80_FR_23124 80 FR 23045 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California Tiger Salamander

80 FR 23045 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California Tiger Salamander

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 79 (April 24, 2015)

Page Range23045-23046
FR Document2015-09547

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of the draft recovery plan for the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense). The recovery plan includes recovery objectives and criteria, and specific actions necessary to achieve downlisting and delisting from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We request review and comment on this plan from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. We will also accept any new information on the status of the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander throughout its range to assist in finalizing the recovery plan.

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 79 (Friday, April 24, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 79 (Friday, April 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23045-23046]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09547]


=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2015-N043; FXES11130000-156-FF08E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Recovery 
Plan for the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the 
California Tiger Salamander

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the 
availability of the draft recovery plan for the Santa Barbara County 
Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander 
(Ambystoma californiense). The recovery plan includes recovery 
objectives and criteria, and specific actions necessary to achieve 
downlisting and delisting from the Federal Lists of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We request review and comment on this 
plan from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. 
We will also accept any new information on the status of the Santa 
Barbara County Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger 
salamander throughout its range to assist in finalizing the recovery 
plan.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive written comments on or 
before June 23, 2015. However, we will accept information about any 
species at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the draft recovery plan from our 
Web site at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html. 
Alternatively, you may contact the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, 
California 93003 (telephone 805-644-1766). 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: Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, at the 
above address;
     Fax: (805) 644-3958; or
     Email: [email protected].
    For additional information about submitting comments, see the 
``Request for Public Comments'' section below.

[[Page 23046]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen P. Henry, 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 appropriate 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.
    On January 19, 2000, the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population 
Segment (DPS) of the California tiger salamander was emergency listed 
as endangered (65 FR 3096). The final listing rule for the species was 
subsequently published on September 21, 2000 (65 FR 57242). Critical 
habitat for the DPS was designated in 2004 (69 FR 68568).
    The Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander is 
endemic to the northern portion of Santa Barbara County, California, 
and currently consists of six distinct metapopulations, defined as a 
set of local populations or breeding sites within an area, where 
typically dispersal from one local population or breeding site to other 
areas containing suitable habitat is possible, but not routine. The 
primary threat that resulted in the listing of the Santa Barbara DPS of 
the California tiger salamander as federally endangered was the loss, 
degradation, and fragmentation of habitat from human activities. The 
California tiger salamander requires a combination of pond habitat for 
breeding, and upland (underground) habitat for the rest of its life 
cycle. The species depends on a series of interconnected breeding and 
upland habitats, making it particularly sensitive to changes in the 
amount, configuration, and quality of these habitats. The loss and 
destruction of habitat continues to represent the primary threat to the 
species. Within the range of the Santa Barbara County DPS of the 
California tiger salamander, significant portions of its habitat have 
been altered or destroyed. Additional threats to the species include 
hybridization with nonnative tiger salamanders, predation and 
competition by nonnative species, vehicle-strike mortality, and lack of 
compliance with existing regulatory mechanisms. A majority of the known 
California tiger salamander occurrences in Santa Barbara County 
currently occur on private lands, requiring continual coordination with 
multiple private and local government entities for management.

Recovery Plan

    The purpose of a recovery plan is to provide a framework for the 
recovery of species so that protection under the Act is no longer 
necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about the 
species and provides criteria that help 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 draft recovery plan is to reduce the threats to 
the Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander to 
ensure its long-term viability in the wild, and allow for its removal 
from the list of threatened and endangered species. The interim goal is 
to recover the DPS to the point that it can be downlisted from 
endangered to threatened status. The recovery objectives of the plan 
are:
    1. Protect and manage sufficient habitat within the metapopulation 
areas to support long-term viability of the Santa Barbara County DPS of 
the California tiger salamander.
    2. Reduce or remove other threats to the Santa Barbara County DPS 
of the California tiger salamander.
    The draft recovery plan contains recovery criteria based on 
maintaining and increasing population numbers and habitat quality and 
quantity, and mitigating significant threats to the species. As the 
Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander meets these 
criteria, we will review the species' status and consider the species 
for downlisting or removal from the Federal List of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

Request for Public Comments

    Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an 
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan 
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery 
plans (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). In an appendix to the approved 
recovery plan, we will summarize and respond to the issues raised by 
the public and peer reviewers. Substantive comments may or may not 
result in changes to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery 
plan implementation will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or 
other entities so that they can be taken into account during the course 
of implementing recovery actions. Responses to individual commenters 
will not be provided, but we will provide a summary of how we addressed 
substantive comments in an appendix to the approved recovery plan.
    We invite written comments on the draft recovery plan. In 
particular, we are interested in additional information regarding the 
current threats to the species, and our proposed approach to recovering 
the species.
    Before we approve our final recovery plan, we will consider all 
comments we receive by the date specified in DATES above. Methods of 
submitting comments are in the ADDRESSES section above.

