Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 74 / Monday, April 17, 2000 / Notices 20481

before June 16, 2000 for us to consider

them in developing the final plan.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of

the draft revised recovery plan by

contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Oregon State Office, 2600 S.E.

98th Avenue, Suite 100, Portland,

Oregon, 97266; phone (503) 231–6179.

Send written comments or other

materials on the plan to the State

Supervisor at the above address.

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: Rich

Szlemp, Supervisory Fish and Wildlife

Biologist, at the above address.

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 our endangered species

program. To help guide the recovery

effort, we are working to prepare

recovery plans for most of the listed

species native to the United States.

Recovery plans describe actions

considered necessary to conserve the

species, establish criteria for recognizing

the recovery levels for downlisting or

delisting them, and estimate time and

cost for implementing the recovery

measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973,

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

seq.) requires that recovery plans be

developed for listed species unless such

a plan would not promote the

conservation of a particular species.

Section 4(f) of the Act requires that

during recovery plan development, we

provide public notice and an

opportunity for public review and

comment. We will consider all

information presented during a

comment period before we approve a

new or revised recovery plan. We and

other Federal agencies will also take

these comments into account in the

course of implementing approved

recovery plans.

The Oregon silverspot butterfly,

which was listed as threatened with

critical habitat in 1980, is a small,

darkly marked coastal subspecies of the

Zerene fritillary butterfly. This

subspecies occurs in six small pockets

of remaining habitat at: Del Norte/Lake

Earl in California; Clatsop Plains, Mt.

Hebo, Cascade Head, and Rock CreekBig Creek in Oregon; and Long Beach in

Washington. The Long Beach

population may be extirpated and the

population on the Clatsop Plains is

extremely low and at risk of extirpation.

A recovery plan was completed in 1982.

At the time of listing, the only known

viable population occurred in the Rock

Creek-Big Creek area. The original

recovery plan included recovery actions

for the Rock Creek-Big Creek area as

well as the rediscovered population of

butterflies at Mt. Hebo. Since that time,

additional Oregon silverspot

populations have been discovered or

rediscovered at Cascade Head, Bray

Point, Clatsop Plains, and Del Norte.

The open vegetation preferred by the

butterfly has always had a patchy

distribution that was maintained

through wildfire, salt-laden winds,

grazing, and controlled burning. Habitat

has declined due to residential and

commercial development, invasion of

exotic plant species, overgrazing, and

lack of fire. Current threats to Oregon

silverspot butterflies include continued

habitat alteration, continued invasion of

non-native plants, off-road vehicle use,

and vegetation change due to fire

suppression.

The draft revised recovery plan calls

for restoring and protecting habitat for

the Oregon silverspot butterfly to

establish or maintain viable populations

in six habitat conservation areas.

Because Oregon silverspot butterfly

populations have been extirpated and

existing ones are still declining, the

revised recovery plan also calls for

augmenting existing populations with

captive-reared individuals and

reintroducing butterflies in areas where

they have been extirpated. When the

revised plan is completed, it will guide

all Federal and State agencies whose

actions affect the conservation of the

Oregon silverspot butterfly.

Public Comments Solicited

We solicit written comments on this

draft revised recovery plan. We are

particularly interested in receiving any

recent information regarding the

occurrence, distribution, or number of

butterflies that is not included in the

draft revised plan. We are also

particularly interested in information

pertaining to specific criteria to be

considered when proposing to augment

or reintroduce Oregon silverspot

butterflies. We will consider all

comments received by the date specified

above before approving the plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16

U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: April 11, 2000.

Thomas Dwyer,

Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Region 1.

[FR Doc. 00–9459 Filed 4–14–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Proposal To Register an Operation

Breeding an Appendix-I Species in

Captivity for Commercial Purposes

according to the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, announce that we

intend to submit to the Secretariat of the

Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

Flora (CITES) a proposal to register

Rapid Creek Ranch, a breeding facility

for gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) owned

and operated by Robert B. Berry,

Sheridan, Wyoming, as a commercial

breeding operation for an Appendix-I

species. The registration of this facility

will allow specimens to be designated

as bred in captivity for commercial

purposes and deemed to be specimens

of species included in Appendix II, as

provided for in Article VII, paragraph 4,

of CITES. Public comments are

solicited.

