SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). The applicant has applied for a 20-year enhancement of survival permit (permit) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The application addresses the potential take of the greenback cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias) associated with the implementation of a conservation benefit agreement (CBA) on nonfederal lands throughout the South Platte River Basin and Bear Creek in the Arkansas River Basin, in Colorado.

Applicant's Conservation Benefit Agreement

CPW has submitted this CBA to implement reintroductions of the GBCT on enrolled nonfederal lands throughout the South Platte River Basin in Colorado, and Bear Creek in the Arkansas River Basin. This includes the counties of Larimer, Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park, Jefferson, Douglas, El Paso, and Teller. Through the CBA, CPW and participating landowners will work to restore GBCT populations; improve management, protection, enhancement, and restoration of instream habitat; prevent non-native fish invasion; improve water quality; reduce erosion; reduce sedimentation; improve riparian habitat; and/or improve land use practices on enrolled lands during the term of the CBA. The requested permit duration is 20 years, and the CBA provides regulatory assurances to enrolled landowners: as long as enrolled landowners are properly implementing the CBA, the Service will not impose additional requirements or restrictions beyond those voluntarily agreed to and described in the CBA.

Public Availability of Comments

Written comments we receive become part of the administrative record associated with this action. Before ( printed page 30326) 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 request in your comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their entirety.

Next Steps

After the public comment period ends (see DATES ), we will evaluate the permit application, associated documents, and any comments received to determine whether the permit application meets the requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. We will also evaluate whether issuance of the requested permit would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service consultation under section 7(a)(2) of the ESA on the proposed action. The final National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and permit determinations will not be completed until after the end of the 30-day comment period and will fully consider all comments received during the comment period. If we determine that all requirements are met, we will issue an Enhancement of Survival Permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA and associated implementing regulations found at 50 CFR 17.32(c).

Authority

We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.5 and 43 CFR 46.305).

91 FR 30325