[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20396-20397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-7787]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Reopening of Public Comment Period for the Agency Draft Recovery
Plan for the Endangered Catesbaea melanocarpa
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of reopening of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce that we are
reopening the comment period for the Technical/Agency Draft Recovery
Plan for Catesbaea melanocarpa (no common name) to solicit comment on
revised ``Recovery Goal'' and ``Recovery Criteria'' sections. The
revised recovery goal of the draft recovery plan is to protect and
stabilize existing populations and associated habitat of Catesbaea
melanocarpa and ultimately remove the species from the List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. The revised recovery
criteria establish criteria for both downlisting and delisting. We
solicit review and written comments from the public on these sections
of the recovery plan.
DATES: In order to be considered, we must receive comments on the
technical agency draft recovery plan on or before May 19, 2005.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to review this draft recovery plan, you may
obtain a copy by contacting the Boquer[oacute]n Field Office, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 491, Boquer[oacute]n, Puerto Rico 00622
(telephone 787/851-7297), or by visiting our recovery plan Web site at
http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans. If you wish to
comment, you may submit your comments by either of three methods:
1. You may submit written comments and materials to the Field
Supervisor, at the above address.
2. You may hand-deliver written comments to our Boquer[oacute]n
Field Office, at the above address, or fax your comments to (787) 851-
7440.
3. You may send comments by electronic mail to Marelisa Rivera from
the Boquer[oacute]n Field Office at [email protected].
Comments and materials received are available for public inspection
on request, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Marelisa Rivera (see ADDRESSES
section) (Telephone 787-851-7297, ext. 231).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Catesbaea melanocarpa is an extremely rare small spiny shrub that
is known from Puerto Rico (PR), St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands,
Barbuda, Antigua, and Guadalupe. It occurs in the subtropical dry
forest life zone, and it is currently known in the United States from
only one individual in Pe[ntilde]ones de Melones in Cabo Rojo, Puerto
Rico, and approximately 100 individuals at one location in St. Croix.
The species is threatened by the limited number of individuals and
distribution, habitat destruction or modification for residential and
tourist development, fire, and catastrophic natural events such as
hurricanes. We listed Catesbaea
[[Page 20397]]
melanocarpa as endangered on March 17, 1999 (64 FR 13116).
Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is
a primary goal of the endangered species program. To help guide the
recovery effort, we prepare recovery plans for most listed species.
Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for conservation
of the species, establish criteria for downlisting or delisting, and
estimate time and cost for implementing recovery measures.
Previous Federal Action
On September 27, 2004, we published in the Federal Register a
notice of availability of the Technical/Agency Draft Recovery Plan for
Catesbaea melanocarpa for review and comment (69 FR 57712). The public
review and comment period ended on November 26, 2004. We subsequently
have revised the ``Recovery Goal'' and ``Recovery Criteria'' sections
to address the delisting of the species. Accordingly, we are reopening
the comment period to solicit comments on these revised sections.
Recovery Goal
The Technical/Agency Draft Recovery Plan for Catesbaea melanocarpa
included an interim goal of protecting and enhancing existing
populations to the point that downlisting to threatened was warranted.
The reason we included only an interim goal was that the limited
information available on the current number of individuals throughout
the species range and the limited knowledge on biology, habitat
requirements, and genetic information precluded us from coming up with
well-informed criteria to support a long-term goal. We have revised the
recovery goal of the draft recovery plan to protect and stabilize
existing populations and associated habitat, and ultimately remove the
species from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.
Although the amount of information available for this species has not
changed, we believe that we can still identify the ultimate goal as the
delisting of the species due to recovery, while acknowledging that we
will need additional information to support and refine objective and
measurable criteria for delisting.
Recovery Criteria
The Technical/Agency Draft Recovery Plan for Catesbaea melanocarpa
identified four interim priority tasks that would lead us to obtain
information essential for the development of more objective, measurable
criteria that would need to be met before considering the downlisting
of the species. We have revaluated the downlisting criteria and
determined that objective and measurable criteria could be developed at
this time and have revised the draft plan accordingly. Further, we have
added delisting criteria to reflect the revised recovery goal. The
revised and added criteria are as follows.
Downlisting of the species from endangered to threatened status
will be considered when: (1) The habitat known to support the two
extant populations (St. Croix and Pe[ntilde]ones de Melones) is
enhanced and protected through landowner conservation agreements or
easements; (2) extant populations are enhanced through the planting of
additional propagated individuals to augment the number of adult
individuals to at least 250; (3) at least one population within each of
the following previously occupied habitat is found and/or established:
Gu[aacute]nica Commonwealth Forest (PR), Sus[uacute]a Commonwealth
Forest (PR), Barbuda, Antigua, and Guadalupe; and (4) research is
conducted on key biological and genetic issues, including effective
propagation techniques, and number of individuals within a population
and number of populations needed for the establishment of self-
sustaining populations and a viable overall population.
Catesbaea melanocarpa will be considered for delisting when: (1) A
number of viable populations (to be determined following the
appropriate studies) are protected by long term conservation
strategies; and (2) viable populations (the number of which should be
determined following the appropriate studies) are established in
unoccupied but suitable habitat at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge
(USVI), Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge (PR), La Tinaja in Sierra
Bermeja (Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge, PR), and any other
identified suitable conservation area within the dry forest zone.
Because we lack critical biological and genetic information, we can
not determine specific numbers for the delisting criteria at this time.
However, we have identified a recovery task that is necessary for
providing such information and will refine the recovery criteria when
this information is available:
8. Refine recovery criteria. As additional information on the
biology, ecology, propagation, and management of Catesbaea melanocarpa
is accumulated, it will be necessary to better define recovery
criteria.
81. Determine number of individuals and self-sustaining populations
necessary to ensure species survival and recovery. Environmental and
reproductive studies, together with the relative success of population
protection measures, will allow for more precise and realistic recovery
criteria to be established.
82. Determine what additional actions, if any, are necessary to
achieve recovery criteria. Any action(s) not included in this recovery
plan that are recognized during the recovery process as being necessary
or important for the conservation and/or recovery of this species
should be incorporated into the plan.
This task was included in the first draft of the recovery plan as
Task 7 and sub-tasks 71 and 72.
Public Comments Solicited
We solicit written comments on the ``Recovery Goal'' and ``Recovery
Criteria'' sections of the recovery plan as discussed above. We will
consider all comments regarding recovery goal and criteria received by
the date specified in the DATES section (above) prior to final approval
of the recovery plan.
Our practice is to make all comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Respondents may request that we withhold their home
addresses, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There
may also be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish for us to withhold your name
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your comments. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. To the
extent consistent with applicable law, we will make all submissions
from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Author
The primary author of this notice is Marelisa Rivera (see ADDRESS
section).
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533 (f).
Dated: March 18, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 05-7787 Filed 4-18-05; 8:45 am]
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