[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2465-2467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-552]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[FWS-R2-ES-2008-0059; MO 9221050083-B2]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Status Review of 
the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Sonoran Desert Area of 
Central Arizona and Northwestern Mexico

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of continuing information collection for a status 
review.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
continuation of information collection on a status review for the bald 
eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Sonoran Desert area of central 
Arizona and northwestern Mexico, hereafter referred to as the ``Sonoran 
Desert area bald eagle.'' Through this action, we

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encourage all interested parties to provide us with information 
regarding the status of, and any potential threats to, the Sonoran 
Desert area bald eagle. Information previously submitted for this 
status assessment does not need to be resubmitted, and will be 
incorporated into the public record and fully considered in our status 
review.

DATES: To allow us adequate time to consider and incorporate submitted 
information into our review which is due by October 12, 2009, we 
request that we receive the information on or before July 10, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit information by one of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for comments or submissions.
    <bullet> U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: FWS-R2-ES-2008-0059; Division of Policy and Directives 
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, 
Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
    We will not accept e-mail or faxes. We will post all information 
received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we 
will post any personal information you provide us (see the Information 
Solicited section below for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Spangle, Field Supervisor, 
Arizona Ecological Services Office, 2321 West Royal Palm Road, Suite 
103, Phoenix, AZ 85021-4951; telephone 602-242-0210; facsimile 602-242-
2513. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call 
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Solicited

    To ensure that the status review is complete and based on the best 
available scientific and commercial information, we are continuing to 
collect information concerning the status of the Sonoran Desert area 
bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). We will use information gained 
during this process to evaluate whether the Sonoran Desert area bald 
eagle is a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) as described in our policy 
on determining a DPS (61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996; DPS Policy), and if 
listing as threatened or endangered is warranted under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If we 
determine that listing the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle is warranted, 
we would propose critical habitat to the maximum extent prudent and 
determinable at the time we prepare a proposed listing rule.
    To allow us adequate time to incorporate submitted information into 
our review, we request that we receive the information on or before 
July 10, 2009. Because this status review will not result in 
establishing a rule, this date is an advisory. However, please note 
that the court has established a deadline of October 12, 2009, for 
completion of this status review. As a result, the Service must be able 
to compile, evaluate, and incorporate substantial information into this 
status review. Therefore, receiving substantial information on or 
before July 10, 2009, maximizes our ability to incorporate that 
information into our review.
    At this time, we request any additional information from the 
public, other concerned governmental agencies, Native American Tribes, 
the scientific community, industry, or any other interested parties on 
the status of the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle, including:
    (1) Information regarding Sonoran Desert area bald eagles' 
historical and current population status, distribution, and trends; 
biology and ecology; and habitat selection. We also solicit information 
of this type on adjacent populations and geographic areas for use in 
evaluating discreteness and significance of the Sonoran Desert area 
bald eagle under the Service's DPS Policy.
    (2) Information that supports or refutes the appropriateness of 
considering the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle to be discrete, as 
defined in the DPS Policy including, but not limited to:
    (a) Information indicating whether Sonoran Desert area bald eagles 
are markedly separated from other populations of bald eagles due to 
physical, physiological, ecological, or behavioral factors. This may 
include information regarding bald eagles that hatched in the Sonoran 
Desert area and that breed with bald eagles that hatched in other 
locations outside this area, and information regarding the Sonoran 
Desert area bald eagles' isolation from other breeding populations of 
eagles.
    (b) Information indicating whether or not the Sonoran Desert area 
bald eagle is delimited by international governmental boundaries within 
which significant differences in control of exploitation, management of 
habitat, conservation status, or regulatory mechanisms exist.
    (3) Information that supports or refutes the appropriateness of 
considering the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle to be significant, as 
defined in the DPS Policy including, but not limited to:
    (a) Information indicating whether the ecological setting, 
including such factors as temperature, moisture, weather patterns, and 
plant communities, in which the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle persists 
is unusual or unique when compared to that of bald eagles found 
elsewhere in North America. This may also include information 
indicating that the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle has or has not 
developed adaptations to that unique environment, such as breeding 
behavior, morphological characteristics, egg development and 
characteristics, or nest types.
    (b) Information indicating whether loss of the Sonoran Desert area 
bald eagle would or would not result in a significant gap in the range 
of the taxon.
    (c) Information indicating whether the Sonoran Desert area bald 
eagle differs markedly from other populations of bald eagles in its 
genetic characteristics.
    (4) Information regarding the availability of suitable, but 
unoccupied, breeding habitat that might allow for expansion of the 
Sonoran Desert area bald eagle populations. This may include 
information on areas outside of the boundaries delineated for the 
Sonoran Desert area bald eagle in our May 1, 2008, final listing rule 
(73 FR 23966).
    (5) Information on the effects of potential threat factors to the 
Sonoran Desert area bald eagle populations that are the basis for a 
listing determination under section 4(a) of the Act, which are:
    (a) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or 
curtailment of the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle's breeding habitat or 
range, including but not limited to the effects on habitat from: water 
management (river diversions, dams, dam operations, surface and 
groundwater withdrawals); human population growth and accompanying 
increases in water demands; human recreation; reduced riparian health 
and regrowth of streamside trees for nesting, foraging, and roosting; 
urban development; and climate change;
    (b) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or 
educational purposes;
    (c) Disease or predation, including but not limited to the effects 
of avian pox or West Nile virus, Mexican chicken bugs, or ticks;
    (d) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, including but 
not limited to adequacy or inadequacy of funding for ongoing 
management; and the adequacy or inadequacy of

