Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 86 /Tuesday, May 5, 1998 / Notices 24821

209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective

exclusive license may be granted unless,

within 60 days from the date of this

published Notice, NIH receives written

evidence and argument that establishes

that the grant of the license would not

be consistent with the requirements of

35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.

Applications for a license in the

exclusive field of use filed in response

to this notice will be treated as

objections to the grant of the

contemplated licenses. Comments and

objections submitted in response to this

notice will not be made available for

public inspection, and, to the extent

permitted by law, will not be released

under the Freedom of Information Act,

5 U.S.C. 552.

Dated: April 9, 1998.

Jack S. Spiegel,

Director, Division of Technology Development

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer.

[FR Doc. 98–11933 Filed 5–4–98; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of Draft Management

Objectives for the Endangered Fishes

of the Upper Colorado River for Review

and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) announces the availability for

public review of Draft Interim

Management Objectives for the

Endangered Fishes of the Upper

Colorado River and supporting draft

document ‘‘Modeling population

dynamics of Colorado squawfish,

razorback sucker, and humpback chub:

for management objective

development.’’ These interim

management objectives serve as the first

step in determining recovery goals by

identifying approximate minimum

population sizes for current and

restored stocks of endangered fish in

order to achieve recovery. The Service

solicits review and comment from the

public on this draft interim management

objectives and supporting modeling

document.

DATES: Comments on the draft

management objectives must be

received on or before June 4, 1998 to

ensure they receive consideration by the

Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the draft management objectives may

obtain a copy by contacting the

Associate Manager Utah, Fish and

Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 25486,

Denver Federal Center, Denver,

Colorado 80225. Written comments and

materials regarding this plan should be

sent to the Associate Manager Utah at

the Denver address given above.

Comments and materials received are

available on request for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Larry Shanks, Fish and Wildlife

Associate Manager (see ADDRESSES

above), at telephone (303) 236–8154.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or

threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again a secure, selfsustaining member of its ecosystem is a

primary goal of the Service’s

endangered species program. To help

guide the recovery effort of Upper

Colorado River endangered fishes, the

Recovery Implementation Program, with

the Service as a participant, is

determining interim management

objectives to guide the development of

recovery goals. This first step is to

determine the necessary minimum

numbers in a population of endangered

Upper Colorado River fishes to maintain

quantifiable genetic integrity. The

interim management objective

documents the methods used to

determine effective population size, sex

ratios and numbers of fish that would

successfully contribute their genetics to

the next spawning population.

Biologists have been charged with

developing quantifiable recovery

objectives that are scientifically based.

Generally, there is a lack of sufficient

information on species habitat needs,

population genetics, and population

demographics to establish sound

quantifiable objectives. Where scientists

have attempted to establish quantifiable

objectives for recovery, they have

tended to be relatively conservative. For

these reasons, and others, quantifiable

recovery objectives have never been

established for endangered fish in the

Upper Colorado River Basin.

In the Upper Basin, four endemic fish

species are federally listed as

endangered: Colorado squawfish

(Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub

(Gila cypha), razorback sucker

(Xyraunchen texanus), and bonytail

(Gila elegans). The original draft

recovery plan for Colorado squawfish

written in 1978 called for the

development of quantifiable recovery

objectives. Following the establishment

of the Upper Basin Recovery

Implementation Program in 1986, the

need for quantification of objectives for

each species was reiterated. The current

recovery plans for all four endangered

Colorado River fish, however, still call

for the establishment of quantifiable

objectives. Additionally, quantifiable

management objectives are needed by

the Upper Basin Recovery

Implementation Program to evaluate

actions taken to recover endangered fish

in the Upper Basin.

The purpose of the draft document is

to outline quantifiable interim

management objectives for all Colorado

River endangered fish and to describe

how the interim management objectives

were developed. Interim management

objectives are based on a minimum

genetic effective population size (Ne)

and population demographic parameters

described in the model developed by

Crowl and Bouwes (1997). Their

achievement is dependent upon a

multitude of environmental conditions

and management actions. The term

‘‘interim’’ is being used because they

will require refinement at regular

intervals as new information is

obtained. The application of interim

management objectives will be

primarily within the Upper Basin

Recovery Implementation Program to

evaluate progress towards recovery of

these endangered fish. in this light, the

interim management objectives will

provide a framework for prioritizing

short-term actions needed for recovery

and guidelines for obtaining the

information needed to define

quantifiable long-term recovery

objectives.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the draft interim management

objectives described above. All

comments received by the date specified

in the DATES section above will be

considered prior to approval of the

interim management objectives.

Authority

The authority for this action is section

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16

U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: April 24, 1998.

Terry Terrel,

Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.

[FR Doc. 98–11609 Filed 5–4–98; 8:45 am]

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