Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Part II 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 Aug<31>2005 14:55 Dec 09, 2008 Jkt 217001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\10DEP2.SGM 10DEP2 dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with PROPOSALS2 75176 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR September 30, 2007, through September Species-specific information and 30, 2008. materials we receive will be available Fish and Wildlife Service We request additional status for public inspection by appointment, information that may be available for during normal business hours, at the 50 CFR Part 17 the 251 candidate species identified in appropriate Regional Office listed below [FWS-R9-ES-2008-0115; MO-9221050083 – this CNOR. in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. General B2] DATES: We will accept information on information we receive will be available this Candidate Notice of Review at any at the Branch of Candidate Endangered and Threatened Wildlife time. Conservation, Arlington, VA (see and Plants; Review of Native Species ADDRESSES: This notice is available on address above). That Are Candidates for Listing as the Internet at http:// Candidate Notice of Review Endangered or Threatened; Annual www.regulations.gov, and http:// Notice of Findings on Resubmitted endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ Background Petitions; Annual Description of index.html. Species assessment forms The Endangered Species Act of 1973, Progress on Listing Actions with information and references on a as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, particular candidate species’ range, (Act), requires that we identify species Interior. status, habitat needs, and listing priority of wildlife and plants that are assignment are available for review at ACTION: Notice of review. endangered or threatened, based on the the appropriate Regional Office listed best available scientific and commercial SUMMARY: In this Candidate Notice of below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or information. As defined in section 3 of Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and at the Branch of Candidate the Act, an endangered species is any Wildlife Service (Service), present an Conservation, Arlington, VA (see species which is in danger of extinction updated list of plant and animal species address below), or on our Internet throughout all or a significant portion of native to the United States that we website (http://endangered.fws.gov/ its range, and a threatened species is regard as candidates for or have candidates/index.html). Please submit any species which is likely to become proposed for addition to the Lists of any new information materials, an endangered species within the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife comments, or questions of a general foreseeable future throughout all or a and Plants under the Endangered nature on this notice to the Arlington, significant portion of its range. Through Species Act of 1973, as amended. VA, address listed below. Please submit the Federal rulemaking process, we add Identification of candidate species can any new information, materials, species that meet these definitions to assist environmental planning efforts by comments, or questions pertaining to a the List of Endangered and Threatened providing advance notice of potential particular species to the address of the Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11 or the List of listings, allowing landowners and Endangered Species Coordinator in the Endangered and Threatened Plants at 50 resource managers to alleviate threats appropriate Regional Office listed in CFR 17.12. As part of this program, we and thereby possibly remove the need to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. maintain a list of species that we regard list species as endangered or threatened. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The as candidates for listing. A candidate Even if we subsequently list a candidate Endangered Species Coordinator(s) in species is one for which we have on file species, the early notice provided here the appropriate Regional Office(s) or sufficient information on biological could result in more options for species Chief, Branch of Candidate vulnerability and threats to support a management and recovery by prompting Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposal to list as endangered or candidate conservation measures to Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room threatened, but for which preparation alleviate threats to the species. 420, Arlington, VA 22203 (telephone and publication of a proposal is The CNOR summarizes the status and 703-358-2105; facsimile 703-358-1735). precluded by higher-priority listing threats that we evaluated in order to Persons who use a telecommunications actions. A species may be indentified by determine that species qualify as device for the deaf (TDD) may call the us as a candidate for listing based on an candidates and to assign a listing Federal Information Relay Service evaluation of its status that we priority number (LPN) to each species, (FIRS) at 800-877-8339. conducted on our own initiative, or as or to remove species from candidate SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: a result of making a finding on a status. Additional material that we petition to list a species that listing is relied on is available in the Species Information Solicited warranted but precluded by other higher Assessment and Listing Priority We request additional status priority listing action (see the Petition Assignment Forms (species assessment information that may be available for Findings section, below). forms, previously called candidate any of the candidate species identified We maintain this list of candidates for forms) for each candidate species. in this CNOR. We will consider this a variety of reasons: to notify the public Overall, this CNOR recognizes 1 new information in preparing listing that these species are facing threats to candidate, changes the LPN for 11 documents and future revisions to the their survival; to provide advance candidates, and removes 2 species from notice of review, as it will help us in knowledge of potential listings that candidate status. Combined with other monitoring changes in the status of could affect decisions of environmental decisions for individual species that candidate species and in management planners and developers; to provide were published separately from this for conserving them. We also request information that may stimulate and CNOR in the past year, the current information on additional species to guide conservation efforts that will number of species that are candidates consider including as candidates as we remove or reduce threats to these for listing is 251. prepare future updates of this notice. species and possibly make listing This document also includes our You may submit your information unnecessary; to solicit input from findings on resubmitted petitions and concerning this notice in general or for interested parties to help us identify describes our progress in revising the any of the species included in this those candidate species that may not Lists of Endangered and Threatened notice by one of the methods listed in require protection under the Act or Wildlife and Plants during the period the ADDRESSES section. additional species that may require the VerDate Aug<31>2005 14:55 Dec 09, 2008 Jkt 217001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\10DEP2.SGM 10DEP2 dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with PROPOSALS2 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / Proposed Rules 75177 Act’s protections; and to solicit and whether the effects are likely to be of the LPN; that information is necessary information for setting permanent. summarized in this CNOR. priorities for preparing listing proposals. As used in our priority ranking This revised notice supersedes all We strongly encourage collaborative system, immediacy of threat is previous animal, plant, and combined conservation efforts for candidate categorized as either ‘‘imminent’’ or candidate notices of review. species and offer technical and financial ‘‘nonimminent’’ and is not a measure of assistance to facilitate such efforts. For how quickly the species is likely to Summary of This CNOR additional information regarding such become extinct if the threats are not Since publication of the CNOR on assistance, please contact the addressed; rather, immediacy is based December 6, 2007 (72 FR 69033), we appropriate Regional Office listed in on when the threats will begin. If a reviewed the available information on SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or visit our threat is currently occurring or likely to candidate species to ensure that a Internet website, http:// occur in the very near future, we proposed listing is justified for each endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ classify the threat as imminent. species, and reevaluated the relative index.html. Determining the immediacy of threats helps ensure that species facing actual, LPN assigned to each species. We also Previous Notices of Review identifiable threats are given priority for evaluated the need to emergency-list We have been publishing candidate listing proposals over those for which any of these species, particularly species notices of review (CNOR) since 1975. threats are only potential or species that with high priorities (i.e.,