[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26062-26063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10064]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098; FXES11130500000-212-FF05E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for the Rufa Red Knot

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the 
availability of the draft recovery plan for rufa red knot, a bird 
subspecies listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We 
request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from local, 
State, and Federal agencies, and the public.

DATES: We must receive comments by July 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: 
    Document availability: The draft recovery plan, along with any 
comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for 
public inspection at http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R5-
ES-2020-0098.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for and 
submit comments on Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R5-ES-2020-0098; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: 
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    For more information, see Availability of Public Comments under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Schrading, Field Supervisor by 
phone at 609-382-5272, via email at [email protected], or via the 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of the draft recovery plan for the 
threatened rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) for public review and 
comment. The draft recovery plan includes objective, measurable 
criteria and management actions as may be necessary for removal of the 
species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. We 
request review and comment on this draft recovery plan from local, 
State, and Federal agencies, and the public.

Recovery Planning

    Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires the development of recovery 
plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote the 
conservation of a particular species. Also 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 that, 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.

Species Background

    The rufa red knot is a medium-sized, highly migratory shorebird 
that ranges across nearly the full latitude gradient of the Western 
Hemisphere. This subspecies is among the longest-distance migrants in 
the animal kingdom, and among the best-studied shorebirds in the world. 
Rufa red knots migrate annually between their breeding grounds on the 
central Canadian arctic tundra and four wintering regions that include 
the Atlantic coasts of Argentina and Chile, the northern coast of South 
America, the western Gulf of Mexico, and the southeast United States 
and the Caribbean. During migration, rufa red knots require a reliable 
network of coastal and inland staging areas and an ample supply of 
other coastal and inland stopover habitats distributed across the 
range. In the final listing rule published on December 12, 2014 (79 FR 
73705), the Service determined that the rufa red knot is threatened 
under the ESA due to the following primary threats: Loss of breeding 
and nonbreeding habitat (including sea level rise, coastal engineering, 
coastal development, and arctic ecosystem change); likely effects 
related to disruption of natural predator cycles on the breeding 
grounds; reduced prey availability throughout the nonbreeding range; 
and increasing frequency and severity of asynchronies (mismatches) in 
the timing of the birds' annual migratory cycle relative to favorable 
food and weather conditions. Refer to the Species Status Assessment 
Report (USFWS 2020) for a full discussion of the species' biology and 
threats.

Recovery Strategy

    The recovery strategy is to prevent loss of the rufa red knot's 
adaptive capacity by maintaining representation within and among four 
Recovery Units, and improving their resiliency and redundancy. Recovery 
efforts will focus on protecting, restoring, maintaining, and managing 
important nonbreeding habitats for adults and juveniles. Recovery 
actions will directly abate threats to red knots in their wintering and 
migration ranges, and will also increase resiliency of populations to 
withstand threats that stem from climate change in their Arctic 
breeding range and elsewhere. These actions include monitoring and 
safeguarding ample food supplies; preventing impacts from development 
and shoreline stabilization; managing human disturbance; and restoring 
key habitats. They may also include land acquisition, facilitated 
migration of certain beaches or tidal flats, and restoring natural 
coastal processes that create and maintain red knot habitat.

Availability of Public 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.

[[Page 26063]]

Authority

    The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Sharon Marino,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, North Atlantic--
Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2021-10064 Filed 5-11-21; 8:45 am]
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