Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 1997 / Notices 43545 Islands Ecoregion at the Honolulu cultivation facilities on the islands of 62, No. 108, Page 30876, that an address given above. Maui and Oahu. The remaining 21 application had been filed with the Fish FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: individuals are in small (10,000 square and Wildlife Service by Jon Ziegler, Karen Rosa, Assistant Field Supervisor- feet or less) outplanting sites on Rapid City, SD (PRT±830065) for a Endangered Species, at the Honolulu privately owned Molokai Ranch lands, permit to import a sport-hunted polar address given above. at Puu Nana, about 365 meters (1200 bear (Ursus maritimus) from Canada for feet) elevation. personal use. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The destruction of dryland habitats Notice is hereby given that on July 21, Background throughout the Hawaiian Islands, which 1997, as authorized by the provisions of Restoring endangered or threatened began 1,500 years ago with the coming the Marine Mammal Protection Act of animals and plants to the point where of the Polynesians to Hawaii and 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et they are again secure, self-sustaining increased greatly with the arrival of the seq.) the Fish and Wildlife Service members of their ecosystem is a primary Europeans a little over 200 years ago, authorized the requested permit subject goal of the Service's endangered species has led to the elimination of Kokia to certain conditions set forth therein. program. To help guide the recovery cookei in the wild. Kokia cookei was Documents and other information effort, the Service is working to prepare directly impacted by browsing, bark submitted for these applications are recovery plans for most of the listed stripping, and soil trampling by available for review by any party who species native to the United States, its domestic and feral cattle, goats, and submits a written request to the U.S. Territories and Commonwealths. sheep. Currently, this species is most Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Recovery plans describe actions threatened by the extremely low number Management Authority, 4401 North considered necessary for conservation of of individuals remaining, the lack of Fairfax Drive, Rm 430, Arlington, the species, establish criteria for the naturally rooted plants, and the lack of Virginia 22203. Phone (703) 358±2104 recovery levels for downlisting or viable seed production by the remaining or Fax (703) 358±2281. delisting them, and estimate time and individuals. Dated: August 8, 1997. The objective of this plan is to cost for implementing the recovery Mary Ellen Amtower, measures needed. provide a framework for the recovery of Kokia cookei so that its protection by Acting Chief, Branch of Permits, Office of The Endangered Species Act of 1973, Management Authority. as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) the Act is no longer necessary. Recovery efforts will focus on increasing the [FR Doc. 97±21449 Filed 8±13±97; 8:45 am] (Act), requires the development of BILLING CODE 4310±55±P recovery plans for listed species unless numbers of cloned individuals while such a plan would not promote the pursuing research into other methods, such as embryo culture methodology, conservation of a particular species. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in for the production of individuals 1988, requires that a public notice and capable of setting viable seed. Suitable Bureau of Land Management an opportunity for public review and sites for outplanting of individuals on comment be provided during recovery Molokai, Maui, and Lanai will be [NM±030±7122±03±821G] located and steps taken to manage these plan development. The Service will Proposed Expansion of the Santa Rita consider all information presented lands for the perpetuity of Kokia cookei and other native components of the Pit and Land Exchange in Grant during a public comment period prior to County, New Mexico approval of each new or revised dryland forest. recovery plan. Substantive technical Public Comments Solicited AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, comments will result in changes to the Interior. The Service solicits written comments plan. Substantive comments regarding on the recovery plan described. All ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an recovery plan implementation may not comments received by the date specified Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) necessarily result in changes to the above will be considered prior to and notice of scoping meeting. recovery plan, but will be forwarded to approval of this plan. appropriate Federal or other entities so SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) that they can take these comments into Authority of the National Environmental Policy account during the course of The authority for this action is section Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the implementing recovery actions. 