[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22720-22721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9864]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2011-N073;10120-1113-0000-C2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Revised
Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl--Appendix C
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: On September 15, 2010, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
announced the availability of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) for public review and
comment. We are reopening the comment period on an updated version of
Appendix C of that document, which describes the development of a
spotted owl habitat modeling tool.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
May 23, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the draft
revised recovery plan and the updated version of Appendix C are
available online at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/NorthernSpottedOwl/Recovery/. Printed loose-leaf copies of the updated
version of Appendix C are available by request from Diana Acosta, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE
98th Avenue, Ste. 100, Portland, OR 97266 (phone: 503-231-6179).
Comment submission: Written comments regarding the updated version of
Appendix C should be addressed to the above Portland address or sent by
e-mail to: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brendan White at the above address and
phone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 15, 2010, we published a
Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131) announcing the availability of
the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix
occidentalis caurina) for public review and comment under the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We originally opened
this comment period for 60 days, from September 15, 2010, to November
15, 2010. On November 12, 2010, we announced by way of press release an
extension of the comment period until December 15, 2010, in response to
several requests for additional time to review and comment on the Draft
Revised Recovery Plan. On November 30, 2010, we announced in the
Federal Register the reopening of the public comment period until
December 15, 2010 (75 FR 74073). At that time we also announced the
availability of a synopsis of the population response modeling results
for public review and comment. This and other information regarding the
modeling process was posted on our Web site. Of the approximately
11,700 comments received, many requested the opportunity to review and
comment on more detailed information on the habitat modeling process in
Appendix C of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan.
[[Page 22721]]
For background information on the Draft Revised Recovery Plan, see
our September 15, 2010, Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131). The
version of Appendix C contained in the Draft Revised Recovery Plan
described the modeling framework under development for evaluation of
habitat conservation measures for the spotted owl. Since that was
written, we have completed development and testing of this modeling
framework for public review and comment. Once comments have been
considered and incorporated as appropriate, this modeling framework
will have a wide variety of applications in support of spotted owl
recovery.
The revised Appendix C, which is now available for comment,
describes the three-part modeling framework, which includes: A spotted
owl habitat suitability model; a spotted owl conservation planning
model that can be used to design habitat conservation network
scenarios; and a spotted owl population simulation model to predict
relative population responses to different habitat conservation network
scenarios and conservation measures. To test the modeling framework's
ability to evaluate the influence of habitat conservation network size
and spatial distribution on spotted owl population performance, revised
Appendix C also describes the results of an analysis of 10 different
habitat conservation network scenarios under different conditions. We
are seeking comments on the modeling process, our test results and
other aspects of revised Appendix C.
We anticipate revising recovery action 4 in the Revised Recovery
Plan to reflect completion of development and testing of the modeling
framework as part of recovery plan development.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may
ask us in your comment to withhold personal identifying information
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: April 1, 2011.
Richard Hannan,
Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-9864 Filed 4-21-11; 8:45 am]
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