[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 139 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34155-34156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15362]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2017-N132; FXES11130000-189-FF08E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery
Plan for the Southern California Distinct Population Segment of the
Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana muscosa)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the Draft Recovery Plan for the Southern California
Distinct Population Segment of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana
muscosa) for public review and comment. The draft recovery plan
includes objective, measurable criteria, and site-specific management
actions as may be necessary to reclassify the species from endangered
to threatened and also for removal from the Federal List of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife.
DATES: We must receive any comments on the draft recovery plan on or
before September 17, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain a copy of the recovery
plan from our website at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html. Alternatively, you may contact the Carlsbad Fish
and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2177 Salk Avenue,
Suite 250, Carlsbad, California 92008 (telephone 760-431-9440).
Comment submission: If you wish to comment on the draft recovery
plan, you may submit your comments in writing by any one of the
following methods:
U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the above address;
Hand-delivery: Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, at the
above address; or
Email: fw8cfwocomments@fws.gov. For additional information
about submitting comments, see the ``Public Comments Solicited''
section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mendel Stewart, Field Supervisor, at
the above street address or telephone number (see ADDRESSES).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status of listed species to
the point at which listing is no longer necessary under the criteria
specified in section 4(a)(1) of the Act. The Act requires the
development of recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan
would not promote the conservation of a particular species.
Pursuant to section 4(f) of the Act, a recovery plan must, to the
maximum extent practicable, include (1) A description of site-specific
management actions as may be necessary to achieve the plan's goals for
the conservation and survival of the species; (2) objective, measurable
criteria which, when met, would support a determination under section
4(a)(1) that the species should be removed from the List of Endangered
and Threatened Species; and (3) estimates of the time and costs
required to carry out those measures needed to achieve the plan's goal
and to achieve intermediate steps toward that goal.
The Service has revised its approach to recovery planning; the
revised process is called Recovery Planning and Implementation (RPI).
The RPI process is intended to reduce the time needed to develop and
implement recovery plans, increase recovery plan relevancy over a
longer timeframe, and add flexibility to recovery plans so they can be
adjusted to new information or circumstances. Under RPI, a recovery
plan will include statutorily required elements (objective, measurable
criteria, site-specific management actions, and estimates of time and
costs), along with a concise introduction and our strategy for how we
plan to achieve species recovery. The RPI recovery plan is supported by
a separate Species Status Assessment, or in cases such as this one, a
species biological report that provides the background information and
threat assessment, which are key to recovery plan development. The
essential component to flexible implementation under RPI is producing a
separate working document called the Recovery Implementation Strategy
(implementation strategy). The implementation strategy steps down from
the more general description of actions described in the recovery plan
to detail the specific, near-term activities needed to implement the
recovery plan. The implementation strategy will be adaptable by being
able to incorporate new information without having to concurrently
revise the recovery plan, unless changes to statutory elements are
required.
The Service listed the southern California distinct population
segment of mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) (hereafter
``southern R. muscosa'') as endangered in 2002 (67 FR 44382, July 2,
2002), and critical habitat was designated for the species in 2006 (71
FR 54344, September 14, 2006). Historically, southern R. muscosa was
widely distributed in at least 166 known populations in watersheds
across four mountain ranges in southern California. Currently, the
species is restricted to 10 small, isolated populations in the
headwaters of streams or tributaries within the San Gabriel, San
Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains. Primary habitat for the southern
R. muscosa includes streams with permanent (perennial) water that have
steep gradients with numerous pools, rapids, and small waterfalls. The
smallest creeks are likely not inhabited by southern R. muscosa
[[Page 34156]]
because they lack adequate depth to provide refuge or overwintering
habitat.
Southern Rana muscosa is impacted by a number of threats,
including: Recreational activities (hiking, mountain climbing, camping,
swimming, stocking of trout resulting in predation, and suction dredge
mining for gold), dumping of trash and release of toxic or hazardous
materials into occupied stream reaches, wildfire, predatory nonnative
species (trout), the potential for disease, threats associated with
small population size (genetic, demographic, and environmental
stochasticity, and natural catastrophes), illegal marijuana
cultivation, fire management activities, nonnative plants, climate
change, and contaminants.
Recovery Strategy
The purpose of a recovery plan is to provide a framework for the
recovery of a species so that protection under the Act is no longer
necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about the
species and provides criteria that enable us to gauge whether
downlisting or delisting the species is warranted. Furthermore,
recovery plans help guide our recovery efforts by describing actions we
consider necessary for each species' conservation and by estimating
time and costs for implementing needed recovery measures.
The goal of this recovery plan is to control or ameliorate impacts
from current threats to the southern Rana muscosa such that the taxon
no longer requires protections afforded by the Act and, therefore,
warrants delisting. Continued outreach with our partners is needed to
ensure long-term protections are afforded to the southern R. muscosa
and its habitat. The site-specific management actions identified in the
draft recovery plan are as follows:
(1) Conduct research to inform management actions throughout the
range of the species;
(2) Create and implement a protocol for rangewide surveys and
monitoring;
(3) Ameliorate Factor A threats associated with present or
threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the habitat or
range throughout each of the three Recovery Units;
(4) Ameliorate Factor C threats associated with predation and
disease in each of the three Recovery Units;
(5) Ameliorate Factor E threats associated with other natural or
manmade factors affecting the continued existence of southern Rana
muscosa in each of the three Recovery Units;
(6) Use reestablishment and population augmentation to increase
abundance and expand distribution in the wild.
Public Comments Solicited
We solicit written comments on the draft recovery plan described in
this notice. All comments received by the date specified in DATES will
be considered in development of a final recovery plan for southern Rana
muscosa. You may submit written comments and information by mail,
email, or in person to the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office at the
above address (see ADDRESSES).
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority
We developed this recovery plan and publish this notice under the
authority of section 4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Angela Picco,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-15362 Filed 7-18-18; 8:45 am]
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