[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60371-60372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24336]
[[Page 60371]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2015-0139; 4500090022]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding
for the California Spotted Owl
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notification of 12-month finding.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a
12-month finding on petitions to list the California spotted owl (Strix
occidentalis occidentalis) as an endangered or threatened species under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a thorough
review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we
find that it is not warranted at this time to list the California
spotted owl. However, we ask the public to submit to us at any time any
new information relevant to the status of the subspecies or its
habitat.
DATES: The finding in this document was made on November 8, 2019.
ADDRESSES: A detailed description of the basis for this finding is
available on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov under docket
number FWS-R8-ES-2015-0139.
Supporting information used to prepare this finding is available
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours, by
contacting the person specified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Please submit any new information, materials, comments, or questions
concerning this finding to the person specified under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh Hull, telephone: 916-414-6742,
email: [email protected]. If you use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we
are required to make a finding whether or not a petitioned action is
warranted within 12 months after receiving any petition for which we
have determined contained substantial scientific or commercial
information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted
(``12-month finding''). We must make a finding that the petitioned
action is: (1) Not warranted; (2) warranted; or (3) warranted but
precluded. ``Warranted but precluded'' means that (a) the petitioned
action is warranted, but the immediate proposal of a regulation
implementing the petitioned action is precluded by other pending
proposals to determine whether species are endangered or threatened
species, and (b) expeditious progress is being made to add qualified
species to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants
(Lists) and to remove from the Lists species for which the protections
of the Act are no longer necessary. Section 4(b)(3)(C) of the Act
requires that we treat a petition for which the requested action is
found to be warranted but precluded as though resubmitted on the date
of such finding, that is, requiring that a subsequent finding be made
within 12 months of that date. We must publish these 12-month findings
in the Federal Register.
Summary of Information Pertaining to the Five Factors
Section 4 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1533) and the implementing
regulations at part 424 of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(50 CFR part 424) set forth procedures for adding species to, removing
species from, or reclassifying species on the Lists. The Act defines
``endangered species'' as any species that is in danger of extinction
throughout all or a significant portion of its range (16 U.S.C.
1532(6)), and ``threatened species'' as any species that is likely to
become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout
all or a significant portion of its range (16 U.S.C. 1532(20)). Under
section 4(a)(1) of the Act, a species may be determined to be an
endangered species or a threatened species because of any 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.
In considering whether a species may meet the definition of an
endangered species or a threatened species because of any of the five
factors, we must look beyond the mere exposure of the species to the
threat to determine whether the species responds to the threat in a way
that causes actual impacts to the species. If there is exposure to a
threat, but no response, or only a positive response, that threat does
not cause a species to meet the definition of an endangered species or
a threatened species. If there is exposure and the species responds
negatively, we determine whether that threat drives or contributes to
the risk of extinction of the species such that the species warrants
listing as an endangered or threatened species. The mere identification
of threats that could affect a species negatively is not sufficient to
compel a finding that listing is or remains warranted. For a species to
be listed or remain listed, we require evidence that these threats are
operative threats to the species and its habitat, either singly or in
combination, to the point that the species meets the definition of an
endangered or a threatened species under the Act.
In conducting our evaluation of the five factors provided in
section 4(a)(1) of the Act to determine whether the California spotted
owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) meets the definition of
``endangered species'' or ``threatened species,'' we considered and
thoroughly evaluated the best scientific and commercial information
available regarding the past, present, and future threats. We reviewed
the petition, information available in our files, and other available
published and unpublished information. This evaluation may include
information from recognized experts; Federal, State, and tribal
governments; academic institutions; foreign governments; private
entities; and other members of the public.
The species assessment for the California spotted owl contains more
detailed biological information, a thorough analysis of the listing
factors, and an explanation of why we determined that this subspecies
does not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened
species. This supporting information can be found on the internet at
http://www.regulations.gov under docket number FWS-R8-ES-2015-0139. The
following is an informational summary of the finding in this document.
Previous Federal Actions
For a detailed history of prior petitions, listing actions, and
litigation, please see the 12-month finding published on May 24, 2006
(71 FR 29886). Subsequent to that finding, the Service was petitioned
twice to list the California spotted owl as endangered or threatened
with critical habitat under the Act. The first petition was submitted
in December 2014, by the Wild Nature Institute and John Muir Project of
Earth
[[Page 60372]]
Island Institute, and the second was submitted in August 2015, by
Sierra Forest Legacy and Defenders of Wildlife. On September 18, 2015,
the Service published a 90-day finding (80 FR 56423) that the petitions
presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating
that listing may be warranted for the California spotted owl. On March
16, 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity challenged the Service's
failure to timely issue the 12-month finding in response to the recent
petitions (CBD v. Jewell, et al., No. 1:16-cv-00503-JDB (D.D.C.)). The
parties entered into a settlement agreement whereby the Service
committed to submit a 12-month finding on California spotted owl to the
Federal Register by September 30, 2019. On May 2, 2019, the court
extended the deadline until November 4, 2019, due to a previous lapse
in appropriations that stopped all progress on the California spotted
owl petition finding for a period of time.
