[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 87 (Friday, May 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24656-24658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09709]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2020-0093; FXES11130200000-201-FF02ENEH00]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for Guadalupe Fescue

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the 
availability of our draft recovery plan for Guadalupe fescue, a plant 
endemic to high mountains in the Chihuahuan desert, in the Trans-Pecos 
region of Texas and in Coahuila, Mexico, and listed as endangered under 
the Endangered Species Act. We provide

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this notice to seek comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, 
State, and local governments.

DATES: We must receive written comments on or before July 6, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Reviewing documents: You may obtain a copy of the draft 
revised recovery plan, recovery implementation strategy, and species 
status assessment in Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2020-0093 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R2-
ES-2020-0093.
     U.S.: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No. FWS-R2-
ES-2020-0093; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: PRB/3W; 
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    For additional information about submitting comments, see Request 
for Public Comments and Public Availability of Comments under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Zerrenner, Austin Ecological 
Services Field Office, by phone at 512-490-0057, by email at 
[email protected], or via the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-
8339 for TTY service.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of our draft recovery plan for 
Guadalupe fescue (Festuca ligulata), listed as endangered under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). Guadalupe fescue is a plant endemic to montane ``sky island'' 
habitats in the Chihuahuan Desert in Trans-Pecos Texas and in Coahuila, 
Mexico. The draft recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives; 
site-specific management actions; objective, measurable criteria that, 
when achieved, will enable us to remove Guadalupe fescue from the list 
of endangered and threatened plants; and an estimated time and cost to 
recovery. We request review and comment on this plan from local, State, 
and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. We will also accept any 
new information on the status of Guadalupe fescue throughout its range 
to assist in finalizing the recovery plan.

Background

    Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the 
point at which they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the 
ESA. Recovery means improvement of the status of listed species to the 
point at which listing is no longer appropriate under the criteria set 
out in section 4(a)(1) of the ESA. The ESA requires the development of 
recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote 
the conservation of a particular species.
    We used a streamlined approach to recovery planning and 
implementation by first conducting a species status assessment (SSA) of 
Guadalupe fescue (Service 2016), which is a comprehensive analysis of 
the taxon's needs, current condition, threats, and future viability. 
The information in the SSA report provides the biological background, a 
threats assessment, and a basis for a strategy for recovery of 
Guadalupe fescue. We then used this information to prepare an 
abbreviated draft recovery plan for Guadalupe fescue that includes 
objective, measurable recovery criteria, prioritized and site-specific 
recovery actions, and the estimated time and cost to recovery (Service 
2020a). We have also prepared a separate recovery implementation 
strategy that includes the specific tasks necessary to implement 
recovery actions (Service 2020b).

Summary of Species Information

    Guadalupe fescue (Festuca ligulata) is a perennial, rhizomatous 
(horizontal stems below ground) bunchgrass within the Poaceae (grass) 
family. The species occurs in scattered patches in the understory of 
conifer-oak woodlands in the high mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert, 
above 1,800 m (5,905 ft) elevations. Guadalupe fescue flowers mostly 
during the late summer and early autumn, in response to the region's 
monsoon rains. The breeding system of Guadalupe fescue is currently 
unknown; however, since widely dispersed populations have persisted, 
Guadalupe fescue is likely capable of self-fertilization as well as 
outcrossing (USFWS 2015). The species has a short lifespan, with 
relatively low fecundity. The average lifespan for Gualdalupe fescue 
ranges from 3.1 to 3.9 years, and estimated annual survival rates range 
from 0.62 to 0.75. About 41 percent of individuals die before they are 
able to reproduce (USFWS 2015).
    Historically, the distribution of Guadalupe fescue was limited to 
six small sites, ranging from Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, 
in the north, to El Fraile, Coahuila, in the south. Currently, there 
are only two known extant populations within the species' historical 
range: One in Boot Canyon within Big Bend National Park, Texas; and one 
in the Maderas del Carmen Area de Protecci[oacute]n de Flora y Fauna 
(APFF; Protected Area for Plants and Animals), Coahuila. Two 
populations of Guadalupe fescue are considered extirpated, as no plants 
were located during recent survey efforts (McKittrick Canyon in Texas 
and Sierra el Jardin in Mexico), and two other populations in Mexico 
(northwest of El Fraile and Sierra de la Madera) have not been surveyed 
since 1941 and 1977, respectively, and thus their status is unknown.
    All known populations of the Guadalupe fescue consist of multiple 
small groups of individuals. Prior to listing, the Boot Canyon 
population in Big Bend National Park was protected through a candidate 
conservation agreement established in 2008, and has been monitored 
almost every year since 1993. The total estimated population size 
within Boot Canyon is 1,787 individuals, scattered over an area of 
about 22.7 ha (56.1 ac) (Whiting et al. 2020). The population at APFF 
Maderas del Carmen, although privately owned, is protected from 
development through the Mexican federal system of Protected Natural 
Areas (Areas Naturales Protegidas). This population was observed in 
2003, 2007, 2009, and most recently in 2019 and 2020 when approximately 
140 individuals were documented. However, botanists have not yet 
determined the size of this population due to the difficult access, 
remote location, and rugged terrain of this 208,381-ha (514,910-ac) 
protected area.
    To ensure the long-term viability of Guadalupe fescue in the wild, 
the species requires the conservation of multiple resilient and 
genetically diverse populations that represent the full range of the 
species' ecological adaptations to the sky island habitats of the 
Chihuahuan Desert in both Texas and Mexico. Currently, there are only 
two known extant populations of Guadalupe fescue within the species' 
historical range. The most important factors that may affect the 
continued survival of Guadalupe fescue within these populations include 
changes in the wildfire cycle and vegetation structure, competition 
from invasive species, and the demographic and genetic consequences of 
small, isolated populations. Within the Chisos Mountains in Texas, the 
conifer-oak woodlands had experienced relatively frequent, low-
intensity wildfires for centuries, and Guadalupe fescue is believed to 
have evolved with this fire ecology. However, wildfire has been 
suppressed at Big Bend National Park since the park's establishment in 
1944 and there have been no recent natural or

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prescribed fires within Boot Canyon. The absence of wildfire in Boot 
Canyon has resulted in the accumulation of leaf litter and small-
diameter trees, which increases the risk of a much more intense 
wildfire that would potentially be catastrophic to the vegetation 
within the Chisos Mountains and to the Guadalupe fescue population 
there. For these reasons, reducing fuel loads in the Chisos Mountains 
and conducting small-scale experimental prescribed burns in 
collaboration with personnel of Big Bend National Park are high 
priority recovery actions.
    Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), King Ranch bluestem (Bothriochloa 
ischaemum), and other invasive plant species potentially threaten 
Guadalupe fescue through competition for water, nutrients, and light. 
The 2008 candidate conservation agreement calls for periodic monitoring 
of the Guadalupe fescue population and control of invasive species, and 
Big Bend National Park has also proposed a programmatic management plan 
to carefully monitor and control invasive species in the Chisos 
Mountains. Therefore, the magnitude of this threat is currently low 
within the Boot Canyon population. We have no information on introduced 
invasive species in the known Mexican sites or their impacts on 
Guadalupe fescue (Service 2016).
    In general, the physical clustering of numerous genetically diverse 
plants in close proximity is necessary for effective fertilization, 
out-crossing, seed production, and the maintenance of genetically 
diverse populations. However, considering the small population size and 
low population density of the Chisos Mountains site, this population is 
very likely to be highly inbred as a result of extensive self-
fertilization. Currently, we cannot project what the net results of 
beneficial and detrimental effects of climate changes will be (Service 
2016).

Recovery Plan Goals

    The objective of a recovery plan is to provide a framework for the 
recovery of a species so that protection under the ESA is no longer 
necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about the 
species and provides objective and measurable criteria and site-
specific management actions necessary for us to be able to reclassify 
the species to threatened status or remove it from the lists of 
endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. Recovery plans help 
guide our recovery efforts by describing actions we consider necessary 
for the species' conservation, and by estimating time and costs for 
implementing needed recovery measures.
    The primary objectives of this recovery plan are to: (1) Increase 
population resilience by managing habitats to promote population 
growth, and controlled propagation to augment population sizes to 
attain and sustain minimum viable population (MVP) levels within each 
population or metapopulation; (2) increase species redundancy through 
searches for undiscovered populations in areas of potential habitat, 
and through propagation and reintroduction into potential habitats; and 
(3) sustain species representation through conservation of populations 
throughout the species' range, and investigate the potential benefits 
and risks of genetic augmentation of extant populations. The recovery 
plan provides objective, measurable recovery criteria aimed at managing 
or eliminating threats to meet the goal of delisting Guadalupe fescue. 
These recovery criteria are based on the conservation of habitat, 
natural recruitment of new individuals, their growth to maturity, and 
the increase of populations to a viable level that is sustained without 
further human intervention (other than appropriate habitat management). 
The time frame required to assess the species viability trends of 
Guadalupe fescue is influenced largely by its life history and climate 
cycles.
    Site specific management actions include: Investigating changes in 
wildfire frequency and evaluating the response of Guadalupe fescue to 
prescribed burns; monitoring and management of introduced invasive 
plants; public education and management of sensitive habitat in 
recreational areas of Boot Canyon; preventing grazing from pack animals 
and livestock in Boot Canyon; improving knowledge of the species' 
abundance, distribution and demographic trends in known populations and 
surveying other potential habitats in Texas and Mexico; investigating 
gene flow, genetic diversity and conservation genetics; developing a 
propagation and reintroduction program; and investigating responses to 
climate factors and projecting future responses of known populations to 
climate changes.

Request for Public Comments

    Section 4(f) of the ESA requires us to provide public notice and an 
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan 
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery 
plans (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). In an appendix to the approved 
recovery plan, we will summarize and respond to the issues raised by 
the public and peer reviewers. Substantive comments may or may not 
result in changes to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery 
plan implementation will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or 
other entities so that they can be taken into account during the course 
of implementing recovery actions. Responses to individual commenters 
will not be provided, but we will provide a summary of how we addressed 
substantive comments in an appendix to the approved recovery plan.
    We invite written comments on the draft recovery plan. In 
particular, we are interested in additional information regarding the 
current threats to the species and the implementation of the 
recommended recovery actions.

Public Availability of Comments

    All comments received, including names and addresses, will become 
part of the administrative record and will be available to the public. 
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. If you submit a hardcopy 
comment 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.

Authority

    We developed our draft recovery plan and publish this notice under 
the authority of section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Amy L. Lueders,
Regional Director, Interior Region 6, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2021-09709 Filed 5-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-55-P