Vol. 77 Wednesday, No. 225 November 21, 2012 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 Mar<15>2010 17:50 Nov 20, 2012 Jkt 229001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\21NOP3.SGM 21NOP3 srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with 69994 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 21, 2012 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR period October 1, 2011, through Species-specific information and September 30, 2012. 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 192 candidate species identified in appropriate Regional Office listed below [Docket No. FWS–R9–ES–2012–0050; MO– this CNOR. under Request for Information in 4500030113] DATES: We will accept information on SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. General any of the species in this Candidate information we receive will be available Endangered and Threatened Wildlife Notice of Review at any time. at the Office of Communications and and Plants; Review of Native Species Candidate Conservation, Arlington, VA ADDRESSES: That Are Candidates for Listing as This notice is available on (see address under FOR FURTHER Endangered or Threatened; Annual the Internet at http:// INFORMATION CONTACT). Notice of Findings on Resubmitted www.regulations.gov and http:// Candidate Notice of Review Petitions; Annual Description of www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/ Progress on Listing Actions cnor.html. Species assessment forms Background with information and references on a AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, particular candidate species’ range, The Endangered Species Act of 1973, Interior. status, habitat needs, and listing priority as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA), requires that we identify species ACTION: Notice of review. assignment are available for review at the appropriate Regional Office listed of wildlife and plants that are SUMMARY: In this Candidate Notice of below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or endangered or threatened, based on the Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and at the Office of Communications and best available scientific and commercial Wildlife Service (Service), present an Candidate Conservation, Arlington, VA information. As defined in section 3 of updated list of plant and animal species (see address under FOR FURTHER the ESA, an endangered species is any native to the United States that we INFORMATION CONTACT), or on our Web species which is in danger of extinction regard as candidates for or have site (http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/ throughout all or a significant portion of proposed for addition to the Lists of pub/candidateSpecies.jsp). Please its range, and a threatened species is Endangered and Threatened Wildlife submit any new information, materials, any species which is likely to become and Plants under the Endangered comments, or questions of a general an endangered species within the Species Act of 1973, as amended. nature on this notice to the Arlington, foreseeable future throughout all or a Identification of candidate species can VA, address listed under FOR FURTHER significant portion of its range. Through assist environmental planning efforts by INFORMATION CONTACT. Please submit any the Federal rulemaking process, we add providing advance notice of potential new information, materials, comments, species that meet these definitions to listings, allowing landowners and or questions pertaining to a particular the List of Endangered and Threatened resource managers to alleviate threats species to the address of the Endangered Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11 or the List of and thereby possibly remove the need to Species Coordinator in the appropriate Endangered and Threatened Plants at 50 list species as endangered or threatened. Regional Office listed in SUPPLEMENTARY CFR 17.12. As part of this program, we Even if we subsequently list a candidate INFORMATION. maintain a list of species that we regard species, the early notice provided here as candidates for listing. A candidate FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The could result in more options for species species is one for which we have on file Endangered Species Coordinator(s) in management and recovery by prompting sufficient information on biological the appropriate Regional Office(s), or candidate conservation measures to vulnerability and threats to support a Chief, Office of Communications and alleviate threats to the species. proposal to list as endangered or The CNOR summarizes the status and Candidate Conservation, U.S. Fish and threatened, but for which preparation threats that we evaluated in order to Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, and publication of a proposal is determine that species qualify as Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203 precluded by higher-priority listing candidates and to assign a listing (telephone 703–358–2171). Persons who actions. We may identify a species as a priority number (LPN) to each species or use a telecommunications device for the candidate for listing after we have to determine that species should be deaf (TDD) may call the Federal conducted an evaluation of its status on removed from candidate status. Information Relay Service (FIRS) at our own initiative, or after we have Additional material that we relied on is 800–877–8339. made a positive finding on a petition to available in the Species Assessment and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We list a species, in particular we have Listing Priority Assignment Forms request additional status information found that listing is warranted but (species assessment forms) for each that may be available for any of the precluded by other higher priority candidate species. candidate species identified in this listing actions (see the Petition Findings Overall, this CNOR recognizes two CNOR. We will consider this section, below). new candidates, changes the LPN for information to monitor changes in the We maintain this list of candidates for nine candidates, and removes three status or LPN of candidate species and a variety of reasons: To notify the public species from candidate status. to manage candidates as we prepare that these species are facing threats to Combined with other decisions for listing documents and future revisions their survival; to provide advance individual species that were published to the notice of review. We also request knowledge of potential listings that separately from this CNOR in the past information on additional species to could affect decisions of environmental year, the current number of species that consider including as candidates as we planners and developers; to provide are candidates for listing is 192. prepare future updates of this notice. information that may stimulate and This document also includes our You may submit your information guide conservation efforts that will findings on resubmitted petitions and concerning this notice in general or for remove or reduce threats to these describes our progress in revising the any of the species included in this species and possibly make listing Lists of Endangered and Threatened notice by one of the methods listed in unnecessary; to request input from Wildlife and Plants (Lists) during the the ADDRESSES section. interested parties to help us identify VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:50 Nov 20, 2012 Jkt 229001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\21NOP3.SGM 21NOP3 srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 21, 2012 / Proposed Rules 69995 those candidate species that may not shorter timescale (once the threats are included in this notice as a candidate is require protection under the ESA or imminent) than for species with lower one for which we have sufficient additional species that may require the magnitude threats. Because we do not information to prepare a proposed rule ESA’s protections; and to request routinely quantify how likely or how to list because it is in danger of necessary information for setting soon extinction would be expected to extinction or likely to become priorities for preparing listing proposals. occur absent listing, we must evaluate endangered within the foreseeable We strongly encourage collaborative factors that contribute to the likelihood future throughout all or a significant conservation efforts for candidate and time scale for extinction. We portion of its range. species, and offer technical and therefore consider information such as: For more information on the process financial assistance to facilitate such The number of populations or extent of and standards used in assigning LPNs, efforts. For additional information range of the species affected by the a copy of the 1983 guidance is available regarding such assistance, please threat(s) or both; the biological on our Web site at: http://www.fws.gov/ contact the appropriate Regional Office significance of the affected endangered/esa-library/pdf/48fr43098- listed under Request for Information or population(s), taking into consideration 43105.pdf. For more information on the visit our Web site, http://www.fws.gov/ the life-history characteristics of the LPN assigned to a particular species, the endangered/what-we-do/cca.html. species and its current abundance and species assessment for each candidate distribution; whether the threats affect contains the LPN chart and a rationale Previous Notices of Review the species in only a portion of its range, for the determination of the magnitude We have been publishing candidate and if so, the likelihood of persistence and immediacy of threat(s) and notices of review (CNOR) since 1975. of the species in the unaffected portions; assignment of the LPN; that information The most recent CNOR (prior to this the severity of the effects and the is summarized in this CNOR. CNOR) was published on October 26, rapidity with which they have caused or This revised notice supersedes all 2011 (76 FR 66370).