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Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Part II Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants—Proposed Critical Habitat Designations; Proposed Rule VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:24 Sep 11, 2006 Jkt 208001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\12SEP2.SGM 12SEP2 sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS 53756 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 176 / Tuesday, September 12, 2006 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR notice of review, as it will help us in throughout all or a significant portion of monitoring changes in the status of its range, and a threatened species is Fish and Wildlife Service candidate species and in management any species which is likely to become for conserving them. We also request an endangered species within the 50 CFR Part 17 information on additional species that foreseeable future throughout all or a we should consider including as significant portion of its range. Through Endangered and Threatened Wildlife candidates as we prepare future updates the Federal rulemaking process, we add and Plants; Review of Native Species of this notice. species that meet these definitions to That Are Candidates or Proposed for This document also includes our the List of Endangered and Threatened Listing as Endangered or Threatened; findings on resubmitted petitions and Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11 or the List of Annual Notice of Findings on describes our progress in revising the Endangered and Threatened Plants at 50 Resubmitted Petitions; Annual Lists of Endangered and Threatened CFR 17.12. As part of this program, we Description of Progress on Listing Wildlife and Plants during the period maintain a list of species that we regard Actions May 2, 2005, through August 23, 2006. as candidates for listing. A candidate species is one for which we have on file AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, DATES: We will accept comments on the Interior. Candidate Notice of Review at any time. sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to support a ADDRESSES: ACTION: Notice of review. Submit your comments proposal to list as endangered or regarding a particular species to the threatened, but for which preparation SUMMARY: In this Candidate Notice of Regional Director of the Region Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and and publication of a proposal is identified in SUPPLEMENTARY precluded by higher-priority listing Wildlife Service (Service), present an INFORMATION as having the lead updated list of plant and animal species actions. responsibility for that species. You may We maintain this list of candidates for native to the United States that we submit comments of a more general a variety of reasons: To notify the public regard as candidates or have proposed nature to the Chief, Division of that these species are facing threats to for addition to the Lists of Endangered Conservation and Classification, U.S. their survival; to provide advance and Threatened Wildlife and Plants Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. knowledge of potential listings that under the Endangered Species Act of Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA could affect decisions of environmental 1973, as amended. Identification of 22203 (703/358–2171). Written planners and developers; to provide candidate species can assist comments and materials received in information that may stimulate and environmental planning efforts by response to this notice will be available guide conservation efforts that will providing advance notice of potential for public inspection by appointment at remove or reduce threats to these listings, allowing landowners and the Division of Conservation and species and possibly make listing resource managers to alleviate threats Classification (for comments of a general unnecessary; to solicit input from and thereby possibly remove the need to nature only) or at the appropriate interested parties to help us identify list species as endangered or threatened. Regional Office listed in SUPPLEMENTARY those candidate species that may not Even if we subsequently list a candidate INFORMATION. require protection under the Act or species, the early notice provided here Species assessment forms with additional species that may require the could result in more options for species information and references on a Act’s protections; and to solicit management and recovery by prompting particular candidate species’ range, necessary information for setting candidate conservation measures to status, habitat needs, and listing priority priorities for preparing listing proposals. alleviate threats to the species. assignment are available for review at We strongly encourage collaborative The CNOR summarizes the status and the appropriate Regional Office listed conservation efforts for candidate threats that we evaluated in order to below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or species and offer technical and financial determine that species qualify as at the Division of Conservation and assistance to facilitate such efforts. For candidates and to assign a listing Classification, Arlington, Virginia (see additional information regarding such priority number to each species, or to address above), or on our Internet Web assistance, please contact the remove species from candidate status. site (http://endangered.fws.gov/ appropriate Regional Office listed in Additional material that we relied on is candidates/index.html). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or visit our available in the Species Assessment and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Internet Web site, http:// Listing Priority Assignment Forms Endangered Species Coordinator(s) in endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ (species assessment forms, previously the appropriate Regional Office(s) or index.html. called candidate forms) for each Chris Nolin, Chief, Division of Previous Notices of Review candidate species. Conservation and Classification (703– Overall, this CNOR recognizes 7 new 358–2171). The Act directed the Secretary of the candidates, changes the listing priority Smithsonian Institution to prepare a number for 24 candidates, and removes SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: report on endangered and threatened 10 species from candidate status. Candidate Notice of Review plant species, which was published as Combined with other decisions for House Document No. 94–51. We individual species that were published Background published a notice in the Federal separately from this CNOR, the new The Endangered Species Act of 1973, Register on July 1, 1975 (40 FR 27823), number of species that are candidates as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) in which we announced we would for listing is 279. (Act), requires that we identify species review more than 3,000 native plant We request additional status of wildlife and plants that are species named in the Smithsonian’s information that may be available for endangered or threatened, based on the report and other species added by the the 279 candidate species identified in best available scientific and commercial 1975 notice for possible addition to the this CNOR. We will consider this information. As defined in section 3 of List of Endangered and Threatened information in preparing listing the Act, an endangered species is any Plants, referring to them as species documents and future revisions to the species which is in danger of extinction considered to be candidate endangered VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:24 Sep 11, 2006 Jkt 208001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\12SEP2.SGM 12SEP2 sroberts on PROD1PC70 with PROPOSALS Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 176 / Tuesday, September 12, 2006 / Proposed Rules 53757 or threatened species. We published a This revised notice supersedes all species for which we published separate new comprehensive notice of review for previous animal, plant, and combined findings that listing is not warranted, native plants on December 15, 1980 (45 notices of review. plus the 10 species that we have FR 82479), which took into account the determined do not warrant preparation Summary of This CNOR earlier Smithsonian report and other of a rule to propose listing and therefore accumulated information. On November Since publication of the 2004 CNOR have removed from candidate status in 28, 1983 (48 FR 53640), our on May 11, 2005 (70 FR 24870), we this CNOR. supplemental plant notice of review reviewed the available information on New Candidates announced changes in the status of candidate species to ensure that a various species. We published complete proposed listing is justified for each Below we present brief summaries of updates of the plant notice on species and reevaluated the relative seven new candidates that we are September 27, 1985 (50 FR 39526); listing priority number assigned to each recognizing in this CNOR, including one February 21, 1990 (55 FR 6184); species. We also evaluated the need to species of mammal, one bird, two snails, September 30, 1993 (58 FR 51144); and, emergency-list any of these species, two insects, and one plant. Complete as part of combined animal and plant particularly species with high priorities information, including references, can notices, on February 28, 1996 (61 FR (i.e. species with listing priority be found in the species assessment 7596); September 19, 1997 (62 FR numbers of 1, 2, or 3). This review and forms. You may obtain a copy of these 49398); October 25, 1999 (64 FR 57534); reevaluation ensures that we focus forms from the Regional Office having October 30, 2001 (66 FR 54808); June conservation efforts on those species at the lead for the species, or