[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 230 (Wednesday, November 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71117-71118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30361]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of an Amendment to the Draft Recovery Plan 
for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills for 
Review and Comment

AGENCY: U.S. 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 an Amendment to the Draft Recovery 
Plan for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills. 
This amendment to the draft recovery plan covers four plants listed as 
endangered, Calystegia stebbinsii (Stebbins' morning-glory), Ceanothus 
roderickii (Pine Hill ceanothus), Fremontodendron californicum ssp. 
decumbens (Pine Hill flannelbush), and Galium californicum ssp. sierrae 
(El Dorado bedstraw); one plant listed as threatened, Senecio layneae 
(Layne's butterweed); and one plant species of concern, Wyethia 
reticulata (El Dorado mule-ears). The amendment includes a revision of 
and correction to the preserve recommendation maps found in the draft 
plan. It also includes changes to the text in the recovery, stepdown 
narrative, and implementation chapters necessitated by changes in the 
preserve maps.

DATES: Comments on the amendment to the draft recovery plan must be 
received on or before January 29, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the amendment to the draft recovery plan are 
available for inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours 
at the following location: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento 
Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605, Sacramento, 
California (telephone (916) 414-6600). Requests for copies of the 
amendment to the draft recovery plan and written comments and materials 
regarding this amendment should be addressed to Wayne S. White, Field 
Supervisor, Ecological Services, at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Elam or Kirsten Tarp, Fish and 
Wildlife Biologists, at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point 
where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their 
ecosystems 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. Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for 
the conservation of the species, establish criteria for downlisting or 
delisting listed species, 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 public notice and an opportunity for public review and comment be 
provided during recovery plan development. The Service will consider 
all information presented during the 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 six species of plants covered in both the draft recovery plan 
and the amendment to the draft plan are primarily restricted to gabbro 
soils habitat in the central Sierra Nevada foothills of California. 
Conversion of habitat to urban uses has extirpated the listed species 
and species of concern

[[Page 71118]]

from a significant portion of their historic ranges. The remaining 
natural communities are highly fragmented, and many sites are 
vulnerable to extirpation from edge effects, impaired dispersal, or 
changes in fire regime.
    The objectives of this amendment are to: (1) Make available to the 
public a revised preserve recommendation for the Pine Hill formation of 
western El Dorado County and (2) correct mistakes in mapping of 
preserve areas that appeared in the draft plan. The amendment includes 
the revised preserve recommendation maps and portions of the recovery 
chapter, stepdown narrative, and implementation schedule that were 
changed to correspond to the revised recommendation. In this amendment 
we have not addressed the public comments that were previously 
submitted on the draft plan. Those comments will, however, be addressed 
in the final recovery plan.

Public Comments Solicited

    The Service solicits written comments on the amendment described 
above. All comments received by the date specified above will be 
considered prior to approval of the final recovery plan. Comments that 
were submitted to us during the March 8 to July 7, 1999, public comment 
period on the draft plan do not need to be resubmitted. These comments, 
as well as comments received on the amendment, will be addressed in the 
final recovery plan.

Authority

    The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: November 21, 2000.
Elizabeth H. Stevens,
Acting Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Region 1, Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 00-30361 Filed 11-28-00; 8:45 am]
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