Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules 62691

file format and other information about

electronic filing.

3. You may hand-deliver comments to

our Sacramento Fish and Wildlife

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

2800 Cottage Way, Suite W. 2605,

Sacramento, California 95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Curt

McCasland or Stephanie Brady, at the

above address, phone 916–414–6600,

facsimile 916–414–6710.

For information about Monterey, Los

Angeles, San Benito, San Luis Obispo,

Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura

counties, contact Diane Noda, Ventura

Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 2394 Portola Road,

Suite B, Ventura, California 93003

(telephone 805/644–1766; facsimile

805/644–3958).

For information about areas in the San

Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles

County or Riverside and San Diego

counties, contact Ken Berg, Carlsbad

Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 2730 Loker Avenue

West, Carlsbad, California 92008

(telephone 760/431–9440; facsimile

760/431–9624).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments

from the public regarding the accuracy

of this proposed rule are sought,

especially regarding:

(1) The reasons why any habitat

should or should not be determined to

be critical habitat for California redlegged frogs as provided by section 4 of

the Act, including whether the benefits

of designation will outweigh any

benefits of exclusion;

(2) Specific information on the

distribution of California red-legged

frogs, the amount and distribution of the

species’ habitat, and what habitat is

essential to the conservation of the

species, and why;

(3) Land use practices and current or

planned activities in the subject areas

and their possible impacts on proposed

critical habitat;

(4) Any foreseeable economic or other

impacts resulting from the proposed

designation of critical habitat,

including, in particular, any impacts on

small entities or families; and

(5) Economic and other values

associated with designating critical

habitat for California red-legged frogs,

such as those derived from

nonconsumptive uses (e.g., hiking,

camping, bird-watching, enhanced

watershed protection, improved air

quality, increased soil retention,

‘‘existence values’’, and reductions in

administrative costs).

Background

On September 11, 2000, the Service

published a proposed rule to designate

critical habitat for the California Redlegged frog in the Federal Register (65

FR 54892). The original comment period

closed on October 11, 2000. The

comment period now closes on

November 20, 2000. Written comments

should be submitted to the Service (see

ADDRESSES section).

Approximately 2,175,000 hectares

(5,373,650 acres) of land fall within the

boundaries of the proposed critical

habitat designation. Specifically, aquatic

and upland areas where suitable

breeding and nonbreeding habitat is

interspersed throughout the landscape

and is interconnected by unfragmented

dispersal habitat are areas proposed as

critical habitat. Proposed critical habitat

is located in Alameda, Butte, Calaveras,

Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern,

Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Merced,

Monterey, Napa, Plumas, Riverside, San

Benito, San Diego, San Joaquin, San

Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara,

Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano,

Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama,

Tuolumne, Ventura, and Yuba counties,

California. Critical habitat receives

protection from destruction or adverse

modification through required

consultation under section 7 of the Act

with regard to actions carried out,

funded, or authorized by a Federal

agency. Section 4 of the Act requires us

to consider economic and other relevant

impacts when specifying any particular

area as critical habitat.

The comment period on this proposal

now closes on November 20, 2000.

Written comments should be submitted

to the Service office listed in the

ADDRESSES section.

Author: The primary authors of this

notice are Curt McCasland and

Stephanie Brady (see ADDRESSES

section).

Authority: The authority for this action is

the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: October 12, 2000.

Elizabeth H. Stevens,

Acting Manager.

[FR Doc. 00–26704 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AG17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Reopening of Comment

Period and Notice of Availability of

Draft Economic Analysis on Proposed

Critical Habitat Determination for the

Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. Notice of

Availability of Peninsular Bighorn

Sheep Distribution Map

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of

comment period and notice of

availability of draft economic analysis

and notice of availability of Peninsular

bighorn sheep distribution map.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) announces the

availability of a draft economic analysis

for the proposed designation of critical

habitat for the Peninsular bighorn sheep

(Ovis canadensis). We also provide

notice of the reopening of the comment

period for the proposal to designate

critical habitat for the Peninsular

bighorn sheep to allow all interested

parties to submit written comments on

the proposed rule and on the draft

economic analysis. Comments

previously submitted need not be

resubmitted as they will be incorporated

into the public record as a part of this

reopening and will be fully considered

in the final rule. We also provide notice

of the availability of distribution map

for the Peninsular bighorn sheep.

DATES: The original comment period on

the critical habitat proposal closed on

August 31, 2000. The comment period

is again reopened and we will accept

comments until November 20, 2000.

Comments must be received by the

closing date. Any comments that are

received after the closing date may not

be considered in the final decision on

this proposal.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft

economic analysis are available on the

Internet at ‘‘http://pacific.fws.gov/

crithab/pbsh’’ or by writing to the Field

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife

Office, 2730 Loker Avenue West,

Carlsbad, California, 92008. Written

comments should be sent to the Field

Supervisor. You may also send

comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to

fw1pbsh@fws.gov. Please submit

comments in ASCII file format and

avoid the use of special characters and

62692 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules

encryption. Please include ‘‘Attn: RIN

1018–AG17’’ and your name and return

address in your e-mail message.

