Thursday, December 6, 2007 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 Aug<31>2005 20:51 Dec 05, 2007 Jkt 214001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\06DEP2.SGM 06DEP2 pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS2 69034 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 234 / Thursday, December 6, 2007 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR candidate species and in management best available scientific and commercial for conserving them. We also request information. As defined in section 3 of Fish and Wildlife Service information on additional species that the Act, an endangered species is any we should consider including as species which is in danger of extinction 50 CFR Part 17 candidates as we prepare future updates throughout all or a significant portion of of this notice. its range, and a threatened species is Endangered and Threatened Wildlife This document also includes our any species which is likely to become and Plants; Review of Native Species findings on resubmitted petitions and an endangered species within the That Are Candidates for Listing as describes our progress in revising the foreseeable future throughout all or a Endangered or Threatened; Annual Lists of Endangered and Threatened significant portion of its range. Through Notice of Findings on Resubmitted Wildlife and Plants during the period the Federal rulemaking process, we add Petitions; Annual Description of September 26, 2006, through September species that meet these definitions to Progress on Listing Actions 30, 2007. the List of Endangered and Threatened AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, DATES: We will accept comments on the Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11 or the List of Interior. most recent Candidate Notice of Review Endangered and Threatened Plants at 50 CFR 17.12. As part of this program, we ACTION: Notice of review. at any time. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments maintain a list of species that we regard SUMMARY: In this Candidate Notice of regarding a particular species to the as candidates for listing. A candidate Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and Regional Director of the Region species is one for which we have on file Wildlife Service (Service), present an identified in SUPPLEMENTARY sufficient information on biological updated list of plant and animal species INFORMATION as having the lead vulnerability and threats to support a native to the United States that we responsibility for that species. You may proposal to list as endangered or regard as candidates for or have mail or fax comments of a more general threatened, but for which preparation proposed for addition to the Lists of nature to the Chief, Division of and publication of a proposal is Endangered and Threatened Wildlife Conservation and Classification, U.S. precluded by higher-priority listing and Plants under the Endangered Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. actions. Species Act of 1973, as amended. Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA We maintain this list of candidates for Identification of candidate species can 22203 (facsimile 703/358–2171). a variety of reasons: to notify the public assist environmental planning efforts by Written comments and materials we that these species are facing threats to providing advance notice of potential receive in response to this notice will be their survival; to provide advance listings, allowing landowners and available for public inspection by knowledge of potential listings that resource managers to alleviate threats appointment at the Division of could affect decisions of environmental and thereby possibly remove the need to Conservation and Classification (for planners and developers; to provide list species as endangered or threatened. comments of a general nature only) or information that may stimulate and Even if we subsequently list a candidate at the appropriate Regional Office listed guide conservation efforts that will species, the early notice provided here in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. remove or reduce threats to these could result in more options for species Species assessment forms with species and possibly make listing management and recovery by prompting information and references on a unnecessary; to solicit input from candidate conservation measures to particular candidate species’ range, interested parties to help us identify alleviate threats to the species. status, habitat needs, and listing priority those candidate species that may not The CNOR summarizes the status and assignment are available for review at require protection under the Act or threats that we evaluated in order to the appropriate Regional Office listed additional species that may require the determine that species qualify as below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or Act’s protections; and to solicit candidates and to assign a listing at the Division of Conservation and necessary information for setting priority number (LPN) to each species, Classification, Arlington, Virginia (see priorities for preparing listing proposals. or to remove species from candidate address above), or on our Internet Web We strongly encourage collaborative status. Additional material that we site (http://endangered.fws.gov/ conservation efforts for candidate relied on is available in the Species candidates/index.html). species and offer technical and financial assistance to facilitate such efforts. For Assessment and Listing Priority FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The additional information regarding such Assignment Forms (species assessment Endangered Species Coordinator(s) in assistance, please contact the forms, previously called candidate the appropriate Regional Office(s) or appropriate Regional Office listed in forms) for each candidate species. Chris Nolin, Chief, Division of Overall, this CNOR recognizes 5 new Conservation and Classification SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION or visit our candidates, changes the LPN for 29 (telephone 703–358–2171; facsimile Internet Web site, http:// candidates, and removes 4 species from 703–358–1735). Persons who use a endangered.fws.gov/candidates/ candidate status. Combined with other telecommunications device for the deaf index.html. decisions for individual species that (TDD) may call the Federal Information Previous Notices of Review were published separately from this Relay Service (FIRS) at 800–877–8339. CNOR, the new number of species that We have been publishing candidate are candidates for listing is 280. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: notices of review (CNOR) since 1975. We request additional status Candidate Notice of Review The most recent CNOR (prior to this information that may be available for CNOR) was published on September 12, the 280 candidate species identified in Background 2006 (71 FR 53755). CNORs published this CNOR. We will consider this The Endangered Species Act of 1973, since 1994 are available on our Internet information in preparing listing as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) Web site, http://www.fws.gov/ documents and future revisions to the (Act), requires that we identify species endangered/candidates/index.html. For notice of review, as it will help us in of wildlife and plants that are copies of CNORs published prior to monitoring changes in the status of endangered or threatened, based on the 1994, please contact the Division of VerDate Aug<31>2005 20:51 Dec 05, 2007 Jkt 214001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\06DEP2.SGM 06DEP2 pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS2 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 234 / Thursday, December 6, 2007 / Proposed Rules 69035 Conservation and Classification (see distinct population segments of and published in the Federal Register, ADDRESSES section above). vertebrate species, and species for while work on others is still under way. On September 21, 1983, we published which listing is appropriate in a See the discussions of Preclusion and guidance for assigning an LPN for each significant portion of their range. Expeditious Progress, below, for candidate species (48 FR 43098). Using The result of the ranking system is details.) this guidance, we assign each candidate that we assign each candidate a listing Based on our review of the best an LPN of 1 to 12, depending on the priority number of 1 to 12. For example, available scientific and commercial magnitude of threats, imminence of if the threat(s) is of high magnitude, information, with this CNOR we threats, and taxonomic status; the lower with immediacy classified as imminent, identify 5 new candidate species (see the LPN, the higher the listing priority the listable entity is assigned an LPN of New Candidates, below), change the (that is, a species with an LPN of 1 1, 2, or 3 based on its taxonomic status LPN for 28 candidates (see Listing would have the highest listing priority). (e.g., if the species is the only member Priority Changes in Candidates, below) Such a priority ranking guidance system of a genus, it would be assigned to the and determine that listing proposals are is required under section 4(h)(3) of the LPN 1 category, a full species to LPN 2, not warranted for 4 species and thus Act (15 U.S.C. 1533(h)(3)). As explained and a subspecies, DPS, or significant remove them from candidate status (see below, in using this system we first portion of the range to LPN 3). In Candidate Removals, below). Combined categorize based on the