Summary of Finding
The California spotted owl is a subspecies of spotted owl that
occurs throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California and
Nevada; in southern and coastal California in the Coastal, Transverse,
and Peninsular mountain ranges; and in Sierra San Pedro Martir in Baja
California Norte, Mexico.
In the Sierra Nevada range, a majority of California spotted owls
occur within mid-elevation ponderosa pine, mixed-conifer, white fir,
and mixed-evergreen forest types, with fewer owls occurring in the
lower elevation oak woodlands of the western foothills. On the central
coast of California and in southern California, California spotted owls
are found in riparian/hardwood forests and woodlands, live oak/big cone
fir forests, and redwood/California laurel forests. California spotted
owls primarily prey upon a variety of small- to medium-sized mammals,
such as northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) and woodrats
(Neotoma spp.). California spotted owls require multi-layered high
canopy cover, large trees, coarse woody debris, forest heterogeneity,
and nest trees within a patch size large enough to fulfill the needs of
the owls and in a particular pattern across the landscape.
We have carefully assessed the best scientific and commercial
information available regarding the past, present, and future threats
to the California spotted owl, and we evaluated all relevant
considerations under the five listing factors, including any regulatory
mechanisms and conservation measures addressing the identified threats.
The primary threats affecting the California spotted owl's status
include large-scale, high-severity fire; increased tree mortality;
drought; effects of climate change; and the invasion of barred owls
into the California spotted owl's range. Many of these threats, such as
wildfire and increased tree mortality, have been acting on the
landscape for several decades, yet over half of the Sierra Nevada
portion of the range is in moderate or high condition, meaning that
populations in those areas are currently likely to be able to persist
through a catastrophic event, and the California spotted owl currently
demonstrates high representation and moderate redundancy.
While some threats such as drought, tree mortality, and effects of
climate change cannot be addressed by conservation measures, existing
conservation measures and regulatory mechanisms will help increase
resiliency so that the subspecies can withstand future threats,
particularly in the northern Sierra Nevada portion of the owl's range.
Specifically, measures described in the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan
Amendment, the 2005 Southern California National Forest Land Management
Plans, and other conservation measures will continue to decrease the
negative effects of clearcutting and mechanical thinning. They will
benefit the California spotted owl by maintaining high canopy cover and
large trees within owl territories. Further, increased mechanical
thinning will help to reduce the risk of large-scale high-severity fire
on the landscape. Though these forest plans and conservation measures
cannot fully remove the risk of large-scale high-severity fire, they
are reducing the overall potential for wildfires to become the large-
scale high-severity fires that are particularly detrimental to
California spotted owl habitat. Additionally, the Barred Owl Removal
Project is currently reducing the density of barred owls on the
landscape. Continued removal of barred owls is expected to stem the
expansion of barred owl further into the California spotted owl range.
Though the conditions of California spotted owl habitat and
populations are expected to decline in some areas, existing
conservation measures and regulatory mechanisms are expected to
continue and will reduce the effects of threats to the owl such that
the California spotted owl will retain sufficient redundancy,
resiliency and representation to allow it to persist into the
foreseeable future. Overall, the threats are not affecting the
subspecies at such a level to cause it to be in danger of extinction
throughout all or a significant portion of its range or to become an
endangered species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a
significant portion of its range.
Therefore, we find that listing the California spotted owl as an
endangered species or threatened species under the Act is not
warranted. A detailed discussion of the basis for this finding can be
found in the California spotted owl species assessment and other
supporting documents (see ADDRESSES, above).
New Information
We request that you submit any new information concerning the
taxonomy of, biology of, ecology of, status of, or threats to the
California spotted owl to the person specified under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT, whenever it becomes available. New information
will help us monitor this subspecies and make appropriate decisions
about its conservation and status. We encourage local agencies and
stakeholders to continue cooperative monitoring and conservation
efforts.
References Cited
The list of the references cited in the petition finding is
available on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov under docket
number FWS-R8-ES-2015-0139 and upon request from the person specified
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Authors
The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the
Species Assessment Team, Ecological Services Program.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: November 1, 2019.
Margaret E. Everson,
Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Exercising
the Authority of the Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-24336 Filed 11-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P