Vol. 79 Thursday, No. 89 May 8, 2014 Part II Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To Delist the Southern Selkirk Mountains Population of Woodland Caribou and Proposed Rule To Amend the Listing; Proposed Rule VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:28 May 07, 2014 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\08MYP2.SGM 08MYP2 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS2 26504 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 89 / Thursday, May 8, 2014 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR proposed amendment to the listed entity • For any petition to revise the become final. Federal Lists of Endangered and Fish and Wildlife Service DATES: We will accept all comments Threatened Wildlife and Plants, we are received or postmarked on or before July required under the Act to promptly 50 CFR Part 17 7, 2014. Comments submitted publish a finding in the Federal Register within 1 year. Listing, [Docket No. FWS–R1–ES–2012–0097; electronically using the Federal FXES11130900000C2–123–FF09E32000] eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES removing, or changing the status of a section, below) must be received by species as an endangered or threatened RIN 1018–AZ74 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing species can only be completed by issuing a rule. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife date. We must receive requests for • public hearings, in writing, at the Any proposed or final rule affecting and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a the status of a possible DPS as address shown in the FOR FURTHER Petition To Delist the Southern Selkirk endangered or threatened under the Act INFORMATION CONTACT section by June Mountains Population of Woodland should clearly analyze the action using 23, 2014 Caribou and Proposed Rule To Amend the following three elements: the Listing ADDRESSES: You may submit comments Discreteness of the population segment by one of the following methods: in relation to the remainder of the taxon AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal to which it belongs; the significance of Interior. eRulemaking Portal: http:// the population segment to the taxon to ACTION: Proposed rule; 12-month www.regulations.gov. In the Search which it belongs; and the conservation petition finding. field, enter Docket No. FWS–R1–ES– status of the population segment in 2012–0097, which is the docket number relation to the Act’s standards for SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and for this rulemaking. Then, in the Search listing. Wildlife Service (Service), announce a panel on the left side of the screen, • Under the Act, any species that is 12-month finding on a petition to delist under the Document Type heading, determined to be an endangered or the southern Selkirk Mountains click on the Proposed Rules link to threatened species requires critical population of woodland caribou locate this document. You may submit habitat to be designated, to the (Rangifer tarandus caribou). This a comment by clicking on the blue maximum extent prudent and species is currently listed as endangered ‘‘Comment Now!’’ box. If your determinable. Designations and under the Endangered Species Act of comments will fit in the provided revisions of critical habitat can only be 1973, as amended (Act). After review of comment box, please use this feature of completed through rulemaking. Here we the best available scientific and http://www.regulations.gov, as it is most propose to reaffirm the designation of commercial information, we find that compatible with our comment review approximately 30,010 acres (ac) (12,145 delisting the species is not warranted, procedures. If you attach your hectares (ha)) in one unit within but rather, a revision to the current comments as a separate document, our Boundary County, Idaho, and Pend listed entity to define a distinct preferred file format is Microsoft Word. Oreille County, Washington, as critical population segment (DPS), consistent If you attach multiple comments (such habitat for the Southern Mountain with our 1996 distinct population as form letters), our preferred format is Caribou DPS should the proposed segment policy, is appropriate. As such, a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. amendment to the listed entity become we propose to amend the current listing (2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail final. of the southern Selkirk Mountains or hand-delivery to: Public Comments This rule proposes to amend the population of woodland caribou by Processing, Attn: FWS–R1–ES–2012– current listing of the southern Selkirk defining the Southern Mountain 0097; Division of Policy and Directives Mountains population of woodland Caribou DPS, which includes the Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife caribou as follows: currently listed southern Selkirk Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS • By defining the Southern Mountain Mountains population of woodland 2042–PDM, Arlington, VA 22203. Caribou distinct population segment caribou, and we propose to designate We request that you send comments (DPS), which includes the currently the status of the Southern Mountain only by the methods described above. listed southern Selkirk Mountains Caribou DPS as threatened under the We will post all information received on population of woodland caribou; Act. If we finalize this rule as proposed, • http://www.regulations.gov. This By designating the status of the the Southern Mountain Caribou DPS generally means that we will post any Southern Mountain Caribou DPS as will be listed as threatened under the personal information you provide us threatened under the Act; and Act. This DPS includes the currently • (see the Information Requested section By reaffirming the designation of listed southern Selkirk Mountains below for more details). approximately 30,010 ac (12,145 ha) as population of woodland caribou, a critical habitat for the Southern transboundary population that moves FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mountain Caribou DPS. between British Columbia, Canada, and Michael Carrier, State Supervisor, U.S. The basis for our action. The southern northern Idaho and northeastern Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Fish Selkirk Mountains woodland caribou Washington, United States. We have and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell was listed under the Act on February determined that the approximately Way, Room 368, Boise, ID 83709; 29, 1984 (49 FR 7390). According to our 30,010 acres (12,145 hectares) telephone 208–378–5243; facsimile ‘‘Policy Regarding the Recognition of designated as critical habitat on 208–378–5262. Persons who use a Distinct Vertebrate Population Segments November 28, 2012 (77 FR 71042), for telecommunications device for the deaf Under the Endangered Species Act’’ the southern Selkirk Mountains (TDD) may call the Federal Information (DPS policy; 61 FR 4722, February 7, population of woodland caribou is Relay Service (FIRS) at 800–877–8339. 1996), the appropriate application of the applicable to the U.S. portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: policy to pre-1996 DPS listings shall be proposed Southern Mountain Caribou considered in our 5-year reviews. We Executive Summary DPS and, as such, reaffirm the existing conducted a DPS analysis during our critical habitat for the DPS should the Why we need to publish a rule. 2008 5-year review, which concluded VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:28 May 07, 2014 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\08MYP2.SGM 08MYP2 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS2 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 89 / Thursday, May 8, 2014 / Proposed Rules 26505 that the southern Selkirk Mountains populations of the Southern Mountain on the Web site. If your submission is population of woodland caribou met Caribou DPS; and made via a hard copy that includes both the discreteness and significance (e) Past and ongoing conservation personal identifying information, you elements of the DPS policy. However, measures for the DPS, its habitat, or may request at the top of your document we now recognize that this analysis did both. that we withhold this information from not consider the significance of this (2) The factors that are the basis for public review. However, we cannot population relative to the appropriate making a listing or delisting guarantee that we will be able to do so. taxon. The purpose of the DPS policy is determination for a species under We will post all hardcopy submissions to set forth standards for determining section 4(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 on http://www.regulations.gov. Please which populations of vertebrate et seq.), which are: include sufficient information with your organisms that are subsets of species or (a) The present or threatened comments to allow us to verify any subspecies may qualify as entities that destruction, modification, or scientific or commercial information we may list as endangered or threatened curtailment of its habitat or range; you include. (b) Overutilization for commercial, under the Act. In the 2008 5-year Comments and materials we receive, review, we assessed the significance of recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; as well as some of the supporting the southern Selkirk Mountains documentation we used in preparing population to the ‘‘mountain ecotype’’ (c) Disease or predation; (d) The inadequacy of existing this proposed rule, will be available for of woodland caribou. The ‘‘mountain public inspection on http:// ecotype’’ is not a species or subspecies. regulatory mechanisms; or (e) Other natural or manmade factors www.regulations.gov. All comments, The appropriate DPS analysis for the materials, and supporting southern Selkirk Mountains population affecting its continued existence. (3) Biological, commercial trade, or documentation are available by of woodland caribou should have been other relevant data concerning any appointment, during normal business conducted relative to the subspecies threats (or lack thereof) to this DPS and hours, at the Service’s Idaho Fish and woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus regulations that may be addressing those Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER caribou).