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[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 124 (Monday, June 29, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35183-35184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-17151]

[[Page 35183]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of 12-Month 
Finding on a Petition To List the Northern Goshawk in the Contiguous 
United States West of the 100th Meridian

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition finding.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 12-month 
finding on a petition to list the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) 
in the contiguous United States west of the 100th meridian under the 
Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act). After review of all available 
scientific and commercial information, the Service finds that listing 
this population as endangered or threatened is not warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on June 22, 
1998.

ADDRESSES: Data, information, comments or questions concerning this 
petition should be sent to Mr. David Wesley, Assistant Regional 
Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 N.E. 11th 
Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232-4181, ATTN: Office of Technical Support. 
The petition, finding, supporting data and comments will be available 
for public inspection by appointment, during normal business hours at 
the following address: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 
Technical Support for Forest Resources, 333 S.W. 1st Avenue, 4th Floor, 
Portland, Oregon 97204, (503/808-2565).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Wesley, Assistant Regional 
Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 N.E. 11th 
Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232-4181 (503/231-6159); or Monty Knudsen, 
Office of Technical Support for Forest Resources, 333 S.W. 1st Avenue, 
Portland, Oregon 97204, (503/808-2565).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1533) requires that the Service 
make a finding on whether a petition to list, delist or reclassify a 
species presents substantial scientific or commercial information to 
indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted. To the maximum 
extent practicable, this finding is to be made within 90 days of the 
receipt of the petition (90-day finding), and notice of the finding is 
to be published promptly in the Federal Register. If a finding is made 
that substantial information was presented, the Service is required to 
promptly commence a status review of the species involved and determine 
whether the petitioned action is warranted, not warranted or warranted 
but precluded by other higher priority listing actions.
    On September 29, 1997, the Service announced a 90-day finding (62 
FR 50892) for a petition to list the northern goshawk in the contiguous 
United States west of the 100th meridian under the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended. In that finding, the Service found that the 
petition presented substantial information indicating that the listing 
of the northern goshawk as a threatened or endangered species in the 
contiguous United States west of the 100th meridian may be warranted. 
At that time, the Service initiated a status review for this population 
of the northern goshawk and announced that a 12-month finding will be 
prepared at the conclusion of the review.
    The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) occurs in temperate and 
boreal forests of North America, Europe and Asia. In North America, the 
northern goshawk breeds from western and central Alaska, northern 
Yukon, eastern and southern Mackenzie, southern Keewatin, northeastern 
Manitoba, northern Ontario, central and northeastern Quebec, Labrador, 
and Newfoundland south to southern Alaska, central California, southern 
Nevada, southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, the eastern 
foothills of the Rockies and the Black Hills, central Alberta, central 
Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, northern Minnesota, central Michigan, 
Pennsylvania, central New York, northwestern Connecticut, and locally 
south in the montane habitats at least to West Virginia and possibly to 
eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina (Squires in prep). This 
notice pertains to the northern goshawk that occurs in the contiguous 
United States west of the 100th meridian.
    In North America, the winter range of goshawks includes all of the 
breeding range, and extends south as far as southern California, 
northern Mexico and Texas, and occasionally to northern portions of the 
Gulf States, rarely including Florida (Squires in prep).
    Two groups of the northern goshawk are recognized worldwide: the 
palearctic gentilis group and the nearctic atricapillus group. The 
latter occurs in North America and consists of A.g. atricapillus 
(Wilson 1812, type locality Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). The 
atricapillus group occurs over much of Alaska, Canada, and the 
mountains of the western and eastern United States. In addition to A.g. 
atricapillus, at least two other subspecies are currently, but 
variously, accepted--A.g. laingi (Taverner 1940, type locality Queen 
Charlotte Islands, British Columbia), which occurs on islands off the 
Canadian Pacific coast, and A.g. apache van Rossem (van Rossem 1938, 
type locality Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona), which occurs in the 
mountains. A.g. laingi is the subject of a separate petition action and 
is not further addressed in this notice.
    Recognition of the apache subspecies in the American southwest is a 
subject of current debate. It is recognized by a number of scientists, 
but not by the American Ornithologists' Union. The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service acknowledged the existence of apache as a subspecies 
in its 1992 administrative finding relative to the petition to list the 
northern goshawk. However, the Service now considers the issue of 
recognition of apache as a legitimate subspecies to be unresolved, and 
does not consider it a separate subspecies for purposes of this notice.
    Information reviewed by the Service indicates that data regarding 
goshawk population trends is limited (Squires and Reynolds 1997), and 
migration or Christmas bird counts are difficult to interpret because 
of low numbers observed, biases inherent in the methodology, and 
irruptive migrations (Titus and Fuller 1990). However, Kennedy (1997) 
conducted a comprehensive review of available, peer-reviewed research, 
and found no evidence of a decline in goshawks in North America based 
on its range, demographics (density, fecundity, and survival) and 
population trends. Based on a variety of information from across North 
America, Kennedy concluded that there is no strong evidence to indicate 
that goshawk populations are declining, increasing or stable. She 
emphasizes two possible conclusions based on her analysis: 1) either 
the goshawk is not declining or 2) current sampling techniques are 
insufficient to detect population trends. Based on the best available 
information gathered for the Service's Status Review, the Service did 
not find evidence of a declining population trend for goshawks. The 
Service found that approximately 75 percent of the reported territories 
analyzed for its status review were discovered within the past 10 
years. In those areas where intensive survey and monitoring efforts 
have been implemented, goshawks generally are found. The available data 
indicate that

