[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 111 (Friday, June 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31334-31336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12304]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2020-N150; FXES11130000-212-FF08E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (La Graciosa thistle)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the Draft Recovery Plan for Cirsium scariosum var. 
loncholepis (La Graciosa thistle) for public review and comment. The 
draft recovery plan includes objective, measurable criteria, and site-
specific management actions as may be necessary to ameliorate threats, 
such that the species can be removed from the Federal List of 
Endangered and Threatened Plants.

DATES: We must receive any comments on the draft recovery plan on or 
before July 12, 2021.

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 Ventura Fish 
and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, 
Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003 (telephone 805-644-1766).
    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; or
     Email: [email protected].
    For additional information about submitting comments, see the 
Request for Public Comments section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Henry, Field Supervisor, at the 
above street address above or telephone 805-644-1766.

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

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plans, increase recovery plan relevancy over a longer timeframe, and 
add flexibility to recovery plans so they can be easily adjusted to 
accommodate 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 some cases, 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 is adaptable, so that new 
information can easily be incorporated without having to concurrently 
revise the recovery plan, unless changes to the statutory elements are 
required.
    The Service listed Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (La Graciosa 
thistle) as endangered in 2000 (65 FR 14888), and critical habitat was 
revised for the species in 2009 (74 FR 56978). Cirsium scariousum var. 
loncholepis is considered to be a biennial or short-lived perennial 
species, but has proven to be an annual under certain environmental 
conditions. The species is in the Asteraceae (daisy and sunflower) 
family and is restricted to coastal dune wetland, marsh and riparian 
habitats on sandy soils, along a small portion of the Central Coast of 
California. Its current geographic range is restricted to several sites 
within the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex located in southwestern San 
Luis Obispo and northwestern Santa Barbara Counties.
    Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis occurs in wetland habitats with 
sandy soils, within arid and semiarid landscapes, including coastal 
dune wetlands, lakes, marshes, ponds, seeps and swales. It also occurs 
along the upper margins and floodplains of intermittent and perennial 
coastal streams within its range. Most occurrences are associated with 
wetland features scattered throughout the backdunes of two coastal sand 
dune complexes; the Callender Dunes, which are located south of the 
City of Arroyo Grande, and the contiguous Guadalupe Dunes that are 
found immediately north of the Santa Maria River. Characteristically, 
these coastal dune wetlands occur where the groundwater table is at or 
near the surface and the local hydrology varies annually with seasonal 
rainfall.
    The primary threats the species include (1) reduced water/lack of 
water, with groundwater decline as the likely major cause, along with 
hydrological alteration and climate change, including severe drought 
and increased temperatures (Factors A and E), and (2) flooding 
resulting from hydrological alteration (Factor A). Several other 
threats also affect the species, with the most notable being stochastic 
events (Factor E), reproductive failure due to a variety of issues, 
including inbreeding and other genetic factors associated with small 
population size (Factor E), invasive species (Factor E), and loss of 
connectivity among occurrences and between populations (Factor E).

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 Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis such that 
the taxon no longer requires protections afforded by the Act and, 
therefore, warrants delisting. The site-specific management actions 
identified in the draft recovery plan are as follows:
    1. Habitat restoration at all extant sites, which may include 
invasive weed treatments, woody debris removal, and renovation of local 
hydrologic regimes.
    2. Supplemental watering when necessary during drought or lack of 
water, specifically to ensure survival of particular individual plants 
and/or colonies.
    3. Installation of exclusionary fencing and/or cages around 
individuals and colonies to prevent herbivory from mammals.
    4. Propagation and outplanting at locations that are extirpated, 
that have extremely low numbers of individuals and could become 
extirpated, or at appropriate sites located within close proximity to 
the extant occurrences.
    5. Annual monitoring and reporting to assess the effectiveness of 
the near-term actions, track and census the numbers of individuals at 
each occurrence and to both guide and determine future recovery 
actions.
    6. Establish and maintain a conservation seed bank at a facility 
that is certified by the Center for Plant Conservation.
    7. Conduct research to evaluate the seed viability and pursue 
efforts to bulk the seed for outplanting.
    8. Facilitate outplanting efforts at numerous sites that are likely 
to have cooperative recovery partners based on the current land 
ownership status and land use practices and/or that are conducive to 
these efforts because conservation easements are already established.
    9. Continue attempts to gain access to other sites and occurrences 
within the historic range to conduct census surveys and assessments for 
potentially suitable habitat f or additional outplanting efforts.
    10. Fulfill research needs, including the following: Best 
management practices and methods for the various life stages of the 
species; species response to disturbance from grazing, to thatch 
removal and to other vegetation management techniques; demographic 
studies, pollination ecology research, genetics research, habitat 
suitability analyses and modeling, groundwater testing and mapping and 
other hydrologic modeling for evaluating variable climate change 
scenarios.

Request for Public Comments

    We request 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 Cirsium 
scariosum var. loncholepis. You may submit written comments and 
information by mail, email, or in person to the Ventura 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.

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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).

Martha Maciel,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2021-12304 Filed 6-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P