[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35897-35898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11708]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2020-0116; FF06E23000-234-FXES11140600000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Enhancement of 
Survival Permit Application; Candidate Conservation Agreement With 
Assurances and Categorical Exclusion for the Greater Sage-Grouse; 
Morgan, Rich, Summit, and Weber Counties, Utah

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are 
announcing the availability of documents related to an application for 
an enhancement of survival permit (permit) under the Endangered Species 
Act. Farmland Reserve, Inc. (FRI) and AgReserves, Inc. (ARI) 
(collectively referred to as DLL) have applied for a permit associated 
with the implementation of a candidate conservation agreement with 
assurances (CCAA) for the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus 
urophasianus) for the Deseret Land and Livestock (DLL Ranch) in Utah. 
The purpose of this CCAA is for the Service to join with the Utah 
Division of Wildlife Resources and DLL (collectively, the parties to 
this CCAA), to implement conservation measures for greater sage-grouse 
in a manner that is consistent with the Service's Policy on CCAAs and 
applicable Service regulations. The documents available for review and 
comment are the applicant's CCAA, which is part of the permit 
application, and our draft environmental action statement and low-
effect screening form, which support a categorical exclusion under the 
National Environmental Policy Act. We invite comments from the public 
and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before July 
3, 2023. Comments submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov (see 
ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 3, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well 
as any comments and other materials that we receive, will be available 
for public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2020-0116 at 
https://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 35898]]

    Submitting comments: To submit written comments, please use one of 
the following methods, and note that your information requests or 
comments are in reference to the DLL CCAA for greater sage-grouse.
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments to Docket Number FWS-R6-ES-2020-
0116.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R6-ES-2020-0116; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: 
PRB/3W; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We request that you send comments by only one of the methods 
described above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Weekley, by phone at 385-285-
7929 or email at [email protected]. Individuals in the United 
States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech 
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TTD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received an application from Farmland Reserve, Inc. 
(FRI) and AgReserves, Inc. (ARI) (collectively referred to as DLL). The 
applicants have applied for a 30-year enhancement of survival permit 
(permit) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA or 
Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The application addresses the potential 
take of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) associated 
with the implementation of a candidate conservation agreement with 
assurances (CCAA) on the Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch (DLL Ranch) 
in Morgan, Rich, Summit, and Weber Counties, Utah.
    A CCAA is an agreement between the Service, partners, and 
landowners for voluntary management of non-Federal lands to remove or 
reduce threats to species that may become listed under the Act. In 
return for implementing conservation measures in a CCAA, the Service 
gives participants assurances that, should the covered species become 
listed, the Service would not impose land, water, or resource use 
restrictions or conservation requirements beyond those agreed to in the 
CCAA.

Applicant's Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances

    FRI and ARI have submitted this CCAA to implement conservation 
measures for greater sage-grouse on private lands of the DLL Ranch. The 
DLL Ranch is located primarily in Morgan, Rich, Summit, and Weber 
Counties in northern Utah, and is comprised of approximately 210,421 
acres (328.8 square miles) of private land. The DLL Ranch has 
historically participated in greater sage-grouse conservation without 
any regulatory assurances. This permit would provide DLL with 
regulatory assurances and incentives under the ESA based on DLL's 
ongoing commitments for proactive conservation for greater sage-grouse. 
The requested permit duration is for 30 years. Proposed conservation 
measures include continued management of grazing and associated 
vegetation treatments so that the population of greater sage-grouse is 
maintained or improves over the term of the agreement. These management 
strategies include: (1) using green-strips to minimize fire in greater 
sage-grouse winter habitat; (2) careful planning and execution of rest-
rotation grazing; and (3) vegetation treatments for sagebrush 
management, such as disking and planting native vegetation, prescribed 
fire, sheep browsing, chemical treatment, and mechanical treatment.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the administrative 
record associated with this action. 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 request in your comment that we 
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR 46.305).

Clinton Riley,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Mountain-
Prairie Region.
[FR Doc. 2023-11708 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P