[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 231 (Monday, December 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57288-57289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26041]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0036; FXES11130200000-189-FF02ENEH00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Mexican Wolf 
Recovery Plan, First Revision

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of our Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, First Revision 
(Recovery Plan). The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is listed as 
endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), 
and is currently found in the U.S. States of Arizona and New Mexico, 
and in Chihuahua, Mexico. The recovery plan includes specific recovery 
criteria to be met to enable us to remove this species from the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The first Mexican wolf recovery 
plan was completed in 1982.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the recovery plan from our Web site 
at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html or the 
Mexican Wolf Recovery Program Web site at https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/. The recovery plan and related materials, 
including comments received on the draft recovery plan, are also 
available for public review online at http://www.regulations.gov in 
Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0036. You may also request a copy of the 
recovery plan by contacting Sherry Barrett, Mexican Wolf Recovery 
Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2105 Osuna Road NE., 
Albuquerque, NM 87113 (telephone 505-761-4748).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherry Barrett (see ADDRESSES).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 57289]]

Background

    A primary goal of our endangered species program and the Endangered 
Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) is recovering endangered or 
threatened animals and plants to the point they are again secure, 
viable ecosystem members. Recovery means improving listed species' 
status to the point at which they no longer meet the definition of 
threatened or endangered and listing is no longer appropriate under the 
criteria set out in in section 4(a)(1) of the ESA. The ESA requires 
developing recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan would 
not promote a particular species' conservation.
    The Service has revised its approach to recovery planning; the 
revised process is called Recovery Planning and Implementation (RPI). 
The RPI process is intended to reduce the time needed to develop and 
implement recovery plans, increase recovery plan relevancy over a 
longer timeframe, and add flexibility to recovery plans so they can be 
adjusted to new information or circumstances. Under RPI, a recovery 
plan will include statutorily required elements (measurable criteria, 
site-specific management actions, and estimates of time and costs), 
along with a concise introduction and our strategy for how we plan to 
achieve species recovery. The RPI recovery plan is supported by a 
separate Species Status Assessment, or in some cases, a species 
biological report that provides the background information and threat 
assessment, which are key to recovery plan development. The essential 
component to flexible implementation under RPI is producing a separate 
working document called the Recovery Implementation Strategy 
(implementation strategy). The implementation strategy steps down from 
the more general description of actions described in the recovery plan 
to detail the specific, near-term activities needed to implement the 
recovery plan. The implementation strategy will be adaptable by being 
able to incorporate new information without having to concurrently 
revise the recovery plan, unless changes to statutory elements are 
required.
    The Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, First Revision, represents one of 
the first products the Service has developed using RPI. On June 30, 
2017, the Service made the draft Recovery Plan available for a 60-day 
public comment period during which we received more than 100,000 
comments (82 FR 29918). The public comments and additional materials 
related to the Recovery Plan are available for public review online at 
http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2017-0036.
    In addition to the recovery plan and implementation strategy, we 
completed a Biological Report describing the Mexican wolf's current 
status. The Biological Report supports the recovery plan by providing 
the background, life-history, and threat assessment information. The 
Biological Report and Recovery Plan were independently peer-reviewed by 
scientists outside of the Service. As with the implementation strategy, 
we will update the Biological Report as new species status information 
becomes available.

Recovery Plan Strategy

    The overall strategy for recovering the Mexican wolf focuses on 
improving the two populations' resilience (i.e., population size) and 
genetic representation, one focused south of Interstate 40 in Arizona 
and New Mexico in the United States, and one focused in the northern 
portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, across an adequate 
ecological and geographic range of representation within each 
population. The strategy involves carefully managing the captive-
breeding program, releasing Mexican wolves from the captive-breeding 
program into the wild, and translocating Mexican wolves from the 
Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in portions of New Mexico and 
Arizona to Mexico, to ensure two genetically and demographically viable 
populations are extant in the wild for redundancy.
    Another key component of the strategy includes working with 
Federal, State, Tribal, local partners, and the public, to improve 
Mexican wolf tolerance on the landscape.
    Authority: We developed our recovery plan and publish this notice 
under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, section 4(f), 16 
U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: October 24, 2017.
Amy Lueders,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-26041 Filed 12-1-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P