[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 189 (Friday, September 30, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59384-59386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21191]
[[Page 59384]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151; FF09E21000 FXES11110900000 223]
RIN 1018-BE33
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of
Critical Habitat for the Coastal Distinct Population Segment of the
Pacific Marten
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; revisions and reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are
reopening the comment period on our October 25, 2021, proposed rule to
designate critical habitat for the coastal distinct population segment
of Pacific marten (coastal marten) (Martes caurina), a mammal species
from coastal California and Oregon, under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act). This action will allow all interested parties
an additional opportunity to comment on the October 25, 2021, proposed
rule, as well as the opportunity to comment on the additional areas we
are considering for exclusion from critical habitat designation,
potential changes to Unit 1, and on new habitat modeling efforts for
the coastal marten, as explained in this document. Comments previously
submitted need not be resubmitted as they are already incorporated into
the public record and will be fully considered in the final rule.
DATES: The comment period on the proposed rule that published October
25, 2021 (86 FR 58831) is reopened. We will accept comments received or
postmarked on or before October 17, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Written comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151,
which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the
Search button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of
the screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule
box to locate the document. You may submit a comment by clicking on
``Comment.''
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described
above. We will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see Public Comments, below, for more information).
Availability of supporting materials: This document and supporting
materials (including the species status assessment report, comments and
information received on the proposed rule, and references cited) are
available at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-
2020-0151 and at the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya Sommer, Field Supervisor, Arcata
Fish and Wildlife Office, 1655 Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521;
telephone 707-822-7201. Individuals in the United States who are deaf,
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On October 25, 2021, we published in the Federal Register (86 FR
58831) a proposed rule to designate approximately 1,413,305 acres (ac)
(571,965 hectares (ha)) of critical habitat in Oregon and California
for the coastal marten. In the proposed designation, we identified
76,544 ac (30,976 ha) of private land owned by Green Diamond Resource
Company (Green Diamond) and 26,126 ac (10,573 ha) of Yurok Tribal land
that we are considering for exclusion from the critical habitat
designation under section 4(b)(2) of the Act.
During the comment period on the October 25, 2021, proposed rule,
we received information from the Yurok Tribe and Green Diamond that
made us aware of changes in land ownership between the two entities
based on recent land transfers. Below, we provide a summary of that
information and discuss changes to the areas we are now considering for
exclusion under section 4(b)(2) of the Act. We also provide information
related to new species occurrence modeling and information on areas
which may not contain the physical or biological features essential to
the conservation of the coastal marten. We will be considering all this
information during our designation process.
Although the critical habitat designation for the coastal marten
was proposed when the regulatory definition of habitat (85 FR 81411;
December 16, 2020) and the 4(b)(2) exclusion regulations (85 FR 82376;
December 18, 2020) were in place and in effect, those two regulations
have been rescinded (87 FR 37757; June 24, 2022 and 87 FR 43433; July
21, 2022) and no longer apply to any designations of critical habitat.
Therefore, for the final rule designating critical habitat for the
coastal marten, we will apply the regulations at 424.19 and the 2016
Joint Policy on 4(b)(2) exclusions (81 FR 7226; February 11, 2016).
Changes to Areas Identified for Exclusion and Additional Information
Received
Tribal Lands and Green Diamond Resource Company Lands; Unit 5 Klamath
Mountains
As identified above, our proposed critical habitat rule identified
approximately 26,126 ac (10,573 ha) of Yurok Tribal lands and 76,544 ac
(30,976 ha) of Green Diamond lands within the proposed designation of
critical habitat for the coastal marten in Unit 5 in California. Based
on additional information received from Green Diamond and the Yurok
Tribe, we became aware of land ownership transfers between the two
entities. As a result, approximately 27,564 ac (11,155 ha) of land
identified for exclusion for Green Diamond have been transferred to the
Yurok Tribe. We now identify approximately 48,980 ac (19,822 ha) of
Green Diamond land for potential exclusion within the proposed
designation. Based on the land transfers and additional exclusion
requests, the Yurok Tribe has requested that approximately 93,898 ac
(37,999 ha) of land be considered for exclusion based on Yurok Tribal
interests. These Tribal areas are comprised of a mix of current land
ownership and include approximately 68,898 ac (27,882 ha) of Yurok
Tribal fee title and trust lands, lands held by Western Rivers
Conservancy for the Tribe, and approximately 25,000 ac (10,117 ha) of
ancestral Yurok Tribal lands currently owned by the U.S. Forest
Service. Despite the mixed ownership, we are considering the Tribe's
request for exclusion of the entire 93,898 ac (37,999 ha). The amount
and ownership
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information for the areas being considered for exclusion for the
various entities is outlined in the table below.