Comments and materials received will

be available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the above Service address.

Copies of the distribution map for the

Peninsular bighorn sheep are available

by contacting the Carlsbad Fish and

Wildlife Office or by appointment

during normal business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, at the

above address (telephone 760–431–

9440; facsimile 760–431–9618).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are

found along the Peninsular Mountain

Ranges from the San Jacinto Mountains

of southern California south into the

Volcan Tres Virgenes Mountains near

Santa Rosalia, Baja California, Mexico, a

total distance of approximately 800

kilometers (km) (500 miles (mi)). The

Peninsular bighorn sheep is similar in

appearance to other desert bighorn

sheep. The coat is pale brown, and the

permanent horns, which become rough

and scarred with age, vary in color from

yellowish-brown to dark brown. The

Peninsular bighorn sheep occurs on

steep, open slopes, canyons, and washes

in hot and dry desert regions where the

land is rough, rocky, and sparsely

vegetated. Most of these sheep live

between 91 and 1,219 meters (m) (300

and 4,000 feet (ft)) in elevation, where

average annual precipitation is less than

10 centimeters (cm) (4 inches (in)) and

daily high temperatures average 104°

Fahrenheit in the summer. Alluvial fans

(sloping masses of gravel, sand, clay,

and other sediments that widen out like

fans at the base of canyons and washes)

are used for breeding, feeding, and

movement. Peninsular bighorn sheep

use a wide variety of plant species as

their food source. Peninsular bighorn

sheep typically produce only one lamb

per year. Bighorn ewes exhibit a high

degree of site fidelity to their home

range; this behavior is learned by their

offspring. From May through October,

Peninsular bighorn sheep are typically

more localized in distribution around

permanent water sources.

The decline of the Peninsular bighorn

sheep is attributed to a combination of

factors, including: (1) Relatively low

adult survivorship from predation and

human-related causes; (2) the effects of

disease and parasitism; (3) low lamb

recruitment; and (4) habitat loss,

degradation, and fragmentation. The

Peninsular bighorn sheep in the United

States declined from an estimated 1,171

individuals in 1971 to about 570

individuals in 1991 (Bleich et al. 1992).

Recent estimates now number the

population at approximately 335 adults

in about eight ewe groups in the wild in

the United States. The habitat still

remaining for the Peninsular bighorn

sheep in the United States is managed

by the California Department of Parks

and Recreation, California Department

of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land

Management, private landowners, Trust

lands, U.S. Forest Service, and other

State and local entities.

Section 4(b)(2) of the Act requires that

the Secretary shall designate or revise

critical habitat based upon the best

scientific data available and after taking

into consideration the economic impact

of specifying any particular area as

critical habitat. Based upon the

previously published proposal to

designate critical habitat for the

Peninsular bighorn sheep and

comments received during previous

comment period, we have conducted a

draft economic analysis of the proposed

critical habitat designation. The draft

economic analysis is available at the

above Internet and mailing address (see

ADDRESSES section). To accept the best

and most current scientific data

regarding the critical habitat proposal

and the draft economic analysis of the

proposal, we reopen the comment

period at this time. Previously

submitted oral or written comments on

this critical habitat proposal need not be

resubmitted. The current comment

period on this proposal closes on

November 20, 2000. Written comments

may be submitted to the Service office

in the ADDRESSES section.

The distribution map for Peninsular

bighorn sheep represents a recent

compilation of data from numerous

sources that depicts the distributional

range of bighorn sheep in the Peninsular

Ranges of southern California. The

mapped information was compiled

through an interagency recovery

planning program. The map is being

made available to provide the public

with additional information on the

biology of the Peninsular bighorn sheep.

Author

The primary author of this notice is

the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office

(see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: October 11, 2000.

Anne Badgley,

Regional Director, Region 1.

[FR Doc. 00–26877 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 001012284–0284–01; I.D.

092100B]

RIN 0648–AO50

Fisheries off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Western Pacific

Pelagic Fisheries; American Samoa;

Control Date

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed

rulemaking; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that

persons who enter the pelagic longline

fishery in the exclusive economic zone

around American Samoa after July 15,

2000 (‘‘control date’’) are not guaranteed

future participation in the fishery if the

Western Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) prepares and NMFS

approves a program limiting entry or

effort. This action does not commit the

Council or NMFS to limit effort or to

prevent any other date from being

selected for eligibility to participate in

the American Samoa pelagic fishery.

The Council or NMFS also may use

other criteria to limit fishing effort or

participation in a limited entry program

if one is developed in the future.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in

writing by November 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Dr. Charles Karnella, Administrator,

NMFS, Pacific Islands Area Office

(PIAO), 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite

1110, Honolulu, HI 96814–4700; or

faxed to 808-973-2941. Comments will

not be accepted if submitted via e-mail

or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alvin Katekaru, Fishery Management

Specialist, PIAO, 808-973-2937.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since

1996, the pelagic fishery around

American Samoa has undergone a

change from essentially a troll fishery to

a commercial, small-scale longline

fishery. Currently, the pelagic longline

fishery consists mostly of ‘‘alias’’ (small

catamarans), about 30 ft (9.1 m) long