information 
applicants have sent in support of the application unless our allowing 
viewing would violate the Privacy Act or Freedom of Information Act. 
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware 
that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

II. Background

    To help us carry out our conservation responsibilities for affected 
species, and in consideration of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et 
seq.), along with Executive Order 13576, ``Delivering an Efficient, 
Effective, and Accountable Government,'' and the President's Memorandum 
for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies of January 21, 
2009--Transparency and Open Government (74 FR 4685; January 26, 2009), 
which call on all Federal agencies to promote openness and transparency 
in Government by disclosing information to the public, we invite public 
comment on these permit applications before final action is taken. 
Under the MMPA, you may request a hearing on any MMPA application 
received. If you request a hearing, give specific reasons why a hearing 
would be appropriate. The holding of such a hearing is at the 
discretion of the Service Director.

III. Permit Applications

A. Endangered Species

Applicant: Tanganyika Wildlife Park, Goddard, KS; PRT-51119B
    The applicant requests a permit to import one female captive-born 
mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) from the Moscow Zoo, Moscow, Russia, for 
the purpose of enhancement of the species through captive propagation 
and conservation education.
Applicant: Tanganyika Wildlife Park, Goddard, KS; PRT-54794B
    The applicant requests a permit to import one male and one female 
captive-born mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) from Nature Resource Network 
S.R.O., Zbecno, Czech Republic, for the purpose of enhancement of the 
species through captive propagation and conservation education.
Applicant: Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY; PRT-60999B
    The applicant requests a permit to import 12 live gavials (Gavialis 
gangeticus) from the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Tamil Nadu, India, 
for the purpose of enhancement of the survival of the species.
Applicant: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake, FL; PRT-63962B
    The applicant requests a permit to import four male captive-born 
African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus pictus) from the Perth Zoo, South 
Perth, Australia, for the purpose of enhancement of the species through 
captive propagation and conservation education.
Applicant: Wildlife & Environmental Conservation, Inc., Moorpark, CA; 
PRT-54022B
    The applicant requests a captive-bred wildlife registration under 
50 CFR 17.21(g) for leopard (Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia 
uncia), Galapagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra), and radiated tortoise 
(Astrochelys radiata) to enhance the species' propagation or survival. 
This notification covers activities to be conducted by the applicant 
over a 5-year period.
Applicant: Virginia Zoological Park, Norfolk, VA; PRT-676511
    The applicant request amendment of their captive-bred registration 
under 50 CFR 17.21(g) to add the following species: White-nape crane 
(Grus vipio), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Goeldi's marmoset 
(Callimico goeldii), and orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) to enhance the 
species' propagation or survival. This notification covers activities 
to be conducted by the applicant over a 5-year period.
Applicant: Wright Family LLC, Clarendon, TX; PRT-42009B
    The applicant requests a captive-bred wildlife registration under 
50 CFR 17.21(g) for the barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii), Arabian oryx 
(Oryx leucoryx), and red lechwe (Kobus leche) to enhance the species' 
propagation or survival. This notification covers activities to be 
conducted by the applicant over a 5-year period.
Applicant: Wright Family LLC, Clarendon, TX; PRT-42018B
    The applicant requests a permit authorizing interstate and foreign 
commerce, export, and cull of excess barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii), 
Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), and red lechwe (Kobus leche) from the 
captive herd maintained at their facility, for the purpose of 
enhancement of the survival of the species. This notification covers 
activities to be conducted by the applicant over a 5-year period.
Applicant: Lori Snook, Bolivar, OH; PRT-177999
    The applicant requests a captive-bred wildlife registration under 
50 CFR 17.21(g) for the radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiate) to 
enhance the species' propagation or survival. This notification covers 
activities to be conducted by the applicant over a 5-year period.
Applicant: Stanford University, Stanford, CA; PRT-54288B
    On May 27, 2015, we published a Federal Register notice inviting 
the public to comment on their application to conduct scientific 
research with gray mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus) [80 FR 30263]. The 
scientific name is being modified to conduct research with any species 
of mouse lemurs. All the other information we printed was correct. With 
this notice, we correct the scientific name and reopen the comment 
period for PRT-54288B. The corrected entry for this application is as 
follows: The applicant request a permit to import biological samples 
for mouse lemurs (Microcebus species) and (Mirza coquereli) from France 
and Madagascar, for the purpose of enhancement of the species through 
scientific research. This notification covers activities to be 
conducted by the applicant over a 5-year period.

Multiple Applicants

    The following applicants each request a permit to import the sport-
hunted trophy of one male bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) 
culled from a captive herd maintained under the management program of 
the Republic of South Africa, for the purpose of enhancement of the 
survival of the species.
    Applicant: Andrew Gwynn, Anna, TX; PRT-64739B
    Applicant: Tadd Tellepsen, Houston, TX; PRT-65907B

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    Applicant: Marion Smith, Prairie City, IA; PRT-66658B
    Applicant: James McDonald, Odessa, TX; PRT-63770B

B. Marine Mammals

Applicant: U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, 
AK; PRT- 801652
    The applicant requests an amendment of the permit to harass Pacific 
walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) during at-sea trials and 
terrestrial aerial surveys with an Unmanned Aircraft System in Alaska 
for the purpose of scientific research. This notification covers 
activities to be conducted by the applicant for the remainder of the 
permit validity.
    Concurrent with publishing this notice in the Federal Register, we 
are forwarding copies of the above application to the Marine Mammal 
Commission and the Committee of Scientific Advisors for their review.

Lisa Lierheimer,
Supervisory Policy Specialist,
    Branch of Permits, Division of Management Authority.
[FR Doc. 2015-14334 Filed 6-11-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-55-P