Department of Energy Western Area Power Administration P.O. Box 281213 Lakewood, CO 80228-8213 ·ocr o6 2015 Dan Ashe Director United States Fish and Wildlife Service 1849 C Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20240 Subject: Petition to delist Deseret milk-vetch (Astragalus desereticus) submitted pursuant to the Endangered Species Act Dear Mr. Ashe: This is Western Area Power Administration's (Western) formal petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to delist the Deseret milk-vetch (Astragalus desereticus) from threatened status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) pursuant to 50 C.P.R. § 424.14. In response to a stipulated settlement agreement (Center for Native Ecosystems et al. v. Norton (05- CV-01336-RCL)), the Service reconsidered in 2007 whether designating critical habitat for Deseret milk-vetch would be prudent based on the species' cutTent status. Rather than designate critical habitat, the Service determined it would not be prudent and instead published an announcement to delist the species in the neaT future (72 Fed. Reg. 3379-82, January 25, 2007, cited in this document as Service 2007). After conducting additional surveys between 2008 and 2010, the Service reiterated its position in 2011 that the species was listed in 1999 in enor and should be delisted (Service 2011). In 2011, the Service also aclmowledged there was no longer a conservation agreement functioning as a viable recovery plan for the species and has not pursued completing one. Western is cunently participating in the Trans West Express Transmission Project (Project), a 600-kilovolt direct cunent transmission line approximately 727 miles in length extending across state, federal, and private lands in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. This Project has been designated as a Presidential Priority Project by the cunent administration. Thiough the ongoing ESA Section 7 consultation process for the Project, Trans West Express LLC (Trans West) in 2015 completed a biological survey for sensitive plant species and documented the existence of Deseret milk-vetch at higher elevations than previously lmown. At the time of federal listing Deseret milk-vetch was thought to be nanowly distributed, occutTing only on the sandy-gravelly hillsides of the Moroni Formation near Birdseye, Utah, in Utah County at elevations between5,400 and 5,600 feet. However, TransWest's 2015 survey documented eight populations totaling 98 individuals at elevations above 6,000 feet located one­ half mile northeast of Birdseye. Beyond additional individuals and populations, the Trans West 2015 survey also supported anecdotal evidence that Deseret milk-vetch does well in disturbed 2 areas such as roads and transmission line conidors. We are providing Trans West's 2015 survey report as an enclosure for your review and consideration. The Service's directed surveys, in addition to Trans West's 2015 survey, all indicate that Deseret milk-vetch is more abundant and more widely distributed than believed in 1999 when it was listed. Furthermore, the Service reviewed the status of the species in 2011 and determined there were no significant threats to the species. For these reasons, Western agrees with the Service that the species should be delisted. If delisting is not executed, Western suggests the Service re­ visit whether writing a recovery plan and designating critical habitat for Deseret milk-vetch may in fact be prudent to help direct conservation efforts for this species. Background Deseret milk-vetch is a perennial, herbaceous, sub-acaulescent (almost stemless) plant (Barneby 1989) in the legume family that grows approximately 2-6 inches tall. The species was listed as threatened in 1999 due to its apparently small population size, restricted distribution, development, cattle grazing (including erosion and trampling), and impacts to pollinator habitat. At the time of listing, the Service determined that designating critical habitat for the species was not prudent due to the lack of benefit to. the species (64 Fed. Reg. 56590-96, October 20, 1999, cited in this document as Service 1999). To determine whether the threats identified in the original listing still existed, if they had been effectively managed, and ifthere were new threats to the species, the Service systematically examined what it knew about Deseret milk-vetch's life history in the context of the same five factors considered when the species was listed as threatened in 1999 when the Service published ·its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for proposed de listing iri 2007 (Service 2011): • In the fmallisting rule, substantial population growth and urban expansion were predicted in the Provo, Spanish Fork, and Weber River drainages east of Wasatch Mountains. However, the Service determined that little to no habitat was lost since the time of listing (QGET 1997; Service 1999, 2007). @ The Service determined that habitat loss, fragmentation, and modification are not threats to the species. Most of the species' habitat occurs on the State-managed Northwest Manti Wildlife Management Area (WMA). No development will occur on the WMA and the Service does not anticipate