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.
    Comments and materials we receive will be available, by 
appointment, for public inspection during normal business hours at our 
office (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

    We developed our draft recovery plan under the authority of section 
4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this notice under 
section 4(f) Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.).

Alexandra Pitts,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-09547 Filed 4-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P



                                                                               Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 79 / Friday, April 24, 2015 / Notices                                                 23045

                                                                        Applicant name                                                         Contact                           Region        Award amount

                                              Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc., 2401 Lake Street,                 Joseph Garcia, 402–934–9996 .......................               7        325,000.00
                                                 Omaha, NE 68111.
                                              Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Coun-                Willie Jordan, 314–448–9063 ..........................             7      324,996.00
                                                 cil, 1027 S. Vandeventer Avenue, 6th Floor, St. Louis, MO
                                                 63110.
                                              Disability Law Center, 205 N. 400 W., Salt Lake City, UT                  Adina Zahradnikova, 801–363–1347 ..............                   8        234,297.00
                                                 84103.
                                              Montana Fair Housing, Inc., 519 East Front Street, Butte, MT              Pamela Bean, 406–782–2573 .........................                8      205,838.00
                                                 59701.
                                              Arizona Fair Housing Center, 615 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ               Kanitta Padilla, 602–548–1599 .......................             9        320,430.00
                                                 85003.
                                              Bay Area Legal Aid, 1735 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA                    Jaclyn Pinero, 510–250–5229 .........................             9        325,000.00
                                                 94612.
                                              California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., 2201 Broadway, Suite             Susan Podesta, 530–742–5191 ......................                 9      325,000.00
                                                 815, Oakland, CA 94105.
                                              Fair Housing Council of Central California, 333 W. Shaw Ave-              Marilyn Borelli, 559–244–2950 ........................            9        319,892.00
                                                 nue, Suite 14, Fresno, CA 93704.
                                              Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Inc., 3933 Mission              Rose Mayes, 503–223–8197 ..........................                9      284,894.00
                                                 Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501.
                                              Fair Housing of Marin, 1314 Lincoln Avenue, San Rafael, CA                Caroline Peattie, 415–457–5025 .....................               9      324,998.00
                                                 94901.
                                              Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Inc., 615 California Av-            Estela Casas, 661–334–4660 .........................               9      302,069.00
                                                 enue, Bakersfield, CA 93304.
                                              Inland Mediation Board, 1500 South Haven Avenue, Suite                    Lynne Anderson, 909–984–2254 ....................                 9        325,000.00
                                                 101, Ontario, CA 91761.
                                              Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, 924 Bethel Street, Honolulu, HI              Elise Von Dohlen, 808–527–8056 ...................                 9      325,000.00
                                                 96813.
                                              Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc., 110 S. Euclid Avenue,               Branden Butler, 619–417–2623 ......................                9      323,491.00
                                                 San Diego, CA 92114.
                                              Orange County Fair Housing Council, 201 S. Broadway,                      David Levy, 714–569–0823 .............................             9      320,820.00
                                                 Santa Ana, CA 92701.
                                              Project Sentinel Inc., 1490 Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA                  Ann Marquart, 888–324–7468 .........................              9        325,000.00
                                                 95050.
                                              Southern California Housing Rights Center, 3255 Wilshire                  Chancela Al-Mansour, 213–387–8400 ............                     9      325,000.00
                                                 Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010.
                                              Southwest Fair Housing Council, 2030 E. Broadway Blvd.,                   Jay Young, 520–798–1568 .............................              9      311,245.00
                                                 Suite 101, Tucson, AZ 85719.
                                              Fair Housing Center of Washington, 1517 South Fawcett,                    Lauren Walker, 253–274–9523 .......................               10       325,000.00
                                                 Suite 200, Tacoma, WA 98302.
                                              Fair Housing Council of Oregon, 1221 SW Yamhill Street,                   Pegge McGuire, 503–223–8197 .....................                 10       325,000.00
                                                 Suite 305, Portland, OR 97204.
                                              Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Inc., 5460 W. Franklin                Zoe Olson, 208–383–0695 ..............................            10       324,630.00
                                                 Road, Suite M 200, Boise, ID 83702.
                                              Northwest Fair Housing Alliance, 35 W. Main, Spokane, WA                  Marley Hochendoner, 509–209–2667 .............                    10       325,000.00
                                                 99201.