[[Page 35184]]

goshawks remain widely distributed throughout their historic range in 
the western United States.
    The habitat information gathered and reviewed by the Service 
indicates that changes have occurred in the distribution, amount and 
structural characteristics of mature forests throughout much of the 
western United States. In general, the primary change has been 
reduction of mature forest cover by logging, although other factors 
such as fire suppression and catastrophic fire have also been 
implicated. However, the extent to which goshawk populations are 
correlated with amounts of mature forest cover is unknown. Recent 
survey efforts continue to result in discovery of goshawks, even in 
areas of historic logging activity, which indicates that the species 
may not be uncommon, but rather is difficult to locate and adequately 
survey. The Service found no evidence that goshawk habitat is limiting 
the population, or that a significant curtailment of the species' 
habitat or range is occurring.
    The information presented in the petition relies largely on the 
contention that the northern goshawk is dependent on large, unbroken 
tracts of ``old-growth'' and mature forest. However, the Service has 
found no evidence to support this claim. The Service found that while 
the goshawk typically does use mature forest or larger trees for 
nesting habitat, it appears to be a forest habitat generalist in terms 
of the types and ages of forests it will use to meet its life history 
requirements. Goshawks can use small patches of mature habitat to meet 
their nesting requirements within a mosaic of habitats of different age 
classes; a key factor appears to be availability of prey.
    While timber management has been demonstrated to affect goshawks at 
least at local levels (Reynolds 1989, Crocker-Bedford 1990, Bright-
Smith and Mannon 1994, Woodbridge and Detrich 1994, Beier and Drennan 
1997, Desimone 1997), forest management practices, such as the use of 
controlled fire and selective thinning, also may make habitats more 
suitable to goshawks by opening up dense understory vegetation, 
creating snags, down logs, and woody debris, and creating other 
conditions conducive to goshawks and their prey (Reynolds et al. 1992, 
Graham et al. 1997).
    Throughout much of the western United States, the nature and rate 
of decline in mature forest habitats on Federal lands has slowed 
significantly during the past decade. The Service estimates that 80 
percent of goshawk habitat occurs on Federal forest lands. Public 
debate over management of Federal forest resources has resulted in 
regional forest management strategies, many of which focus on retention 
and restoration of mature forest habitats. These changes are reflected 
in declines of timber volume sold from National Forest lands in many 
western states. Although mature forest habitat continues to be 
harvested, the Service finds that, in general, habitat conditions on 
Federal lands are no longer declining as in previous decades, and are 
improving in many areas throughout the west.
    In conclusion, the Service finds that while forest management 
(e.g., timber harvest and fire exclusion) has changed the vegetation 
characteristics throughout much of the western United States, the 
goshawk continues to be well-distributed throughout its historic range. 
The Service finds no evidence that the goshawk population is declining 
in the western United States, that habitat is limiting the overall 
population, that there are any significant areas of extirpation, or 
that a significant curtailment of the species' habitat or range is 
occurring. The petition relies largely on the contention that the 
goshawk is dependent on large, unbroken tracts of old-growth and mature 
forest in its assertion that the species is in danger of extinction. 
However, neither the petition nor other information available to the 
Service supports this claim. The Service found that while goshawks 
frequently use stands of old-growth and mature forest for nesting, 
overall the species appears to be a forest habitat generalist in terms 
of the variety and age-classes of forest types it uses to meet its life 
history requirements. Therefore, the Service finds that listing the 
northern goshawk in the contiguous United States west of the 100th 
meridian as threatened or endangered is not warranted because the best 
available information does not indicate that it is in danger of 
extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future.

References

    A complete list of references used in preparation of this finding 
is available upon request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Office of Technical Support (see ADDRESSES section).

Author

    The primary author of this document is Catrina Martin, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Office of Technical Support (see ADDRESSES 
section).

Authority

    16 U.S.C. 1381-1487l; 16 U.S.C. 4201-4245; Pub L. 99-625, 100 Stat. 
3500; unless otherwise noted.

    Dated: June 22, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-17151 Filed 6-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
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