[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 88 (Monday, May 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20092-20094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09604]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-ES-2017-N178; FXES11130900000C2-189-FF09E32000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 5-Year Status 
Reviews for 35 Southeastern Species

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of reviews; request for information.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are 
initiating 5-year status reviews of 35 species under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended. A 5-year review is an assessment of 
the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the 
review. We are requesting submission of information that has become 
available since the last reviews of these species.

DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct these reviews, we must 
receive your comments or information on or before July 6, 2018. 
However, we will continue to accept new information about any listed 
species at any time.

ADDRESSES: For instructions on how to submit information and review 
information that we receive on these species, see Request for New 
Information under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For species-specific information, see 
Request for New Information under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Why do we conduct 5-year reviews?

    Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, (ESA 16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we maintain lists of endangered and threatened 
wildlife and plant species (referred to as the Lists) in title 50 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.11 (for wildlife) 
and 17.12 (for plants). Section 4(c)(2)(A) of the ESA requires us to 
review each listed species' status at least once every 5 years. Our 
regulations at 50 CFR 424.21 require that we publish a notice in the 
Federal Register announcing those species under active review. For 
additional information about 5-year reviews, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/recovery-overview.html, scroll down to ``Learn 
More about 5-Year Reviews,'' and click on our factsheet.

Species Under Review

    This notice announces our active review of 28 species that are 
currently listed as endangered:

Fish and Wildlife

Ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis)
Bermuda petrel (=cahow) (Pterodroma cahow)
Laurel dace (Chrosomus saylori)
Yellowcheek darter (Etheostoma moorei)
Watercress darter (Etheostoma nuchale)
Smoky madtom (Noturus baileyi)
Chucky madtom (Noturus crypticus)
Alabama sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi)
Dromedary pearlymussel (Dromus dromas)
Cumberlandian combshell (Epioblasma brevidens)
Cracking pearlymussel (Hemistena lata)
Alabama lampmussel (Lampsilis virescens)
Birdwing pearlymussel (Lemiox rimosus)
Alabama pearlshell (Margaritifera marrianae)
Fat pocketbook (Potamilus capax)
Pale lilliput (Toxolasma cylindrellus)
Slender campeloma (Campeloma decampi)

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Armored snail (Pyrgulopsis (=Marstonia) pachyta)

Plants

Arenaria cumberlandensis (Cumberland sandwort)
Astralagus bibullatus (Guthrie's (=Pyne's) ground plum)
Baptisia arachnifera (Hairy rattleweed)
Campanula robinsiae (Brooksville bellflower)
Cyathea dryopteroides (Elfin tree fern)
Harrisia aboriginum (Aboriginal prickly-apple)
Justicia cooleyi (Cooley's water-willow)
Lesquerella perforata (Spring Creek bladderpod)
Nolina brittoniana (Britton's beargrass)
Trillium persistens (Persistent trillium)

    This notice announces our active review of 7 species that are 
currently listed as threatened:

Fish and Wildlife

Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi)
Ringed map turtle (=sawback) (Graptemys oculifera)
Slackwater darter (Etheostoma boschungi)
Yellowfin madtom (Noturus flavipinnis)
Pygmy sculpin (Cottus pygmaeus)

Plants

Macbridea alba (White birds in a nest)
Scutellaria floridana (Florida skullcap)

What information do we consider in our review?

    A 5-year review considers the best scientific and commercial data 
that have become available since the current listing determination or 
most recent status review of each species, such as:
    A. Species biology, including but not limited to population trends, 
distribution, abundance, demographics, and genetics;
    B. Habitat conditions, including but not limited to amount, 
distribution, and suitability;
    C. Conservation measures that have been implemented to benefit the 
species;
    D. Threat status and trends (see the five factors under the heading 
How Do We Determine Whether A Species Is Endangered or Threatened?); 
and
    E. Other new information, data, or corrections, including but not 
limited to taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, identification of 
erroneous information contained in the List, and improved analytical 
methods.
    We request any new information concerning the status of any of 
these 35 species. Information submitted should be supported by 
documentation such as maps, bibliographic references, methods used to 
gather and analyze the data, and/or copies of any pertinent 
publications, reports, or letters by knowledgeable sources.
    We have completed 5-year review documents for the majority of our 
listed species in the Southeast. In many cases, we will only have to 
update previous 5-year reviews, but we could possibly conduct a species 
status assessment (SSA) for some species. An SSA is a compilation of 
the best available information on the species, as well as its 
ecological needs based on environmental factors. Next, an SSA describes 
the current condition of the species' habitat and demographics, and the 
probable explanations for past and ongoing changes in abundance and 
distribution within the species' range. Last, an SSA forecasts the 
species' response to probable future scenarios of environmental 
conditions and conservation efforts. Overall, an SSA uses the 
conservation biology principles of resiliency, redundancy, and 
representation (collectively known as the ``3 Rs'') to evaluate the 
current and future condition of the species. As a result, the SSA 
characterizes a species' ability to sustain populations in the wild 
over time based on the best scientific understanding of current and 
future abundance and distribution within the species' ecological 
settings.
    An SSA is a biological risk assessment to aid decision makers who 
must use the best available scientific information to make policy 
decisions under the ESA. The SSA provides decision makers with a 
scientifically rigorous characterization of a species' status that and 
the likelihood that the species will sustain populations, along with 
key uncertainties in that characterization.