                                              [FR Doc. 2015–09619 Filed 4–23–15; 8:45 am]             the Santa Barbara County Distinct                        ADDRESSES:    You may obtain a copy of
                                              BILLING CODE 4210–67–P                                  Population Segment of the California                     the draft recovery plan from our Web
                                                                                                      tiger salamander (Ambystoma                              site at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/
                                                                                                      californiense). The recovery plan                        species/recovery-plans.html.
                                              DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR                              includes recovery objectives and                         Alternatively, you may contact the
                                                                                                      criteria, and specific actions necessary                 Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S.
                                              Fish and Wildlife Service                               to achieve downlisting and delisting                     Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola
                                              [FWS–R8–ES–2015–N043; FXES11130000–                     from the Federal Lists of Endangered                     Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003
                                              156–FF08E00000]                                         and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We                   (telephone 805–644–1766). If you wish
                                                                                                      request review and comment on this                       to comment on the draft recovery plan,
                                              Endangered and Threatened Wildlife                      plan from local, State, and Federal                      you may submit your comments in
                                              and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the                 agencies; Tribes; and the public. We                     writing by any one of the following
                                              Santa Barbara County Distinct                           will also accept any new information on                  methods:
                                              Population Segment of the California                    the status of the Santa Barbara County                      • U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the
                                              Tiger Salamander                                        Distinct Population Segment of the                       above address;
                                                                                                      California tiger salamander throughout
                                              AGENCY:   Fish and Wildlife Service,                                                                                • Hand-delivery: Ventura Fish and
                                                                                                      its range to assist in finalizing the
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                              Interior.                                                                                                        Wildlife Office, at the above address;
                                                                                                      recovery plan.
                                              ACTION: Notice of document availability;                                                                            • Fax: (805) 644–3958; or
                                              request for comments.                                   DATES:  To ensure consideration, we
                                                                                                      must receive written comments on or                         • Email: sbcts_rp@fws.gov.
                                              SUMMARY:   We, the U.S. Fish and                        before June 23, 2015. However, we will                      For additional information about
                                              Wildlife Service, announce the                          accept information about any species at                  submitting comments, see the ‘‘Request
                                              availability of the draft recovery plan for             any time.                                                for Public Comments’’ section below.


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                                              23046                            Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 79 / Friday, April 24, 2015 / Notices

