82 FR 58444 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 237 (December 12, 2017)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft supplement, which will be appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon finalization, proposes to establish habitat-based recovery criteria for the NCDE grizzly bear population. In addition, the Service hereby gives notice that a public workshop will be held to review the habitat-based recovery criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE. The workshop will allow scientists and the public to submit oral and written comments. The Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft supplement.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58444-58445]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26257]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057; FXES11130600000-178-FF06E00000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Supplement 
to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for 
the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability; request for comments; notice 
of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a draft Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: 
Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide 
Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft supplement, which will be appended to the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon finalization, proposes to establish 
habitat-based recovery criteria for the NCDE grizzly bear population. 
In addition, the Service hereby gives notice that a public workshop 
will be held to review the habitat-based recovery criteria for the 
grizzly bear in the NCDE. The workshop will allow scientists and the 
public to submit oral and written comments. The Service solicits review 
and comment from the public on this draft supplement.

DATES: Comment submission: Comments on the draft Supplement to the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan must be received on or before January 26, 
2018.
    Public meeting: The public workshop will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 
p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 3, 2018, at the Double Tree Hotel, 
100 Madison Street, in Missoula, Montana.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: An electronic copy of the draft 
Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan is available at http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057, and also at 
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. Hard copies of 
the draft habitat-based recovery criteria are available by request from 
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
University Hall, Room 309, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812; 
telephone 406-243-4903.
    Comment submission: Submit comments on the draft Supplement to the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan via any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. In the Search 
box, enter the docket number for this notice, which is FWS-R6-ES-2017-
0057. Then click on the Search button. You may submit a comment by 
clicking on ``Comment Now!''
    (2) U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: 
BPHC; 5257 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    Public meeting: The public workshop will be held on at the Double 
Tree Hotel, 100 Madison Street, Missoula, Montana 59812.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery 
Office (see ADDRESSES), 406-243-4903.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), announce the availability of a draft Supplement to the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the 
Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft supplement, 
which will be appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon 
finalization, proposes to establish habitat-based recovery criteria for 
the NCDE grizzly bear population. In addition, the Service hereby gives 
notice that a public workshop will be held to review the habitat-based 
recovery criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE. The workshop will 
allow scientists and the public to submit oral and written comments. 
The Service solicits review

[[Page 58445]]

and comment from the public on this draft supplement. In the lower 48 
States, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) are federally listed as 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; ESA), outside of the Greater Yellowstone 
Ecosystem.

Background

    Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point 
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is 
a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. To help 
guide the recovery effort, the Service prepares recovery plans for the 
federally listed species native to the United States where a plan will 
promote the conservation of the species. Recovery plans describe site-
specific actions necessary for the conservation of the species; 
establish objective, measurable criteria which, when met, may result in 
a determination that the species no longer needs the protection of the 
ESA; and provide estimates of the time and cost for implementing the 
needed recovery measures (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)).
    We approved the first Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for grizzly bears 
in the lower 48 States on January 29, 1982 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service 1982). In 1993, we approved a revision to the Grizzly Bear 
Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993), which included 
additional tasks and new information that increased the focus and 
effectiveness of recovery efforts. The 1993 Recovery Plan identifies 
distinct Recovery Zones and unique recovery criteria for six different 
grizzly bear populations, including the NCDE, with the intent that 
these individual populations would be delisted as they each achieve 
recovery (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993, pp. ii, 33-34). 
Supplements to the Recovery Plan were approved in 1997, 1998, 2007, and 
2017 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997, 1998, 2007a, 2007b, 2017).
    Under the ESA, recovery plans must include objective, measurable 
recovery criteria, including habitat-based recovery standards (16 
U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)(ii)). A Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Task Force also 
recommended further consideration of this issue, stating that we should 
work to ``establish a threshold of minimal habitat values to be 
maintained within each Cumulative Effects Analysis Unit in order to 
ensure that sufficient habitat is available to support a viable 
population'' (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993, p. 76). The draft 
habitat-based recovery criteria were developed in part by taking into 
account the oral and written comments received at the habitat-based 
recovery criteria workshop, which was held on July 7, 2016, in 
Missoula, Montana (81 FR 29295, May 11, 2016), and during the public 
comment period that followed the workshop. The Service has decided to 
hold a second habitat-based recovery criteria workshop.
    The ESA requires the Service to provide public notice and 
opportunity for public review and comment on recovery plans prior to 
final approval (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(4)). The Service will consider all 
information received during a public comment period when preparing each 
new or revised recovery plan for approval. The Service and other 
Federal agencies also will take these comments into consideration in 
the course of implementing approved recovery plans. It is our policy to 
request peer review of recovery plans. Comments received at the 
upcoming workshop announced in this Federal Register notice and during 
the public comment period will be used to inform the final habitat-
based recovery criteria, which will be appended to the 1993 Grizzly 
Bear Recovery Plan for the NCDE and incorporated into the NCDE Grizzly 
Bear Conservation Strategy. The Recovery Plan sets out guidance for the 
Service, States, and other partners on methods to minimize threats to 
grizzly bears and criteria that may be used to measure if recovery has 
been achieved while the Conservation Strategy guides post-delisting 
management.

Workshop

    As described above, the Service will hold a public workshop seeking 
input and ideas on objective, measurable habitat-based recovery 
criteria available at https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php. We seek ideas and information about characteristics of 
habitat necessary to support a recovered population of grizzly bears 
and habitat parameters that can be measured and directly related to 
grizzly bear population health. The Service also wants to obtain 
information and comments on methods for monitoring the habitat-based 
recovery criteria. The workshop will be held in Missoula, Montana, on 
the date specified in DATES at the location specified in ADDRESSES. 
Participants are invited to present information in oral and written 
form. All comments presented orally should also be submitted in writing 
to facilitate review of these comments. Those wishing to present 
information or comments orally at the workshop are asked to contact the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Office (see ADDRESSES) so that oral presentations 
can be scheduled in advance.
    All information and comments received at the workshop or during the 
public comment period will be considered in finalizing the habitat-
based recovery criteria for the NCDE.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service solicits public comments on a draft Supplement to the 
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. Specifically, this supplement proposes to 
append habitat-based recovery criteria for the Northern Continental 
Divide Ecosystem to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. All comments 
received by the date specified in DATES will be considered prior to 
approval of the final Supplement to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. 
Written comments and materials regarding the plan should be submitted 
as specified in ADDRESSES.

Availability of Public Comments

    If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire submission--including any 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 http://www.regulations.gov. 
Comments and materials we receive will be available for public 
inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, during 
normal business hours, at the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office address 
specified in ADDRESSES.

References Cited

    A list of the references cited in this notice may be found at 
http://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2017-0057.

Authority

    The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: October 5, 2017.
Noreen E. Walsh,
Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie Region, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 2017-26257 Filed 12-11-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P