[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 206 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 55395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28260]



[[Page 55395]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 100397A]


Endangered Species; Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Issuance of permit 1057, permit 1058, and modification 4 to 
permit 823.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a permit to the 
Umpqua National Forest of the U.S. Forest Service at Idleyld Park, OR 
(USFS), a permit to the Idaho Fishery Resource Office of the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service at Ahsahka, ID (FWS), and a modification to a 
permit to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise, ID (IDFG) 
that authorize takes of Endangered Species Act-listed anadromous fish 
species for the purpose of scientific research, subject to certain 
conditions set forth therein.

ADDRESSES: The applications and related documents are available for 
review in the following offices, by appointment:
    Office of Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
    Protected Resources Division, F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, Suite 
500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Koch, Protected Resources 
Division, (503-230-5400).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The permits and the modification to a permit 
were issued under the authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations 
governing ESA-listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-222).
    Notice was published on July 3, 1997 (62 FR 36049) that an 
application had been filed by USFS for a scientific research permit. 
Permit 1057 was issued to USFS on August 22, 1997. Permit 1057 
authorizes USFS an annual take of adult and juvenile, endangered, 
Umpqua River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) associated 
with research designed to determine whether the fish is present in the 
Fish Creek watershed of the upper North Umpqua River in southwest 
Oregon. The primary reason for determining the presence/absence of 
resident cutthroat trout in the Fish Creek Basin is to clarify the 
degree of impact that projected timber harvests in the basin would have 
on ESA-listed cutthroat trout. The research also has significance in 
ongoing discussions on whether fish passage facilities should be 
constructed at Soda Springs Dam. Permit 1057 expires on December 31, 
1998.
    Notice was published on July 30, 1997 (62 FR 40802) that an 
application had been filed by FWS for a scientific research permit. 
Permit 1058 was issued to FWS on September 5, 1997. Permit 1058 
authorizes FWS an annual take of adult, threatened, Snake River fall 
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with research 
designed to monitor and evaluate adult returns of hatchery-origin fall 
chinook salmon released as juveniles above Lower Granite Dam on the 
Snake River in the Pacific Northwest. Information on ESA-listed, 
natural-origin fish is needed to assess the impacts of fish management 
actions (e.g., hatchery supplementation), as well as other human 
activities (e.g., regulated river flows), on wild fish populations. 
Permit 1058 expires on December 31, 2001.
    Modification 4 to permit 823 was issued to IDFG on August 29, 1997. 
Permit 823 authorizes IDFG annual takes of adult and juvenile, 
threatened, naturally-produced and artificially-propagated, Snake River 
spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha); adult and 
juvenile, threatened, Snake River fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 
tshawytscha); and adult and juvenile, endangered, Snake River sockeye 
salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) associated with scientific research 
activities in Idaho. For modification 4, IDFG is authorized an increase 
in the annual lethal take of ESA-listed juvenile sockeye salmon 
associated with monitoring research at Alturas Lake. In July 1997, IDFG 
released approximately 22,000 juvenile sockeye salmon from their 
captive broodstock program into Alturas Lake, as authorized by 
modification 8 to permit 795 (62 FR 29331, May 30, 1997). The Alturas 
Lake O. nerka population structure must be monitored to build trend 
data by time, essential for the development of future release plans. 
The lake will be sampled by midwater trawl surveys. Trawl captures, and 
subsequent tissue and stomach analyses, will contribute to the 
understanding of population make-up (genetic origin), growth, diet, and 
population age structure. Modification 4 is valid for the duration of 
permit 823. Permit 823 expires on November 30, 1997.
    Issuance of the permits and the modification to a permit, as 
required by the ESA, was based on a finding that such actions: (1) Were 
requested/proposed in good faith, (2) will not operate to the 
disadvantage of the ESA-listed species that are the subject of the 
permits, and (3) are consistent with the purposes and policies set 
forth in section 2 of the ESA and the NMFS regulations governing ESA-
listed species permits.

    Dated: October 15, 1997.
Nancy Chu,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-28260 Filed 10-23-97; 8:45 am]
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