[[Page 2467]]

protections under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the 
Migratory Bird Treaty Act; and
    (e) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued 
existence, including but not limited to information on: Productivity, 
survival, and mortality rates of this population; the occurrence and 
effect of inbreeding; effects to Sonoran Desert area bald eagles while 
outside the Sonoran Desert area; effects to Sonoran Desert area bald 
eagles' prey base and productivity, including effects of nonnative 
predatory fish and native fish restoration; effects of low-flying 
aircraft; the presence and abundance of pesticides and contaminants 
such as lead, mercury, or dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE); the 
effects of climate change; and the effects from eggshell thinning.
    (6) Information supporting the existing boundary developed in our 
May 1, 2008, final listing rule (73 FR 23966) for Sonoran Desert area 
bald eagles under consideration in this status review, or information 
indicating that the boundary should be modified.
    If you submitted information in response to our notice of 
initiation of a status review, which was published in the Federal 
Register on May 20, 2008 (73 FR 29096), you do not need to resend it. 
We will include the submission in the public record, and we will 
consider the information in the preparation of our status review.
    You may submit your information concerning this status review by 
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. We will not 
consider submissions sent by e-mail or fax or to an address not listed 
in the ADDRESSES section.
    If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will 
be posted on the Web site. If you submit personal identifying 
information, you may request at the top of your document that we 
withhold this personal identifying information from public review. 
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will 
post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
    Information and materials we receive, as well as supporting 
documentation we used in preparing this notice, will be available for 
public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, 
during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Arizona Ecological Services Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires that, for any petition to 
revise the Lists of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife and Plants that 
contains substantial scientific or commercial information that the 
action may be warranted, we make a finding within 12 months of the date 
of the receipt of the petition on whether the petitioned action is: (a) 
Not warranted, (b) warranted, or (c) warranted but precluded by other 
pending proposals. Such 12-month findings are to be published promptly 
in the Federal Register.
    Federal actions taken prior to May 2008 are described in a notice 
of initiation of a status review of the Sonoran Desert area bald eagle, 
which was published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2008 (73 FR 
29096). On August 27, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Arizona granted the Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa 
Audubon Society's unopposed motion to amend the previous court order 
(Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne, CV 07-0038-PHX-MHM (D. 
Ariz.)) to extend the completion date of the bald eagle status review 
to October 12, 2009. Included in the motion submitted to the court were 
declarations discussing the need for additional time for Native 
American Tribes to compile and submit information.
    At this time, we are soliciting new information on the status of 
and potential threats to the Sonoran Desert population of bald eagles. 
We will base our new determination as to whether listing is warranted 
on a review of the best scientific and commercial information 
available, including all such information received as a result of this 
notice. For more information on the biology, habitat, and range of the 
Sonoran Desert population of bald eagles, please refer to our previous 
90-day finding published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2006 (71 
FR 51549), and our final delisting rule for the bald eagle published in 
the Federal Register on July 9, 2007 (72 FR 37346).

Author

    The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the 
Arizona Ecological Services Office.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: January 7, 2009.
Kenneth Stansell,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-552 Filed 1-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P