[Federal Register: January 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 20)]
[Notices]
[Page 5066-5067]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31ja06-51]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability Technical/Agency Draft of the Third
Revision of the Florida Panther Recovery Plan for Review and Comment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability and public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service announces the availability of
the Technical/Agency Draft of the Third Revision of the Florida Panther
Recovery Plan. The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) has
disappeared from more than 95 percent of its historic range as a result
of human persecution and habitat loss. This draft of the recovery plan
includes specific recovery objectives and criteria to be met in order
to reclassify (downlist) and eventually delist the Florida panther
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Service
solicits review and comment on this draft recovery plan.
DATES: In order to be considered, we must receive comments on the draft
recovery plan on or before April 3, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Technical/Agency Draft of the Third Revision
of the Florida Panther Recovery Plan can be obtained by contacting the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Florida Ecological Services
Office, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida 32960 (772-562-3909) or
by visiting our Web sites at http://endangered.fws.gov or http://verobeach.fws.gov.
If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments
by either of two methods:
1. You may submit written comments and materials to the Field
Supervisor, at the above address.
2. You may hand-deliver written comments to our South Florida
Ecological Services Office, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida
32960, or fax your comments to (772) 562-4288.
Comments and materials received are available for public inspection
on request, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Belden at the South Florida
Ecological Services Office, (772) 562-3909, ext. 237.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Restoring listed animals and plants to the point where they are
again secure, self-sustaining components of their ecosystems is a
primary goal of our threatened and endangered species program. To help
guide the recovery effort, we prepare recovery plans for listed species
native to the United States, pursuant to section 4(f) of the Act,
unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a particular
species. Recovery plans describe actions that may be necessary for
conservation of the species, establish criteria for reclassification
from endangered to threatened status or removal from the list of
threatened and endangered species, and estimate the time and cost for
implementing the needed recovery measures.
The Florida panther is the last subspecies of Puma still surviving
in the eastern United States. Historically occurring throughout the
southeastern United States, today the panther is restricted to less
than 5 percent of its historic range in one breeding population of
fewer than 100 animals, located in south Florida.
The panther is threatened with extinction, and human development in
panther habitat negatively impacts recovery. Panthers are wide ranging,
secretive, and occur at low densities. They require large contiguous
areas to meet their social, reproductive, and energetic needs. Panther
habitat selection is related to prey availability (i.e., habitats that
make prey vulnerable to stalking and capturing are selected). Limiting
factors for the panther are habitat availability, prey availability,
and lack of human tolerance.
Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation are among the greatest
threats to panther survival, while human intolerance of panthers is one
of the greatest threats to their recovery. Vehicle strikes and problems
associated with being a single, small, isolated population have
continued to keep the panther population at its current low numbers.
Potential panther habitat throughout the Southeast continues to be
affected by urbanization, residential development, conversion to
agriculture and silviculture, mining and mineral
[[Page 5067]]
exploration, and lack of land use planning that recognizes panther
needs. Public opinion is critical to attainment of recovery goals and
reintroduction efforts. Addressing social opposition to panthers will
be the most difficult aspect of panther recovery and must be resolved
before reintroduction efforts are initiated.
The Service issued the first Florida Panther Recovery Plan in 1981.
The plan was revised in 1987 and 1995. In 2001, the Service initiated
the current process to revise the plan a third time. Section 4(f) of
the Act requires that a public notice and an opportunity for public
review and comment be provided during recovery plan development.
Accordingly, the Technical/Agency Draft of the Third Revision of the
Florida Panther Recovery Plan is being made available for public review
and comment before a decision is made on its approval.
The strategy for Florida panther recovery sets an intermediate goal
of downlisting from endangered to threatened with the ultimate goal of
delisting. To achieve both the intermediate and ultimate goals, the
recovery plan identifies three objectives which, collectively, describe
the conditions necessary to achieve recovery. These objectives are:
1. Maintain, restore, and expand the Florida panther population and
its habitat in south Florida and, if feasible, expand the known
occurrence of Florida panthers north of the Caloosahatchee River to
maximize the probability of the long-term persistence of this
metapopulation.
2. Identify, secure, maintain, and restore habitat in potential
reintroduction areas within the panther's historic range, and establish
viable populations of the panther outside south and south-central
Florida.
3. Facilitate panther conservation and recovery through public
awareness and education.
To realize these objectives for downlisting and delisting, this
plan presents objective, measurable criteria that when met would result
in a determination that delisting is warranted. These criteria are
based on the number of individuals and number of populations that
provide for demographically and genetically viable populations as
determined by several population viability analyses to ensure
resilience to catastrophic events. The threats to the Florida panther
will need to be addressed to attain these criteria.
Downlisting of the Florida panther should be considered when:
1. Two viable populations of at least 240 individuals (adults and
subadults) each have been established and subsequently maintained for a
minimum of 14 years (or two generations).
2. Sufficient habitat quality, quantity, and spatial configuration
to support these populations is retained/protected or secured in the
long term.
Delisting of the Florida panther should be considered when:
1. Three viable, self-sustaining populations of at least 240
individuals (adults and subadults) each have been established and
subsequently maintained for a minimum of fourteen years.
2. Sufficient habitat quality, quantity, and spatial configuration
to support these populations is retained/protected or secured in the
long-term.
A viable population, for purposes of Florida panther recovery, has
been defined as one in which there is a 95 percent probability of
persistence for 100 years. This population may be distributed in a
metapopulation structure composed of subpopulations that total the
appropriate number of individuals. There must be exchange of
individuals and gene flow among subpopulations. For downlisting,
exchange of individuals and gene flow can be either natural or through
management. If managed, a commitment to such management must be
formally documented and funded. For delisting, exchange of individuals
and gene flow among subpopulations must be natural (i.e., not
manipulated or managed). Habitat should be in relatively unfragmented
blocks that provide for food, shelter, and characteristic movements
(e.g., hunting, breeding, dispersal, and territorial behavior) and
support each metapopulation at a density of 2 to 3 animals per 100
square miles (259 square kilometers), resulting in a minimum of 8,000
to 12,000 square miles (20,720 to 31,080 square kilometers) per
metapopulation of 240 panthers.
Public Comments Solicited
We solicit written comments on the recovery plan described. We will
consider all comments received by the date specified above prior to a
decision on final approval of the revised recovery plan.
Our practice is to make all comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their home addresses from the record, which we will honor to the extent
allowable by law. In some circumstances, we would withhold also from
the record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish
for us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your comments. However, we will not
consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: January 11, 2006.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 06-825 Filed 1-30-06; 8:45 am]
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