Definitions

    A. Species means any species or subspecies of fish, wildlife, or 
plant, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate 
which interbreeds when mature.
    B. Endangered means any species that is in danger of extinction 
throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
    C. Threatened means any species that is likely to become an 
endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a 
significant portion of its range.

How do we determine whether a species is endangered or threatened?

    Section 4(a)(1) of the ESA requires that we determine whether a 
species is endangered or threatened based on one or more of the 
following five factors:
    A. The present or threatened destruction, modification, or 
curtailment of its habitat or range;
    B. Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or 
educational purposes;
    C. Disease or predation;
    D. The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
    E. Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued 
existence.

Request for New Information

    To do any of the following, contact the person associated with the 
species you are interested in below:
    A. To get more information on a species;
    B. To submit information on a species; or
    C. To review information we receive, which will be available for 
public inspection by appointment, during normal business hours, at the 
listed addresses.

Fish and Wildlife

     Ivory-billed woodpecker: Amy Trahan, by mail at Louisiana 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 646 
Cajundome Blvd., Suite 400, Lafayette, LA 70506; by fax 337-291-3139, 
by phone at 337-291-3100, or by email at [email protected].
     Cahow (Bermuda petrel): John Hammond, by mail at the 
Raleigh Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 551 Pylon Drive, #F, Raleigh, NC 27606; by fax at 919-856-
4556; by phone at 919-856-4520; or by email at [email protected].
     Yellowfin madtom, smoky madtom, and laurel dace: Warren 
Stiles; and Chucky madtom, Cumberlandian combshell, birdwing 
pearlymussel, cracking pearlymussel, and dromedary pearlymussel: 
Stephanie Chance, both by mail at the Tennessee Ecological Services 
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 446 Neal Street, 
Cookeville, TN 38501; by fax at 931-528-7075; by phone at 931-528-6481; 
or by email at [email protected].
     Yellowcheek darter: Chris Davidson, by mail at Arkansas 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 110 
South Amity Road, Suite 300, Conway, AR 72032; by fax at 501-513-4480; 
by phone at 501-513-4481; or by email at [email protected].
     Ringed map turtle: Linda Laclaire; fat pocketbook: Paul 
Hartfield; and slackwater darter, pygmy sculpin, and watercress darter: 
Daniel Drennen, all three by mail at the Mississippi Ecological 
Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood 
View Parkway, Jackson, MS

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39213; by fax at 601-965-4340; by phone at 601-965-4900; or by email at 
[email protected].
     Alabama sturgeon: Jennifer Grunewald; Alabama pearlshell: 
Anthony Ford; Alabama lampmussel, pale lilliput, slender campeloma, and 
armored snail: Evan Collins, all three by mail at Alabama Ecological 
Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1208B Main St., 
Daphne, AL 36526; by fax at 251-441-6222; by phone at 251-441-5184; or 
by email at [email protected].
     Eastern indigo snake: Michele Elmore, by mail at Georgia 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. 
Box 52560, Fort Benning, GA 31995; by fax at 706-544-6419; by phone at 
706-544-6428; or by email at [email protected].

Plants

     Cumberland sandwort, Pyne's ground plum, and Spring Creek 
bladderpod: Geoff Call, by mail at the Tennessee Ecological Services 
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see contact information 
above).
     Hairy rattleweed: April Punsulan, by mail at Charleston 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 176 
Croghan Spur Road, Suite 200, Charleston, SC 29412; by fax at 843-727-
4218; by phone at 843-727-4707; or by email at 
[email protected].
     Brooksville bellflower, Cooley's water-willow, and 
Britton's beargrass: Todd Mecklenborg, by mail at North Florida 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 7915 
Baymeadows Way, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32256; by fax 904-731-3045, 
by phone at 904-731-3336, or by email at [email protected].
     Elfin tree fern: Angel Colon, by mail at the Caribbean 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Road 
301, Km. 5.1, P.O. Box 491, Boquer[oacute]n, PR 00622; by fax at 787-
851-7440; by phone at 787-851-7297; or by email at 
[email protected].
     Aboriginal prickly-apple: David Bender, by mail at South 
Florida Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960; by fax 772-562-4288; 
by phone at 772-562-3909 extension 294; or by email at [email protected].
     White birds in a nest and Florida skullcap: Vivian Negron-
Ortiz, by mail at the Panama City Ecological Services Field Office, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1601 Balboa Ave., Panama City, FL 
32405; by fax at 850-769-2177; by phone at 850-769-0552; or by email at 
[email protected].
     Persistent trillium: David Caldwell, by mail at Georgia 
Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see 
contact information above).

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 the 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.

Availability of Status Reviews

    All completed status reviews under the ESA are available via the 
Service website: https://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/us-species.html.

Authority

    We publish this document under the authority of the Endangered 
Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: March 20, 2018.
Mike Oetker,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-09604 Filed 5-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P