82 FR 2392 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Availability of Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 5 (January 9, 2017)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of our Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan (Polar Bear Plan). The polar bear is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), and is also considered ``depleted'' under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA). The Polar Bear Plan identifies objective, measurable ESA recovery criteria, site-specific recovery actions, as well as time and cost estimates. It also serves as an MMPA conservation plan.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 5 (Monday, January 9, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2392-2393]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00127]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2014-0060; FF07CAMM00 FXES11130700000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of 
Availability of Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan

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 our Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan (Polar Bear 
Plan). The polar bear is listed as threatened under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), and is also considered 
``depleted'' under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended 
(MMPA). The Polar Bear Plan identifies objective, measurable ESA 
recovery criteria, site-specific recovery actions, as well as time and 
cost estimates. It also serves as an MMPA conservation plan.

ADDRESSES: An electronic copy of the Polar Bear Plan is available for 
viewing at https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A0IJ 
or at www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2014-0060. Copies of 
the Polar Bear Plan are also available by request from the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management Office, 1011 East Tudor 
Road, MS-341, Anchorage, AK 99503; telephone (907) 786-3800; facsimile 
(907) 786-3816. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD), call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-
8339.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hilary Cooley, Polar Bear Lead, Marine 
Mammals Management, by telephone at 907-786-3800; by U.S. mail at 
Marine Mammals Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East 
Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503; or by email at [email protected]. 
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call 
the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of our Polar 
Bear Conservation Management Plan (Polar Bear Plan). The polar bear 
(Ursus maritimus) is listed throughout its range as threatened under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., 
ESA). Because of its threatened status under the ESA, the species is 
also considered ``depleted'' under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 
1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq., MMPA). As required under the 
ESA section 4(f), the Polar Bear Plan identifies ``objective, 
measurable'' recovery criteria and site-specific recovery actions with 
estimations of the time and costs to carry out those actions. The Polar 
Bear Plan also serves as a conservation plan under section 115(b) of 
the MMPA with a goal of conserving and restoring polar bears to their 
optimum sustainable population level, and will contribute to our 
international polar bear conservation efforts under the 1973 Agreement 
on the Conservation of Polar Bears (T.I.A.S. No. 8409).

Background

    We listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA on May 15, 
2008 (73 FR 28212). For a description of the taxonomy, distribution, 
status, breeding biology, and habitat, and a summary of factors 
affecting the species, please see Appendix A of the Polar Bear Plan. 
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants is a primary 
goal of our endangered species program and the ESA. To help guide the 
recovery effort, we prepare recovery plans for most listed species 
native to the United States. Further, the ESA requires that we develop 
recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote 
the conservation of a particular species, and that we provide public 
notice and an opportunity for public review and comment during recovery 
plan development. Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary 
for the conservation and survival of the species, establish criteria 
for delisting listed species, and estimate time and cost for 
implementing needed recovery measures.
    MMPA Conservation Plans have the purpose of conserving and 
restoring a species or stock to its optimum sustainable population. The 
MMPA further provides that Conservation Plans shall be modeled on ESA 
recovery plans. Therefore, the Polar Bear Plan provides recommended 
management actions for the survival and recovery of the species and to 
conserve and restore the species to its optimum sustainable population.

[[Page 2393]]

    To invite public review and comment on the draft Polar Bear Plan, 
we published a notice of availability initiating a 45-day public 
comment period for the draft Polar Bear Plan on July 6, 2015 (80 FR 
38458); we extended that comment period an additional 30 days on August 
14, 2015 (80 FR 48908). The final Polar Bear Plan and the associated 
documents reflect the comments and recommendations the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service received on that draft.
    Polar bears evolved to utilize the Arctic sea ice niche. They are 
distributed throughout most ice-covered seas of the United States, 
Canada, the Russian Federation, Norway, and Greenland/Denmark 
(collectively the Range States), in the Northern Hemisphere and are 
managed in 19 subpopulations around the Arctic (see Figure 1 of the 
Polar Bear Plan). The current global polar bear population is estimated 
to be 22,000 to 31,000.
    Ongoing and projected loss of the polar bear's crucial sea ice 
habitat threatens the species throughout all of its range. The 
projected loss of sea ice will diminish productivity, abundance, and 
availability of ice seals, the polar bear's primary prey base, and 
increase energetic requirements of polar bears for movement and 
obtaining food. It will also affect access to traditional denning 
areas. In turn, these factors will cause declines in the condition of 
polar bears from nutritional stress and reduced productivity. The 
eventual effect of this loss of sea ice is that the polar bear 
population will decline. The rate and magnitude of decline will vary 
geographically, based on differences in the rate, timing, and magnitude 
of impacts. However, within the foreseeable future, the worldwide 
population will be affected, and the species is likely to become in 
danger of extinction throughout all of its range (73 FR 28292-28293, 
May 15, 2008). Global climate change resulting from greenhouse gas 
emissions is the root cause of the loss of Arctic sea ice.

The Plan

    The Polar Bear Plan addresses both the MMPA and the ESA, as they 
relate to polar bear conservation and recovery; it also reflects the 
input and values of stakeholders closely connected with polar bears and 
their habitat, including the State of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, 
Alaska Native peoples, the Polar Bear Range States, conservation 
groups, and the oil and gas industry, as well as the general public. 
All of these sources informed the Polar Bear Plan's fundamental goals, 
which focus on conservation of polar bears while recognizing values 
associated with subsistence take, human safety, and economic activity. 
The goals will be used to guide management, research, monitoring, and 
communication into the future. Although the fundamental goals target 
three geographic scales (rangewide, intermediate (ecoregion), and 
subpopulation (stock)), specific actions under the Polar Bear Plan 
pertain primarily to the polar bear subpopulations present in Alaska. 
The Polar Bear Plan also contains specific recovery criteria, expressed 
in fundamental, demographic, and threats-based terms, to determine when 
the polar bear should be considered for delisting under the ESA and 
fundamental and demographic criteria to guide conservation efforts 
associated with the MMPA.
    Conservation and recovery actions are specified in the Polar Bear 
Plan. The single most important action for the recovery of polar bears 
is global reduction of atmospheric greenhouse gases, which, if 
achieved, should result in reduced global climate change, including 
Arctic warming and sea ice loss. Along with communicating that fact, 
the Polar Bear Plan identifies a suite of high-profile actions designed 
to ensure that polar bears remain in sufficient number and diversity so 
that they are in a position to recover once climate change is 
addressed. Those actions include the following:
     Limit global atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases to 
levels appropriate for supporting polar bear recovery and conservation, 
primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
     Support international conservation efforts through the 
Range States relationships;
     Manage human-bear conflicts;
     Collaboratively manage subsistence harvest;
     Protect denning habitat;
     Minimize risks of contamination from spills;
     Conduct strategic monitoring and research.
    The full cost of implementing the Polar Bear Plan over the next 5 
years is approximately $66,720,000.

    Authority: We developed our Polar Bear Plan under the authority 
of ESA section 4(f), 16 U.S.C. 1533(f), as well as section 115(b) of 
the MMPA, 16 U.S.C. 1383b(b). We publish this notice under ESA 
section 4(f) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: December 20, 2016.
Gregory Siekaniec,
Regional Director, Alaska Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-00127 Filed 1-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P