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16 Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Las Individualized responses to comments U.S.C. 1533(f). Cruces District Office, will be directing will not be provided. the preparation of an EIS to be prepared The species being considered in this Dated: August 8, 1997. by a third party contractor. The EIS will recovery plan is Kokia cookei. Known Thomas J. Dwyer, describe the potential impacts of the only from the island of Molokai, Kokia Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Phelps Dodge Corporation-Chino Mines cookei has been described as the rarest Wildlife Service, Region 1. Company (CMC) proposed Santa Rita Pit plant in the world. When first [FR Doc. 97±21545 Filed 8±13±97; 8:45 am] Expansion and Land Exchange Project, discovered in the 1860s, three trees of BILLING CODE 4310±55±P located approximately 7 miles north- this species were known. By the northeast of the town of Hurley, in twentieth century, only a single wild Grant County, New Mexico. The tree remained. The species became DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR proposed development would occur extirpated from the wild in 1918. partially on patented CMC land and Currently, only 28 cloned individuals of Fish and Wildlife Service partially on Federal land administered Kokia cookei exist. These individuals Issuance of Permits for Marine by the BLM. were produced by grafting to root stocks Mammals The public is invited to participate in of the two related Kokia species, Kokia the planning process. A public scoping kauaiensis and Kokia drynarioides. On June 5, 1997, a notice was meeting will be held at the following Seven individuals are in artificial published in the Federal Register, Vol. time and location: 43546 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 1997 / Notices Time/Date Location 7:00 p.m. September 3, 1997 .................................................................. Bayard Community Center, 300 Hurley Avenue, Bayard, New Mexico. DATES: Written comments on the Corporation. CMC also owns and The existing haulage truck fleet moves scoping process will be accepted operates a copper concentrator, solution approximately 60,000 tons per day of through September 15, 1997. extraction and electrowinning facility, ore, 151,000 tons per day of leach rock, ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to copper smelter, and ancillary support and 228,000 tons per day of waste rock. Tom Custer, Bureau of Land facilities near the Santa Rita Mine. A fleet of 190- to 240-ton haul trucks is Management, 1800 Marquess, Las Phelps Dodge owns a two-thirds interest utilized to move this material. Ore is Cruces, New Mexico 88005. and is the operator of the property, and delivered to the concentrator primary Heisei owns a one-third interest. In FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom crusher; leach ore and no-leach rock are Custer, BLM Las Cruces District Office, 1995, CMC produced a total of 168,700 delivered to stockpiles on the perimeter tons of copper metal along with by- at (505) 525±4328. of the pit. Haul distances are currently products molybdenum, gold, and silver. averaging about 13,000 feet with 600 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CMC is Chino ranks fifth largest in the United feet of lift. proposing to expand its current copper States and sixteenth largest in the world mining operation at the Santa Rita Mine The POO provides detailed in terms of annual copper production. descriptions of the CMC facility onto land administered by the BLM. An In 1995, Chino mined a total of 116 economic ore deposit lies within the including ancillary facilities, supporting million tons of rock from the Santa Rita structures, and proposed action. southeastern end of the mine pit on open pit. patented land. Removing the The Proposed Action considered in Reclamation bonding and analyses overburden and extracting the ore safely the POO describes mining activities will be determined through the will require constructing access roads related to continuing the advance of the development of a reclamation plan with and laying the pit walls back onto BLM open pit and rock stockpiles to the the New Mexico Mining and Minerals land. It will also include expanding south of existing operations onto Division (MMD). The goal of existing stockpiles and locating new Federal land administered by the BLM. reclamation of the Santa Rita Mine will stockpiles. The Santa Rita open pit mine be to effectively mitigate impacts to the In 1995, BLM required CMC to presently covers an area of natural, human, and cultural prepare an amendment to a 1981 Plan approximately one square mile at the environment. Implementation of the of Operations (POO) for the Santa Rita perimeter, with additional areas on the Reclamation Plan will require that CMC Mine for certain proposed new activities perimeter used as rock stockpiles. The comply with all applicable rules and on public land. The amended POO upper most level in the pit is located on standards set forth by the BLM and the described proposed mining activities for the east side at the 6,750 foot elevation New Mexico Mining Act.