development on adjacent private lands in the foreseeable future. Similarly, only very limited livestock grazing occurs across the species' range; therefore, trampling and soil erosion are not threats. The potential remains for climate change to impact the species, but the available infmmation indicates that the species is drought tolerant, not threatened by other habitat loss or fragmentation variables, and thus this impact does not rise to the level of threatening the species in the foreseeable future. @ Although there are no existing regulatory mechanisms protecting the species, the Service reported it was unaware of any threats that would require regulatory mechanisms to conserve the species. Therefore, the Service does not consider inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms to threaten the species. 3 • Since listing the Service has reported that survey data show the species' range is larger, and population numbers are higher, than previously thought. The Service also noted plants have successfully survived prolonged drought conditions. Thus, the species is more likely to be secure from stochastic events and able to persist into the foreseeable future. Therefore, the Service concluded that stochastic events are unlikely to threaten Deseret milk-vetch. • Because ofDeseret milk-vetch's specific habitat needs, the species is rare. However, in the absence of information identifying threats to the species and linking those threats to the rarity of the species, the Service purported that rarity alone is not considered to be a threat because a species that has always been rare, yet continues to survive and could be well equipped to continue to exist into the future. The Service stated this may be particularly true for Deseret milk-vetch, which is adapted to dry conditions and has survived during periods of drought. In 2011, the Service reiterated its2007 position that Desenit milk-vetch does not warrant protection under the ESA since threats to the species as identified in the 1999 final listing rule were not as significant as earlier believed and are managed such that the species is not likely to become in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range in the foreseeable future. Since 2007, when the Service published its intention to delist Deseret milk­ vetch, additional studies have been completed that reported an increased amount of occupied habitat and increased population estimate, which indicate there are no significant threats to the species (Fitts 2008, Fitts and Fitts 2009, 2010, as cited in Service 2011; Trans West 2015). Since the species listing in 1999, the Service has reported more than once that, in addition to lacking a significant threat, Deseret milk-vetch occurs in much larger numbers and over a larger geographic area than was known at the time of listing. This information is corroborated by the additional data in the enclosed Trans West 2015 survey report. Additionally, the Service has twice detennined it was not prudent to the recovery of the species to either designate critical habitat or complete a recovery plan. Western supports the dete1mination of the Service's five­ year status review that Deseret milk-vetch should be de listed for the reason that the original data for classification was in error, pursuant to 50 C.P.R.§ 424.11 (Service 2007, 2011). Upon delisting, Deseret milk-vetch would be managed pursuant to a Conservation Agreement among the Service and Utah State agencies (Service 2011). Accordingly, Western would still be committed to conservation measures to avoid and minimize potential impacts to the species. Dr. Tim Langer of my staff is available at (720) 962-7275 to answer any questions relative to Western's petition to delist Deseret milk-vetch. Mark A. Gabriel Administrator Enclosure Trans West 2015 Deseret Milk-vetch Survey Report 4 cc: Bridget Fahey, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Headquarters, Chief, Division of Conservation and Classification Mike Thabault, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain Prairie Region, Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services 5 References Cited: Barneby, R.C. In A. Cronquist, A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren, J.L. Reveal, and P.K. Holmgren. 1989. Intermountain Flora, Volume 3, Part B. Fabales. Columbia University Press, New York, NY. 279 pp. Fitts, R.D. 2008. Summary of Astragalus desereticus field survey. Conducted spring 2008. The Utah Natural Heritage Program, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. 2 pp. -----and S.G. Fitts. 2009. Inventory of the rare endemic plant Astragalus desereticus (Deseret milk-vetch). Preliminary Report. 2008 Project. Utah Natural Heritage Program, Utah Division ofWildlife Resources. February 2009. 9 pp. -----and-----. 2010. Survey and monitoring the rare endemic plant Astragalus desereticus (Deseret milk-vetch). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, February 2010 draft report. 10 pp. QGET [Quality Growth Efficiency Tools Technical Committee]. 1997. Baseline scenario. Report on file with Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. 58 pp. Service [United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceJ.