`[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46507-46508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23290]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Three Plant Species on 
Nihoa Island for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the 
availability for public review of a draft recovery plan for three plant 
species on Nihoa Island: Amaranthus brownii, Pritchardia remota, and 
Schiedea verticillata. These species are known only from the island of 
Nihoa and are federally listed as endangered. The numbers of known 
remaining populations and individuals are as follows (# of colonies, # 
of individuals): Amaranthus brownii (4, <40), Pritchardia remota (4, 
680), and Schiedea verticillata (10, 359).

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan received by November 3, 1997 
will receive consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft recovery plan are available for 
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the 
following locations: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands 
Ecoregion, Room 3108, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, P.O. Box 50088, 
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 (phone: 808/541-3441). Requests for copies of 
the draft recovery plan and written comments and materials regarding 
the plan should be addressed to Brooks Harper, Field Supervisor-
Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands 
Ecoregion at the Honolulu address given above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Swenson, 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 draft plan covers the following three plant taxa, all of which 
are federally listed as endangered: Amaranthus brownii, Pritchardia 
remota, and Schiedea verticillata. All of these taxa are believed to be 
endemic to the island of Nihoa, in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. 
However, an uncollected palm, no longer extant, was observed growing on 
Laysan Island, and may have been a Pritchardia remota. These three taxa 
grow only on Nihoa, which has an area of 0.25 square mile (0.65 square 
kilometer). Nihoa is part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife 
Refuge.
    Due to the small number of existing individuals and their extremely 
limited distributions, these taxa and all of their populations are 
subject to an increased likelihood of extinction and/or reduced 
reproductive vigor from stochastic events. These taxa and their 
habitats have been variously affected or are currently threatened by 
one or more of the following: Fire; potential habitat degradation and 
competition with alien plants; predation by rodents that could easily 
be introduced by shipwrecks; introduced insects, possibly leading to

[[Page 46508]]

predation on plants and loss of pollinators; and natural events such as 
landslides, erosion, rockslides, and flash floods.
    The objective of this plan is to provide a framework for the 
recovery of these three taxa so that protection by the Act is no longer 
necessary. Recovery efforts will focus on increasing monitoring, 
establishing ex situ collections of seeds and plants in botanical 
gardens, conducting applied research, controlling threats, increasing 
numbers on Nihoa, and exploring the feasibility and desirability of 
establishing the taxa on other Hawaiian islands.

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 27, 1997.
Thomas J. Dwyer,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1.
[FR Doc. 97-23290 Filed 9-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-U`