[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22961-22963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08617]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097; 4500030114]
RIN 1018-AZ74


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Rule To 
Amend the Listing of the Southern Selkirk Mountains Population of 
Woodland Caribou

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of the comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
reopening of the public comment period on our May 8, 2014, proposed 
rule to amend the listing of the southern Selkirk Mountains population 
of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) by defining the 
Southern Mountain Caribou distinct population segment (DPS) and listing 
it as threatened. In the May 8, 2014, proposed rule, we also proposed 
to reaffirm our November 28, 2012, final designation of critical 
habitat for the southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland 
caribou as critical habitat for the proposed Southern Mountain Caribou 
DPS. On March 23, 2015, the U.S. District Court of Idaho remanded our 
November 28, 2012, final critical habitat rule to the Service to 
correct a procedural error by providing another opportunity for public 
comment. This reopening of the comment period will provide all 
interested parties with the opportunity to provide comment on our 
November 28, 2012, final critical habitat designation, in light of the 
court's ruling.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published in the 
Federal Register on May 8, 2014 (79 FR 26504), is reopened. We will 
consider comments received or postmarked on or before May 19, 2016. 
Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
(see ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the closing date. Any comments that we receive after the closing date 
may not be considered in the final decision on this action.

ADDRESSES: 
    Document availability: You may obtain information and documents 
associated with the opening of this comment period, a copy of the 
November 28, 2012, final critical habitat designation (77 FR 71042), as 
well as information relating to the proposed reaffirmation of critical 
habitat in the proposed amended listing rule (79 FR 26504, May 8, 2014) 
and any comments received on that rule at http://www.regulations.gov 
under Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097, or by contacting the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT). Information we relied upon for making our 
November 28, 2012, final critical habitat designation (77 FR 71042) can 
be found at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2011-
0096 and Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097, or by contacting the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Comment submission: You may submit written information by one of 
the following methods:
    (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097, 
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click the Search 
button. In the Search panel on the left side of the

[[Page 22962]]

screen, under the Document Type heading, click on the box next to 
``Proposed Rule'' to locate this document. You may submit a comment by 
clicking on ``Comment Now!'' Please ensure that you have found the 
correct rulemaking before submitting your comment.
    (2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097; Division of Policy, 
Performance, and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
MS: BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We request that you send comments only by the methods described 
above. We will post all comments received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any 
personal information you provide us (see the Information Requested 
section below, for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Mackey, Acting State 
Supervisor, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Room 
368, Boise, Idaho (telephone 208-378-5243; facsimile 208-378-5262). If 
you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the 
Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On November 30, 2011, we proposed to designate approximately 
375,562 acres (ac) (151,985 hectares (ha)) of critical habitat for the 
southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou (Rangifer 
tarandus caribou) (76 FR 74018). On November 28, 2012, after 
considering comments we received from peer reviewers as well as from 
Federal agencies, State agencies, Tribes, and the general public on the 
proposed designation, we designated approximately 30,010 ac (12,145 ha) 
of critical habitat for the southern Selkirk Mountains population of 
woodland caribou (77 FR 71042).
    On May 8, 2014, we proposed to amend the current listing of the 
southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou by defining 
the Southern Mountain Caribou DPS, which includes the currently listed 
southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou, as well as 
populations of mountain caribou in British Columbia (79 FR 26504), and 
listing the DPS as threatened. In the May 8, 2014, rule, we also 
proposed to reaffirm the approximately 30,010 ac (12,145 ha) designated 
as critical habitat on November 28, 2012 (77 FR 71042), for the 
southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou as critical 
habitat for the proposed Southern Mountain Caribou DPS. As we stated in 
our May 8, 2014, proposed rule (79 FR 26532), our regulations at 50 CFR 
424.12(h) allow us to designate critical habitat only in the United 
States. Of the 15 populations of mountain caribou that make up the 
Southern Mountain caribou DPS, the southern Selkirk Mountains woodland 
caribou population is the only population that moves freely between the 
coterminous United States and Canada. We determined that critical 
habitat for the Southern Mountain caribou DPS corresponded exactly to 
the critical habitat identified for the southern Selkirk Mountains 
population of woodland caribou in our final rule published on November 
28, 2012 (77 FR 71042). Further we determined that the specific area 
identified in the November 28, 2012, final rule met the definition of 
critical habitat for the Southern Mountain caribou DPS, and that there 
are no additional areas that meet the definition of critical habitat.
    The May 8, 2014, proposed rule (79 FR 26504) had a 60-day public 
comment period, ending July 7, 2014. On June 10, 2014, we extended the 
public comment period an additional 30 days, ending on August 6, 2014, 
and announced the scheduling of two public hearings, which were held on 
June 25, 2014, and June 26, 2014 (79 FR 33169). On March 24, 2015, we 
reopened the public comment period for an additional 30 days, ending on 
April 23, 2015, to allow the public time to review new information 
received after the previous public comment period (80 FR 15545).
    On March 23, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Idaho ruled in Center for Biological Diversity v. Kelly, 93 F. Supp. 3d 
1193 (D. Idaho, 2015), that we made a procedural error in not providing 
for public review and comment on certain aspects of the reasoning that 
we relied upon in making our November 28, 2012, final designation of 
critical habitat (77 FR 71042). The reopening of this comment period 
will provide all interested parties an opportunity to provide comment 
on the November 28, 2012, final designation of critical habitat, which 
we proposed to reaffirm in the May 8, 2014, proposed rule as the 
critical habitat for the Southern Mountain caribou DPS.
    The primary factors that we considered in making changes from the 
November 30, 2011, proposed critical habitat designation (76 FR 74018) 
to the November 28, 2012, final critical habitat designation (77 FR 
71042), which we proposed to reaffirm in the May 8, 2014, proposed rule 
include:
    (1) A revised determination of the geographical area occupied by 
the southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou at the 
time of listing, based on comments we received, including those from 
peer reviewers, which caused us to reevaluate surveys conducted by 
Scott and Servheen (1984, 1985).
    (2) Census monitoring that documented low numbers of individual 
caribou observed in the United States during those annual surveys.
    (3) Caribou observations within the United States for several years 
that have consistently been limited to areas close to the United 
States-Canada border.
    (4) Peer review comments received leading to a reanalysis of the 
appropriate elevational limit of critical habitat (see Kinley and Apps 
(2007)).
    (5) Information and literature reporting the overall decline of the 
subspecies mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) across its 
range, and in particular the decline of woodland caribou populations in 
the southern extent of their range, including the southern Selkirk 
Mountains population of woodland caribou.
    (6) The applicability as well as the status of the recovery 
objectives identified in the 1994 Selkirk Mountains Woodland Caribou 
Recovery Plan (USFWS 1994).
    (7) Information on areas currently conserved and managed for the 
conservation of woodland caribou in the Selkirk Mountains in British 
Columbia, Canada, as described in The Nature Conservancy (2011) and the 
2009 update on the Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation Plan 
provided to the Mountain Caribou Progress Board (DeGroot 2012, pers 
comm.) (see also MCRIP 2009). All documents cited above can be viewed 
on www.regulations.gov in the supplemental materials for Docket No. 
FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097.

Information Requested

    We intend that any final action will be based on the best 
scientific data available, and be as accurate and complete as possible. 
Therefore, we are seeking written comments and information from 
appropriate Federal and State agencies, the scientific community, and 
any other interested party during this reopened comment period on our 
proposed rule that was published in the May 8, 2014, Federal Register 
(79 FR 26504). We are particularly interested in comments and 
information related to our November 28, 2012, final critical habitat 
designation, which we have proposed to reaffirm as critical habitat for 
the Southern

[[Page 22963]]

Mountain caribou DPS. This information will be used to finalize the 
critical habitat designation for the Southern Mountain caribou DPS.
    If you submitted comments or information on the proposed 
reaffirmation of the November 28, 2012, designation of critical habitat 
in the proposed amended listing rule (79 FR 26504, Docket No. FWS-R1-
ES-2012-0097) during the initial comment period from May 8, 2014, to 
July 6, 2014, the extended comment period (79 FR 33169) from July 6, 
2014, to August 6, 2014, or the additional comment period (80 FR 15545) 
from March 24, 2015, to April 23, 2015, please do not resubmit them. We 
have incorporated them into the public record as part of this comment 
period, and we will fully consider them in our final determination.
    Please note that submissions merely stating support for or 
opposition to the action under consideration without providing 
supporting information, although noted, will not be considered in 
making a determination, as section 4(b)(2) of the Act directs that 
critical habitat determinations must be made ``on the basis of the best 
scientific data available.''
    You may submit your comments and materials concerning the May 8, 
2014, proposed rule (79 FR 26504) by one of the methods listed in 
ADDRESSES. We request that you send comments only by the methods 
described in ADDRESSES. If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire submission--including any personal 
identifying information--will be posted on the Web site. If your 
submission is made via a hardcopy 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 hardcopy 
submissions on http://www.regulations.gov. Please include sufficient 
information with your comments to allow us to verify any scientific or 
commercial information you include.
    Comments and materials we receive, as well as some supporting 
documentation we used in preparing the November 28, 2012, final 
critical habitat rule, will be available for public inspection on 
http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2012-0097, or by 
appointment, during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authority

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

    Dated: April 5, 2016.
Noah Matson,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-08617 Filed 4-18-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P