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[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 180 (Monday, September 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54681-54682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7713]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Recovery Plan for Phlox hirsuta (Yreka Phlox)

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 the Recovery Plan for Phlox hirsuta (Yreka Phlox). This 
plant is a narrow endemic known only from the vicinity of the City of 
Yreka, Siskiyou County, California.

ADDRESSES: Printed copies of this recovery plan will be available in 4 
to 6 weeks by request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yreka 
Fish and Wildlife Office, 1829 South Oregon Street, Yreka, California 
96097 (telephone: 530-842-5763). An electronic copy of this recovery 
plan is now available at: http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nadine R. Kanim, Senior Fish and 
Wildlife Biologist, (telephone: 530-842-5763), at the Yreka address 
above (telephone: 530-842-5763).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point 
where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems is a primary goal of the Service's endangered species 
program. To help

[[Page 54682]]

guide the recovery effort, the Service is working to prepare recovery 
plans for most of the listed species native to the United States. 
Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for the 
conservation of the species, establish criteria for downlisting or 
delisting listed species, and estimate time and cost for implementing 
the recovery measures needed.
    The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the development of 
recovery plans for listed species unless such a plan would not promote 
the conservation of a particular species. Section 4(f) of the ESA 
requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and 
comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Draft 
Recovery Plan for Phlox hirsuta (Yreka Phlox) was available for public 
comment from July 19, 2004, through October 18, 2004 (69 FR 43009). 
Information presented during the public comment period has been 
considered in the preparation of this final recovery plan, and is 
summarized in Appendix 8 of the recovery plan.
    Phlox hirsuta was listed as endangered in 2000 (65 FR 5268). 
Critical habitat has not been designated for this species. Phlox 
hirsuta is endemic to serpentine soils, and is known from only five 
separate locations that are separated by a minimum of 0.55 miles (0.88 
kilometers). Distribution of Phlox hirsuta within these occurrences 
ranges from scattered plants to numerous discrete suboccurrences that 
are found on lands owned and managed by the City of Yreka, the U.S. 
Forest Service, California Department of Transportation, industrial 
timber companies, and private landowners.
    Phlox hirsuta is threatened by alteration or destruction of habitat 
resulting from residential development, logging, fire suppression 
activities, ongoing highway maintenance or construction activities, 
off-road vehicle use, illegal collection, and vandalism. Other threats 
include competition with exotic plants, herbicide application, grazing 
by domestic animals, inadequate existing regulatory mechanisms, and 
potential extirpation as a result of random events.
    The objective of this recovery plan is to provide a framework for 
the recovery of Phlox hirsuta so that protection by the ESA is no 
longer necessary. This recovery plan establishes criteria necessary to 
accomplish downlisting and eventually delisting of Phlox hirsuta. The 
criteria for downlisting to threatened status are that: (1) Four 
occurrences (two of which must be the China Hill and Soap Creek Ridge 
occurrences) have secure permanent protection (legally-binding 
arrangements that ensure management for the benefit of Phlox hirsuta in 
perpetuity), and (2) a Phlox hirsuta seed bank and effective 
propagation techniques have been established. The criteria for 
delisting are: (1) The reclassification criteria for downlisting have 
been met, and (2) two additional occurrences have been located and 
permanently protected, or 10 years of demographic research and/or 
quantitative monitoring at four protected occurrences has indicated 
that plant population size has not declined more than 10 percent at any 
occurrence (total change between year 0 and year 10).

Authority

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

    Dated: July 27, 2006.
Steve Thompson,
Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 06-7713 Filed 9-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
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