[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 139 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34155-34156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15362]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2017-N132; FXES11130000-189-FF08E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for the Southern California Distinct Population Segment of the 
Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana muscosa)

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 the Southern California 
Distinct Population Segment of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana 
muscosa) for public review and comment. The draft recovery plan 
includes objective, measurable criteria, and site-specific management 
actions as may be necessary to reclassify the species from endangered 
to threatened and also for removal from the Federal List of Endangered 
and Threatened Wildlife.

DATES: We must receive any comments on the draft recovery plan on or 
before September 17, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain a copy of the recovery 
plan from our website 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, California 92008 (telephone 760-431-9440).
    Comment submission: 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 ``Public Comments Solicited'' 
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 necessary 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.
    Pursuant to section 4(f) of the Act, a recovery plan must, to the 
maximum extent practicable, include (1) A description of site-specific 
management actions as may be necessary to achieve the plan's goals for 
the conservation and survival of the species; (2) objective, measurable 
criteria which, when met, would support a determination under section 
4(a)(1) that the species should be removed from the List of Endangered 
and Threatened Species; and (3) estimates of the time and costs 
required to carry out those measures needed to achieve the plan's goal 
and to achieve intermediate steps toward that goal.
    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 (objective, 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 cases such as this one, 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 Service listed the southern California distinct population 
segment of mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) (hereafter 
``southern R. muscosa'') as endangered in 2002 (67 FR 44382, July 2, 
2002), and critical habitat was designated for the species in 2006 (71 
FR 54344, September 14, 2006). Historically, southern R. muscosa was 
widely distributed in at least 166 known populations in watersheds 
across four mountain ranges in southern California. Currently, the 
species is restricted to 10 small, isolated populations in the 
headwaters of streams or tributaries within the San Gabriel, San 
Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains. Primary habitat for the southern 
R. muscosa includes streams with permanent (perennial) water that have 
steep gradients with numerous pools, rapids, and small waterfalls. The 
smallest creeks are likely not inhabited by southern R. muscosa

[[Page 34156]]

because they lack adequate depth to provide refuge or overwintering 
habitat.
    Southern Rana muscosa is impacted by a number of threats, 
including: Recreational activities (hiking, mountain climbing, camping, 
swimming, stocking of trout resulting in predation, and suction dredge 
mining for gold), dumping of trash and release of toxic or hazardous 
materials into occupied stream reaches, wildfire, predatory nonnative 
species (trout), the potential for disease, threats associated with 
small population size (genetic, demographic, and environmental 
stochasticity, and natural catastrophes), illegal marijuana 
cultivation, fire management activities, nonnative plants, climate 
change, and contaminants.

Recovery Strategy

    The purpose of a recovery plan is to provide a framework for the 
recovery of a 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 goal of this recovery plan is to control or ameliorate impacts 
from current threats to the southern Rana muscosa such that the taxon 
no longer requires protections afforded by the Act and, therefore, 
warrants delisting. Continued outreach with our partners is needed to 
ensure long-term protections are afforded to the southern R. muscosa 
and its habitat. The site-specific management actions identified in the 
draft recovery plan are as follows:
    (1) Conduct research to inform management actions throughout the 
range of the species;
    (2) Create and implement a protocol for rangewide surveys and 
monitoring;
    (3) Ameliorate Factor A threats associated with present or 
threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the habitat or 
range throughout each of the three Recovery Units;
    (4) Ameliorate Factor C threats associated with predation and 
disease in each of the three Recovery Units;
    (5) Ameliorate Factor E threats associated with other natural or 
manmade factors affecting the continued existence of southern Rana 
muscosa in each of the three Recovery Units;
    (6) Use reestablishment and population augmentation to increase 
abundance and expand distribution in the wild.

Public Comments Solicited

    We solicit written comments on the draft recovery plan described in 
this notice. All comments received by the date specified in DATES will 
be considered in development of a final recovery plan for southern Rana 
muscosa. You may submit written comments and information by mail, 
email, or in person to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office at the 
above address (see ADDRESSES).

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 this recovery plan and publish this notice under the 
authority of section 4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Angela Picco,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-15362 Filed 7-18-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P