Further, during the open comment period, we also received
information regarding occurrence and habitat use by the coastal marten
based on new modeling efforts (National Council for Air and Stream
Improvement 2021). Although we are not now making any changes to the
proposed designation based on the revised habitat modeling, we intend
to review these habitat modeling efforts and determine if changes to
the proposed designation are needed based on this information.
Information regarding the revised habitat modeling is available at
https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151-0022,
and we invite public comment on the habitat modeling efforts to inform
our review.
In addition, the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon commented that some
proposed areas in the Siuslaw National Forest may not contain the
physical or biological features and therefore are not critical habitat.
We are in the process of reviewing the information provided by the
Forest Service and will make adjustments to the designation if
appropriate between proposed and final designation. Information
regarding the U.S. Forest Service's comments are available at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151-0039.
Table of Areas Considered for Exclusion by Critical Habitat Unit
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Area meeting the
definition of Areas Considered for Summary of rationale for
Unit No. Unit name critical habitat (in Land ownership possible exclusion proposed exclusion
ac (ha)) (in ac (ha))
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5........................... Klamath Mountains........ 1,289,627 (521,894) Green Diamond Resource 48,980 ac (19,822 Existing land
Company. ha) management, State safe
harbor agreement,
memorandum of
understanding (MOU),
and maintaining
partnership.
Yurok Tribe; Western 93,898 ac (37,999 Existing land
Rivers Conservancy; U.S. ha) management, MOU, and
Forest Service. maintaining
partnership.
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Based on existing conservation and management actions for natural
resources by the Green Diamond Resource Company and the Yurok Tribe as
outlined under Consideration of Exclusions Under Section 4(b)(2) of the
Act in the October 25, 2021, proposed rule (86 FR 58844-58848), as well
as in additional information received during the public comment period
from both the Yurok Tribe and Green Diamond (see Docket FWS-R8-ES-2020-
0151-0036 and FWS-R8-ES-2020-0151-0024), we are now considering
excluding approximately 48,980 ac (19,822 ha) of Green Diamond land and
93,898 ac (37,999 ha) of Yurok Tribe identified lands from the final
designation.
Public Comments
We will accept written comments and information during this
reopened comment period on our proposed rule to designate critical
habitat for the coastal marten. We will consider information and
recommendations from all interested parties. We intend that any final
action resulting from the proposal will be based on the best scientific
data available. Our final determination will take into consideration
all comments and any additional information we receive during the open
comment period on the proposed rule.
Because we will consider all comments and information received
during both comment periods, our final determination may differ from
our October 25, 2021 (86 FR 58831) proposed rule. Based on the new
information we receive (and any comments on that new information), our
final critical habitat designation may not include all areas proposed,
may include some additional areas that meet the definition of critical
habitat, and may exclude some additional areas if we find the benefits
of exclusion outweigh the benefits of inclusion and not lead to the
extinction of the species.
If you already submitted comments or information on the October 25,
2021, proposed rule, please do not resubmit them. Any such comments are
incorporated as part of the public record of the rulemaking proceeding,
and we will fully consider them in the preparation of our final
determination.
Comments should be as specific as possible. Please include
sufficient information with your submission (such as scientific journal
articles or other publications) to allow us to verify any scientific or
commercial information you assert. Please note that submissions merely
stating support for, or opposition to, the action under consideration
without providing supporting information, although noted, do not
provide substantial information necessary to support our determination,
as section 4(b)(2) of the Act directs that designations of critical
habitat be made ``on the basis of the best scientific data available.''
We request that you send comments and materials only by one of the
methods listed in ADDRESSES. If you submit information via https://www.regulations.gov, your entire submission--including your personal
identifying information--will be posted on the website. If your
submission is made via a hardcopy that includes personal identifying
information, you may request at the top of your document that we
withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy
submissions on https://www.regulations.gov.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing the proposed rule, will be available
for public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-
R8-ES-2020-0151.
Authors
The primary authors of this document are the staff members of the
Fish and Wildlife Service's Species Assessment Team and the Pacific
Southwest Regional Office (Region 8).
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Authority
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as
amended, is the authority for this action.
Martha Williams,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-21191 Filed 9-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P