Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 1997 / Notices 43545

Islands Ecoregion at the Honolulu

address given above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karen Rosa, Assistant Field SupervisorEndangered Species, at the Honolulu

address given above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring endangered or threatened

animals and plants to the point where

they are again secure, self-sustaining

members of their ecosystem is a primary

goal of the Service’s endangered species

program. To help guide the recovery

effort, the Service is working to prepare

recovery plans for most of the listed

species native to the United States, its

Territories and Commonwealths.

Recovery plans describe actions

considered necessary for conservation of

the species, establish criteria for the

recovery levels for downlisting or

delisting them, and estimate time and

cost for implementing the recovery

measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973,

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

(Act), 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 Act, as amended in

1988, requires that a public notice and

an opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery

plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented

during a public comment period prior to

approval of each new or revised

recovery plan. Substantive technical

comments will result in changes to the

plan. Substantive comments regarding

recovery plan implementation may not

necessarily result in changes to the

recovery plan, but will be forwarded to

appropriate Federal or other entities so

that they can take these comments into

account during the course of

implementing recovery actions.

Individualized responses to comments

will not be provided.

The species being considered in this

recovery plan is Kokia cookei. Known

only from the island of Molokai, Kokia

cookei has been described as the rarest

plant in the world. When first

discovered in the 1860s, three trees of

this species were known. By the

twentieth century, only a single wild

tree remained. The species became

extirpated from the wild in 1918.

Currently, only 28 cloned individuals of

Kokia cookei exist. These individuals

were produced by grafting to root stocks

of the two related Kokia species, Kokia

kauaiensis and Kokia drynarioides.

Seven individuals are in artificial

cultivation facilities on the islands of

Maui and Oahu. The remaining 21

individuals are in small (10,000 square

feet or less) outplanting sites on

privately owned Molokai Ranch lands,

at Puu Nana, about 365 meters (1200

feet) elevation.

The destruction of dryland habitats

throughout the Hawaiian Islands, which

began 1,500 years ago with the coming

of the Polynesians to Hawaii and

increased greatly with the arrival of the

Europeans a little over 200 years ago,

has led to the elimination of Kokia

cookei in the wild. Kokia cookei was

directly impacted by browsing, bark

stripping, and soil trampling by

domestic and feral cattle, goats, and

sheep. Currently, this species is most

threatened by the extremely low number

of individuals remaining, the lack of

naturally rooted plants, and the lack of

viable seed production by the remaining

individuals.

The objective of this plan is to

provide a framework for the recovery of

Kokia cookei so that its protection by

the Act is no longer necessary. Recovery

efforts will focus on increasing the

numbers of cloned individuals while

pursuing research into other methods,

such as embryo culture methodology,

for the production of individuals

capable of setting viable seed. Suitable

sites for outplanting of individuals on

Molokai, Maui, and Lanai will be

located and steps taken to manage these

lands for the perpetuity of Kokia cookei

and other native components of the

dryland forest.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the recovery plan described. All

comments received by the date specified

above will be considered prior to

approval of this plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16

U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: August 8, 1997.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Region 1.

[FR Doc. 97–21545 Filed 8–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Issuance of Permits for Marine

Mammals

On June 5, 1997, a notice was

published in the Federal Register, Vol.

62, No. 108, Page 30876, that an

application had been filed with the Fish

and Wildlife Service by Jon Ziegler,

Rapid City, SD (PRT–830065) for a

permit to import a sport-hunted polar

bear (Ursus maritimus) from Canada for

personal use.

Notice is hereby given that on July 21,

1997, as authorized by the provisions of

the Marine Mammal Protection Act of

1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et

seq.) the Fish and Wildlife Service

authorized the requested permit subject

to certain conditions set forth therein.

Documents and other information

submitted for these applications are

available for review by any party who

submits a written request to the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of

Management Authority, 4401 North

Fairfax Drive, Rm 430, Arlington,

Virginia 22203. Phone (703) 358–2104

or Fax (703) 358–2281.

Dated: August 8, 1997.

Mary Ellen Amtower,

Acting Chief, Branch of Permits, Office of

Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 97–21449 Filed 8–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM–030–7122–03–821G]

Proposed Expansion of the Santa Rita

Pit and Land Exchange in Grant

County, New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

and notice of scoping meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Las

Cruces District Office, will be directing

the preparation of an EIS to be prepared

by a third party contractor. The EIS will

describe the potential impacts of the

Phelps Dodge Corporation-Chino Mines

Company (CMC) proposed Santa Rita Pit

Expansion and Land Exchange Project,

located approximately 7 miles northnortheast of the town of Hurley, in

Grant County, New Mexico. The

proposed development would occur

partially on patented CMC land and

partially on Federal land administered

by the BLM.

The public is invited to participate in

the planning process. A public scoping

meeting will be held at the following

time and location: