Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 218 / Thursday, November 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules 67343

and 17.63. We may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless it displays a currently valid OMB

control number.

References Cited

A complete list of all references cited

herein, as well as others, is available

upon request from the Ventura Fish and

Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Author

The primary author of this proposed

rule is Constance Rutherford (see

ADDRESSES section).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR part 17

Endangered and threatened species,

Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements,

Transportation.

Proposed Regulation Promulgation

Accordingly, we propose to amend

part 17, subchapter B of chapter I, title

50 of the Code of Federal Regulations,

as set forth below:

PART 17—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 17

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361–1407; 16 U.S.C.

1531–1544; 16 U.S.C. 4201–4245; Pub. L. 99–

625, 100 Stat. 3500, unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 17.12(h) is amended by

adding the following, in alphabetical

order under FLOWERING PLANTS, to

the List of Endangered and Threatened

Plants to read as follows:

§ 17.12 Endangered and threatened plants.

* * * * *

(h) * * *

Species

Historic range Family Status When listed Critical

habitat

Special

rules Scientific name Common name

FLOWERING PLANTS

*******

Polygonum hickmanii Scotts Valley

polygonum.

U.S.A. (CA) ............. Polygonaceae ......... E .................... NA NA

*******

Dated: October 17, 2000.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 00–28698 Filed 11–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Notice of Designation of

the Northern Sea Otter in the Aleutian

Islands as a Candidate Species

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of designation of a

candidate species.

SUMMARY: In this document, we present

information on the recent addition of

the northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris

kenyoni) found in the Aleutian Islands

to the list of candidates for listing under

the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended. Identification of candidate

taxa can assist environmental planning

efforts by providing advance notice of

potential listings, allowing resource

managers to alleviate threats and

thereby possibly remove the need to list

taxa as endangered or threatened. Even

if we subsequently list this candidate

species, the early notice provided here

could result in fewer restrictions on

activities by prompting candidate

conservation measures to alleviate

threats to this species.

We also announce the availability of

the candidate and listing priority

assignment form for this candidate

species. This document describes the

status and threats that we evaluated to

determine that the northern sea otter in

the Aleutian Islands warrants

consideration for listing, and to assign a

listing priority to this species.

We request additional status

information that may be available for

the northern sea otter. We will consider

this information in evaluating,

monitoring, and developing

conservation strategies for this species.

DATES: We will accept comments on this

document at any time.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

and data regarding the northern sea otter

to the Marine Mammals Management

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

1011 E. Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska

99503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Douglas Burn, Wildlife Biologist,

Marine Mammals Management Office at

the above address, or telephone 907/

786–3800 or facsimile 907/786–3816.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Endangered Species Act of 1973,

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

seq.), requires that we list taxa of

wildlife and plants that are endangered

or threatened, based on the best

available scientific and commercial

information. As part of this program, we

also identify taxa that we regard as

candidates for listing. Candidate taxa

are those taxa for which we have on file

sufficient information to support

issuance of a proposed rule to list under

the Act. In addition to our annual

review of all candidate taxa (64 FR

57534; October 25, 1999), we have an

on-going review process, particularly to

update taxa whose status may have

changed markedly. Section 3 of the Act generally defines

an endangered species as any species

which is in danger of extinction

throughout all or a significant portion of

its range, and a threatened species as

any species which is likely to become

an endangered species within the

foreseeable future throughout all or a

significant portion of its range. A

species may be determined to be an

endangered or threatened species due to

one or more of the five factors described

in section 4(a)(1) of the Act:

(A) The present or threatened

destruction, modification, or

curtailment of the species’ habitat or

range; (B) Overutilization of the species for

commercial, recreational, scientific, or

educational purposes; (C) Disease or predation affecting the

species; (D) The inadequacy of existing

regulatory mechanisms to protect the

species; and (E) Other natural or manmade factors

affecting the species’ continued

existence.

67344 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 218 / Thursday, November 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules

We are required to make the listing

determination ‘‘solely on the basis of the

best scientific and commercial data

available’’ and ‘‘taking into account

those efforts, if any, being made by any

State or foreign nation, or any political

subdivision of a State or foreign nation,

to protect such species, whether by

predator control, protection of habitat

and food supply, or other conservation

practices, within any area under its

jurisdiction, or on the high seas.’’

Sections 4(a)(1) and 4(b)(1)(A) and our

regulations at 50 CFR 424.11(f) require

us to consider any State or local laws,

regulations, ordinances, programs, or

other specific conservation measures

that either positively or negatively affect

a species’ status (i.e., efforts that create,

exacerbate, reduce, or remove threats

identified through the section 4(a)(1)

analysis).

We maintain the list of candidate

species for a variety of reasons,

including: to provide advance

knowledge of potential listings that

could affect decisions of planners and

developers; to solicit input from

interested parties to identify those

candidate taxa that may not require

protection under the Act or additional

taxa that may require the Act’s

protections; to solicit information on the

status of species and measures

necessary to conserve species, and to

solicit information needed to prioritize

the order in which we will propose taxa

for listing. We encourage consideration

of candidate taxa in environmental

planning, such as in environmental

impact analysis under the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(implemented at 40 CFR parts 1500–

1508) and in local and Statewide land

use planning.

According to our 1983 Listing Priority

System (48 FR 43098; September 21,

1983), all species that are candidates for

listing are assigned a listing priority

number. This system ranks species

according to—(1) the magnitude of

threats they face, (2) the immediacy of

these threats, and (3) the taxonomic

distinctiveness of the entity that may be

listed. Listing priority numbers range

from 1 (highest priority) to 12 (lowest

priority). We will complete proposals to

list candidate species, based on their

listing priority, to the extent that our

resources for listing activities and our

workload for other listing activities will

allow.

This notice provides specific

explanations of why we classified the

northern sea otter as a candidate. This

decision was approved by the Service’s

Director Jamie Rappaport Clark, on

August 22, 2000. It is important to note

that candidate assessment is an ongoing

function and changes in status should

be expected. If we remove taxa from the

candidate list, they may be restored to

candidate status if additional

information supporting such a change

becomes available to us. We issue

requests for such information in a

Candidate Notice of Review published

in the Federal Register every year.

Findings

The worldwide population of sea

otters in the early 1700s has been

estimated at 150,000 (Kenyon 1969) to

300,000 (Johnson 1982). Extensive

commercial hunting of sea otters began

following the arrival in Alaska of

Russian explorers in 1741 and

continued during the 18th and 19th

centuries. By the time sea otters were

afforded protection from commercial

harvests by international treaty in 1911,

the species was nearly extinct

throughout its range, and may have

numbered only 1,000–2,000 individuals

(Kenyon 1969).

Following the international treaty in

1911, only 13 isolated remnant

populations scattered throughout the

historic range remained. However, once

commercial harvests ceased, these

populations began to grow and

recolonize their former range. Today

three subspecies of sea otter have been

identified (Wilson et al. 1991). The

northern sea otter contains two

subspecies: Enhydra lutris kenyoni

which occurs from the Aleutian Islands

to Oregon, and Enhydra lutris lutris

which occurs in the Kuril Islands,

Kamchatka Peninsula, and Commander

Islands in Russia. The third subspecies,

Enhydra lutris nereis, occurs in

California and is known as the southern

sea otter.

The period of recolonization was

marked by high reproductive rates and

range expansion. Survey data indicate

that otters were present in all island

groups in the Aleutians by the 1980s

(Brueggeman et al. 1988, Estes 1990).

Calkins and Schneider (1985) calculated

the sea otter population in the Aleutians

as 55,100 to 73,700 individuals, which

represented over half the Alaska

population. The entire Aleutian

archipelago was not systematically

surveyed again until 1992. During these

surveys Evans et al. (1997) estimated the

Aleutian Islands sea otter population as

19,157 ± 3,281. The most striking results

of this survey were that sea otter density

and abundance in the Rat, Delarof, and

western Andreanof Islands had

unexpectedly declined by more than 50

percent. Boat-based surveys of sea otters

at several islands in the Near, Rat, and

Andreanof Islands further documented

an ongoing decline of sea otters during

the 1990s (Estes et al. 1998). As few as

6,000 sea otters may remain in the

Aleutians today (U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service, Unpublished Data).

Potential threats include both natural

fluctuations and human activities,

which may have caused changes in the

Bering Sea ecosystem. Subsistence

hunting occurs at very low levels and

does not appear to be a factor in the

decline. While disease, starvation, and

contaminants have not been implicated

at this time, additional evaluation of

these factors is warranted. The

hypothesis that predation by killer

whales is causing the sea otter decline

(Estes et al. 1998) should also be studied

further.

Due to the precipitous and rapid

nature of the ongoing population

decline, we have assigned the northern

sea otter in the Aleutian Islands listing

a priority of three under our Listing

Priority System. Additionally we note

that the imminence of the threats

underscores the urgent need for more

information regarding the cause of the

decline in this population.

Request for Information

We request you submit any further

information on the northern sea otter as

soon as possible or whenever it becomes

available. We are seeking the following

types of information:

(1) Biological, commercial trade, or

other relevant data concerning any

threat (or lack thereof) to the northern

sea otter;

(2) Reasons why any habitat of this

species should or should not be

determined to be critical habitat

pursuant to section 4 of the Act;

(3) Additional information concerning

the range, distribution, and population

size of this species; and

(4) Current or planned activities in the

subject area and their possible impacts

on this species.

Information regarding the range,

status, habitat needs, and listing priority

assignment for the northern sea otter is

available for review by contacting the

Service as specified in the ADDRESSES

section.

Our practice is to make comments,

including names and home addresses of

respondents, available for public review

during regular business hours.

Individual respondents may request that

we withhold their home address from

the rulemaking record, which we will

honor to the extent allowable by law. In

certain circumstances, we would

withhold from the rulemaking record a

respondent’s identity, as allowable by

law. If you wish for us to withhold your

name and/or address, you must state

this request prominently at the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 218 / Thursday, November 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules 67345

beginning of your comment. However,

we will not consider anonymous

comments. We will make all

submissions from organizations or

businesses, and from individuals

identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public inspection in their entirety.

References Cited

A complete list of all references cited

herein, as well as others, is available

upon request from the Marine Mammals

Management Office (see ADDRESSES

section).

References Cited

Brueggeman, J.J., G.A. Green, R.A.

Grotefendt, and D.G. Chapman. 1988.

Aerial surveys of sea otters in the

northwestern Gulf of Alaska and

southeastern Bering Sea. Minerals

Management Service and National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration Final

Report. Anchorage, Alaska.

Calkins, D.G., and K.B. Schneider. 1985. The

sea otter (Enhydra lutris). Pages 37–45. In:

Marine Mammals Species Accounts. J.J.

Burns K.J. Frost,and L.F. Lowry (Eds.).

Alaska Department of Fish and Game,

Technical Bulletin 7.

Estes, J.A. 1990. Growth and equilibrium in

sea otter populations. Journal of Animal

Ecology 59:385–401.

Estes, J.A., M.T. Tinker, T.M. Williams, and

D.F. Doak. 1998. Killer Whale Predation

Linking Oceanic and Nearshore

Ecosystems. Science 282: 473–476.

Evans, T.J., D.M. Burn, and A.R. DeGange.

1997. Distribution and Relative Abundance

of Sea Otters in the Aleutian Archipelago.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Marine

Mammals Management Technical Report

MMM 97–5. 29 pp.

Johnson, A.M. 1982. Status of Alaska sea

otter populations and developing conflicts

with fisheries. Trans. 47th North American

Wildlife and Natural Resources

Conference:293–299.

Kenyon, K. W. 1969. The Sea Otter in the

Eastern Pacific Ocean. United States

Department of the Interior. North American

Fauna, Number 68. 352 pp.

Wilson, D.E., M.A. Bogan, R.L. Brownell, Jr.,

A.M. Burdin, and M.K. Maminov. 1991.

Geographic variation in sea otters, Enhydra

lutris. Journal of Mammalogy 72:22–36.

Author

This notice was compiled from

materials supplied by staff biologists

located in the Service’s regional and

field offices. The materials were

compiled by, Division of Endangered

Species (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

Dated: November 3, 2000.

David B. Allen,

Regional Director, U. S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Region 7.

[FR Doc. 00–28796 Filed 11–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U