[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4333-4334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01131]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2015-N147; FXES11130000-156-FF08E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for the Laguna Mountains Skipper

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the 
availability of the Draft Recovery Plan for Laguna Mountains skipper, a 
small butterfly, for public review and comment. The draft recovery plan 
includes recovery objectives and criteria, and specific actions 
necessary to achieve recovery and removal of the species from the 
Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We request review 
and comment on this draft recovery plan from local, State, and Federal 
agencies, and the public.

DATES: We must receive any comments on the draft recovery plan on or 
before March 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the draft recovery plan from our 
Web site at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html. 
Alternatively, you may contact the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2177 Salk Avenue, Suite 250, Carlsbad, 
CA 92008 (telephone 760-431-9440). If you wish to comment on the draft 
recovery plan, you may submit your comments in writing by any one of 
the following methods:
     U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the above address;
     Hand-delivery: Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, at the 
above address; or
     Email: [email protected].
    For additional information about submitting comments, see the 
``Request for Public Comments'' section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mendel Stewart, Field Supervisor, at 
the above street address or telephone number (see ADDRESSES).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the 
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status of listed species to 
the point at which listing is no longer appropriate under the criteria 
specified in section 4(a)(1) of the Act. The Act requires the 
development of recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan 
would not promote the conservation of a particular species.
    The Laguna Mountains skipper is a small butterfly that inhabits 
large wet mountain meadows and associated forest openings at elevations 
above 3,900 feet (ft) (1,189 meters (m)). We listed the Laguna 
Mountains skipper (Pyrgus ruralis lagunae) as endangered throughout its 
entire range in 1997 (January 16, 1997; 62 FR 2313). At the time of 
listing, the subspecies occurred in the Laguna Mountains and on Palomar 
Mountain in San Diego County, California, but it is currently 
restricted to Palomar Mountain, where there are four extant 
occurrences. Adult occupancy is also associated with surface water such 
as streams and wet seeps, and population growth appears positively 
correlated with rainfall levels. Horkelia clevelandii (Cleveland's 
horkelia) is Laguna Mountains skipper's primary host plant.
    The primary threats to survival of the Laguna Mountains skipper are 
habitat modification through poor management of cattle grazing and 
succession, climate change, incidental ingestion by cattle, and small 
isolated populations susceptible to events such as drought and fire.

Recovery Plan Goals

    The purpose of a recovery plan is to provide a framework for the 
recovery of species so that protection under the Act is no longer 
necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about the 
species and provides criteria that enable us to gauge whether 
downlisting or delisting the species is warranted. Furthermore, 
recovery plans help guide our recovery efforts by describing actions we 
consider necessary for each species' conservation and by estimating 
time and costs for implementing needed recovery measures.
    The ultimate goal of this recovery plan is to recover the Laguna 
Mountains skipper so that it can be delisted. The interim goal is to 
recover the species to the point that it can be downlisted from 
endangered to threatened status. To meet the recovery goal, the 
following objectives have been identified:
    1. Validate the population ecology model to advance our ability to 
understand and monitor the status of Laguna Mountains skipper and 
inform management practices;
    2. Increase abundance and ensure long-term persistence of Laguna 
Mountains skipper through reduction and management of threats to the 
subspecies and its habitat throughout its current range; and
    3. Ensure population redundancy of Laguna Mountains skipper through 
documentation and reestablishment (where needed) of multiple resilient 
and genetically representative populations within its historical range.
    As the Laguna Mountains skipper meets recovery criteria, we will 
review its status and consider it for downlisting or removal from the 
Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

Request for Public Comments

    We request written comments on the draft recovery plan described in 
this notice. All comments received by the date specified in the DATES 
section will be considered in development of a final recovery plan for 
Laguna Mountains skipper. You may submit written comments and 
information by mail or in person to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife

[[Page 4334]]

Office at the address in the ADDRESSES section.

Public Availability of Comments

    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.

Authority

    We developed our recovery plan under the authority of section 4(f) 
of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this notice under section 
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.).

    Dated: January 14, 2016.
Alexandra Pitts,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Sacramento, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2016-01131 Filed 1-25-16; 8:45 am]
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