                                              FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                        compliance with existing regulatory                   recovery plan; comments regarding
                                              Stephen P. Henry, Field Supervisor, at                  mechanisms. A majority of the known                   recovery plan implementation will be
                                              the above street address or telephone                   California tiger salamander occurrences               forwarded as appropriate to Federal or
                                              number (see ADDRESSES).                                 in Santa Barbara County currently occur               other entities so that they can be taken
                                              SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                              on private lands, requiring continual                 into account during the course of
                                                                                                      coordination with multiple private and                implementing recovery actions.
                                              Background                                              local government entities for                         Responses to individual commenters
                                                 Recovery of endangered or threatened                 management.                                           will not be provided, but we will
                                              animals and plants to the point where                                                                         provide a summary of how we
                                                                                                      Recovery Plan
                                              they are again secure, self-sustaining                                                                        addressed substantive comments in an
                                              members of their ecosystems is a                           The purpose of a recovery plan is to               appendix to the approved recovery plan.
                                              primary goal of our endangered species                  provide a framework for the recovery of                 We invite written comments on the
                                              program and the Endangered Species                      species so that protection under the Act              draft recovery plan. In particular, we are
                                              Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C.                 is no longer necessary. A recovery plan               interested in additional information
                                              1531 et seq.). Recovery means                           includes scientific information about                 regarding the current threats to the
                                              improvement of the status of listed                     the species and provides criteria that                species, and our proposed approach to
                                              species to the point at which listing is                help us to gauge whether downlisting or               recovering the species.
                                              no longer appropriate under the criteria                delisting the species is warranted.                     Before we approve our final recovery
                                              specified in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.                Furthermore, recovery plans help guide                plan, we will consider all comments we
                                              The Act requires the development of                     our recovery efforts by describing                    receive by the date specified in DATES
                                              recovery plans for listed species, unless               actions we consider necessary for each                above. Methods of submitting comments
                                              such a plan would not promote the                       species’ conservation and by estimating               are in the ADDRESSES section above.
                                              conservation of a particular species.                   time and costs for implementing needed
                                                 On January 19, 2000, the Santa                       recovery measures.                                    Public Availability of Comments
                                              Barbara County Distinct Population                         The goal of this draft recovery plan is              Before including your address, phone
                                              Segment (DPS) of the California tiger                   to reduce the threats to the Santa                    number, email address, or other
                                              salamander was emergency listed as                      Barbara County DPS of the California                  personal identifying information in your
                                              endangered (65 FR 3096). The final                      tiger salamander to ensure its long-term              comment, you should be aware that
                                              listing rule for the species was                        viability in the wild, and allow for its              your entire comment—including your
                                              subsequently published on September                     removal from the list of threatened and               personal identifying information—may
                                              21, 2000 (65 FR 57242). Critical habitat                endangered species. The interim goal is               be made publicly available at any time.
                                              for the DPS was designated in 2004 (69                  to recover the DPS to the point that it               While you can ask us in your comment
                                              FR 68568).                                              can be downlisted from endangered to                  to withhold your personal identifying
                                                 The Santa Barbara County DPS of the                  threatened status. The recovery                       information from public review, we
                                              California tiger salamander is endemic                  objectives of the plan are:                           cannot guarantee that we will be able to
                                              to the northern portion of Santa Barbara                   1. Protect and manage sufficient                   do so.
                                              County, California, and currently                       habitat within the metapopulation areas                 Comments and materials we receive
                                              consists of six distinct metapopulations,               to support long-term viability of the                 will be available, by appointment, for
                                              defined as a set of local populations or                Santa Barbara County DPS of the                       public inspection during normal
                                              breeding sites within an area, where                    California tiger salamander.                          business hours at our office (see
                                              typically dispersal from one local                         2. Reduce or remove other threats to               ADDRESSES).
                                              population or breeding site to other                    the Santa Barbara County DPS of the
                                              areas containing suitable habitat is                    California tiger salamander.                          Authority
                                              possible, but not routine. The primary                     The draft recovery plan contains                     We developed our draft recovery plan
                                              threat that resulted in the listing of the              recovery criteria based on maintaining                under the authority of section 4(f) of the
                                              Santa Barbara DPS of the California tiger               and increasing population numbers and                 Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this
                                              salamander as federally endangered was                  habitat quality and quantity, and                     notice under section 4(f) Endangered
                                              the loss, degradation, and fragmentation                mitigating significant threats to the                 Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
                                              of habitat from human activities. The                   species. As the Santa Barbara County                  U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
                                              California tiger salamander requires a                  DPS of the California tiger salamander                Alexandra Pitts,
                                              combination of pond habitat for                         meets these criteria, we will review the
                                              breeding, and upland (underground)                                                                            Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest
                                                                                                      species’ status and consider the species              Region.
                                              habitat for the rest of its life cycle. The             for downlisting or removal from the
                                                                                                                                                            [FR Doc. 2015–09547 Filed 4–23–15; 8:45 am]
                                              species depends on a series of                          Federal List of Endangered and
                                              interconnected breeding and upland                                                                            BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
                                                                                                      Threatened Wildlife and Plants.
                                              habitats, making it particularly sensitive
                                              to changes in the amount, configuration,                Request for Public Comments
                                              and quality of these habitats. The loss                    Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to             DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                                              and destruction of habitat continues to                 provide public notice and an                          Bureau of Land Management
                                              represent the primary threat to the                     opportunity for public review and
                                              species. Within the range of the Santa                  comment during recovery plan                          [LLOR930000.L63500000.DP0000.
                                              Barbara County DPS of the California                    development. It is also our policy to                 LXSS081H0000.15XL1116AF; HAG 15–0095]
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                              tiger salamander, significant portions of               request peer review of recovery plans
                                                                                                                                                            Notice of Availability of the Draft
                                              its habitat have been altered or                        (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). In an
                                                                                                                                                            Resource Management Plan Revisions
                                              destroyed. Additional threats to the                    appendix to the approved recovery plan,
                                                                                                                                                            and Draft Environmental Impact
                                              species include hybridization with                      we will summarize and respond to the
                                                                                                                                                            Statement for Western Oregon
                                              nonnative tiger salamanders, predation                  issues raised by the public and peer
                                              and competition by nonnative species,                   reviewers. Substantive comments may                   AGENCY:     Bureau of Land Management,
                                              vehicle-strike mortality, and lack of                   or may not result in changes to the                   Interior.


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Document Created: 2015-12-16 08:42:36
Document Modified: 2015-12-16 08:42:36
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionNotice of document availability; request for comments.
DatesTo ensure consideration, we must receive written comments on or before June 23, 2015. However, we will accept information about any species at any time.
ContactStephen P. Henry, Field Supervisor, at
FR Citation80 FR 23045 

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