Monday, November 9, 2009 Part III Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Review of Native Species That Are Candidates for Listing as Endangered or Threatened; Annual Notice of Findings on Resubmitted Petitions; Annual Description of Progress on Listing Actions; Proposed Rule VerDate Nov<24>2008 17:08 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\09NOP3.SGM 09NOP3 jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS3 57804 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 215 / Monday, November 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR October 1, 2008, through September 30, for public inspection by appointment, 2009. during normal business hours, at the Fish and Wildlife Service We request additional status appropriate Regional Office listed below information that may be available for in under Request for Information in 50 CFR Part 17 the 249 candidate species identified in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. General [Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2009-0075; MO- this CNOR. information we receive will be available 9221050083–B2] DATES: We will accept information on at the Branch of Candidate this Candidate Notice of Review at any Conservation, Arlington, VA (see Endangered and Threatened Wildlife time. address above). and Plants; Review of Native Species ADDRESSES: This notice is available on Candidate Notice of Review That Are Candidates for Listing as the Internet at http:// Endangered or Threatened; Annual www.regulations.gov, and http:// Background Notice of Findings on Resubmitted endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ The Endangered Species Act of 1973, Petitions; Annual Description of index.html. Species assessment forms as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) Progress on Listing Actions with information and references on a (Act), requires that we identify species particular candidate species’ range, AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, of wildlife and plants that are status, habitat needs, and listing priority Interior. endangered or threatened, based on the assignment are available for review at best available scientific and commercial ACTION: Notice of review. the appropriate Regional Office listed information. As defined in section 3 of SUMMARY: In this Candidate Notice of below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or the Act, an endangered species is any Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and at the Branch of Candidate species which is in danger of extinction Wildlife Service (Service), present an Conservation, Arlington, VA (see throughout all or a significant portion of updated list of plant and animal species address below), or on our Internet its range, and a threatened species is native to the United States that we website (http://endangered.fws.gov/ any species which is likely to become regard as candidates for or have candidates/index.html). Please submit an endangered species within the proposed for addition to the Lists of any new information, materials, foreseeable future throughout all or a Endangered and Threatened Wildlife comments, or questions of a general significant portion of its range. Through and Plants under the Endangered nature on this notice to the Arlington, the Federal rulemaking process, we add Species Act of 1973, as amended. VA, address listed below. Please submit species that meet these definitions to Identification of candidate species can any new information, materials, the List of Endangered and Threatened assist environmental planning efforts by comments, or questions pertaining to a Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11 or the List of providing advance notice of potential particular species to the address of the Endangered and Threatened Plants at 50 listings, allowing landowners and Endangered Species Coordinator in the CFR 17.12. As part of this program, we resource managers to alleviate threats appropriate Regional Office listed in maintain a list of species that we regard and thereby possibly remove the need to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. as candidates for listing. A candidate list species as endangered or threatened. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The species is one for which we have on file Even if we subsequently list a candidate Endangered Species Coordinator(s) in sufficient information on biological species, the early notice provided here the appropriate Regional Office(s) or vulnerability and threats to support a could result in more options for species Chief, Branch of Candidate proposal to list as endangered or management and recovery by prompting Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife threatened, but for which preparation candidate conservation measures to Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room and publication of a proposal is alleviate threats to the species. 420, Arlington, VA 22203 (telephone precluded by higher priority listing The CNOR summarizes the status and 703-358-2171; facsimile 703-358-1735). actions. A species may be indentified by threats that we evaluated in order to Persons who use a telecommunications us as a candidate for listing based on an determine that species qualify as device for the deaf (TDD) may call the evaluation of its status that we candidates and to assign a listing Federal Information Relay Service conducted on our own initiative, or as priority number (LPN) to each species, (FIRS) at 800-877-8339. a result of making a finding on a or to remove species from candidate SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We petition to list a species that listing is status. Additional material that we request additional status information warranted but precluded by other higher relied on is available in the Species that may be available for any of the priority listing action (see the Petition Assessment and Listing Priority candidate species identified in this Findings section, below). Assignment Forms (species assessment CNOR. We will consider this We maintain this list of candidates for forms, previously called candidate information in preparing listing a variety of reasons: to notify the public forms) for each candidate species. documents and future revisions to the that these species are facing threats to Overall, this CNOR recognizes five notice of review, as it will help us in their survival; to provide advance new candidates, changes the LPN for monitoring changes in the status of knowledge of potential listings that eight candidates, and removes four candidate species and in management could affect decisions of environmental species from candidate status. for conserving them. We also request planners and developers; to provide Combined with other decisions for information on additional species to information that may stimulate and individual species that were published consider including as candidates as we guide conservation efforts that will separately from this CNOR in the past prepare future updates of this notice. remove or reduce threats to these year, the current number of species that You may submit your information species and possibly make listing are candidates for listing is 249. concerning this notice in general or for unnecessary; to request input from This document also includes our any of the species included in this interested parties to help us identify findings on resubmitted petitions and notice by one of the methods listed in those candidate species that may not describes our progress in revising the the ADDRESSES section. require protection under the Act or Lists of Endangered and Threatened Species-specific information and additional species that may require the Wildlife and Plants during the period materials we receive will be available Act’s protections; and to request VerDate Nov<24>2008 17:08 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\09NOP3.SGM 09NOP3 jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS3 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 215 / Monday, November 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules 57805 necessary information for setting and whether the effects are likely to be imminence of threat(s) and assignment priorities for preparing listing proposals. permanent. of the LPN; that information is We strongly encourage collaborative As used in our priority-ranking summarized in this CNOR. conservation efforts for candidate system, immediacy of threat is This revised notice supersedes all species and offer technical and financial categorized as either ‘‘imminent’’ or previous animal, plant, and combined assistance to facilitate such efforts. For ‘‘nonimminent’’ and is not a measure of candidate notices of review. how quickly the species is likely to additional information regarding such Summary of This CNOR assistance, please contact the become extinct if the threats are not appropriate Regional Office listed in addressed; rather, immediacy is based Since publication of the CNOR on SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or visit our on when the threats will begin. If a December 10, 2008 (73 FR 75176), we Internet website, http:// threat is currently occurring or likely to reviewed the available information on endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ occur in the very near future, we candidate species to ensure that a index.html. classify the threat as imminent. proposed listing is justified for each Determining the immediacy of threats species, and reevaluated the relative Previous Notices of Review helps ensure that species facing actual, LPN assigned to each species. We also We have been publishing candidate identifiable threats are given priority for evaluated the need to emergency-list notices of review (CNOR) since 1975. listing proposals over those for which any of these species, particularly species The most