DATES: Comments will be accepted until

May 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send correspondence

concerning this notice to the Office of

Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Mail stop ARLSQ 750,

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington,

Virginia 22203 (fax, 703–358–2276; Email, r9osa@fws.gov). Copies of the full

text of the registration proposal are

available from the Office of Scientific

Authority and will be mailed upon

request. Comments and other

information received are available for

public inspection by appointment from

8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through

Friday, at the Arlington, Virginia,

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Robert R. Gabel at the address given

above (telephone: 703–358–1708).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

20482 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 74 / Monday, April 17, 2000 / Notices

Fauna and Flora, TIAS 8249, hereinafter

referred to as CITES, is an international

treaty designed to regulate international

trade in animal and plant species that

are or may become threatened with

extinction. Authority for implementing

CITES has been delegated to the

Secretary of Interior through the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Species are listed in Appendix I, II, or

III of CITES, depending on the degree of

threat and level of control needed.

Species listed in Appendix I receive the

highest level of protection and require

both an import permit from the country

of import and an export permit from the

country of export, and imports may not

be for primarily commercial purposes.

However, Article VII, paragraph 4, of

CITES provides that specimens of

animal species included in Appendix I

bred in captivity for commercial

purposes shall be deemed to be

specimens of species included in

Appendix II. Appendix-II species

require an export permit only (no

import permit) and may be imported for

commercial or non-commercial

purposes.

Through resolutions adopted at

meetings of the Conference of the

Parties to CITES, the Parties have

defined criteria for registering breeding

operations with the CITES Secretariat,

whereby specimens of Appendix-I

species from those operations would

qualify as bred in captivity for

commercial purposes. Resolution Conf.

10.16 adopted at the Tenth Meeting of

the Conference of the Parties to CITES

requires that parental breeding stock at

such operations must: (a) Be established

in according to the provisions of CITES

and relevant national laws and in a

manner not detrimental to the survival

of the species in the wild; (b) be

maintained without introduction of

specimens from the wild, except for

occasional augmentation to prevent or

alleviate deleterious inbreeding, and for

other limited purposes; and (c) have

produced offspring of second (F2) or

subsequent generations (F3, F4, etc.) in

a controlled environment, belong to a

species included in a list (established by

the CITES Standing Committee) of

species commonly bred to the second or

subsequent generations in captivity, or

be managed in a manner that has been

demonstrated to be capable of reliably

producing second-generation offspring

in a controlled environment. Resolution

Conf. 8.15 provides guidelines for

registering and monitoring operations

breeding Appendix-I animal species for

commercial purposes, and specifies the

documentation required to establish that

the operation meets the criteria of

Resolution Conf. 10.16.

To register a captive-breeding

operation, the Management Authority of

the country in which the operation is

located must approve the operation, in

consultation with that country’s

Scientific Authority. The sponsoring

Management Authority must then

submit a proposal to register the

operation to the CITES Secretariat,

which will follow the process presented

in Resolution Conf. 8.15.

After a review of relevant information,

including breeding records and other

documentation, we have prepared for

submission to the CITES Secretariat the

following proposal: the registration of

Rapid Creek Ranch, owned and

operated by Robert B. Berry, Sheridan,

Wyoming, as a commercial captivebreeding operation for gyrfalcons (Falco

rusticolus), an Appendix-I species. This

is only the second commercial captivebreeding operation proposed for

registration within the United States for

any species, it is not the first operation

registered with the CITES Secretariat for

this species; 11 operations are already

registered with the Secretariat for

gyrfalcons, one of which is in the

United States. The Rapid Creek Ranch

operation was established in 1978 and

first began breeding this species in 1980,

with 150 gyrfalcons produced from 1982

to 1999. Over 75 percent of these

offspring have been second-generation

captive-bred offspring. We are satisfied

that all breeding stock has been legally

acquired and maintained under

appropriate permits. Mr. Berry has

provided detailed information on

current holdings, husbandry practices,

enclosures, production at his operation,

and breeding strategies for genetic

management of his flocks so as to

minimize deleterious inbreeding.

Required Determination

In March 1998, we prepared an

Environmental Assessment (EA) as

required by the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) for this notice and

concluded in a Finding of No

Significant Impact (FONSI) based on a

review and evaluation of the

information contained within the EA

that there would be no significant

impact on the human environment as a

result of the registration of operations

breeding Appendix-I species in

captivity for commercial purposes, and

that the preparation of an environmental

impact statement on this action is not

required by Section 102(2) of NEPA or

its implementing regulations. The EA

and FONSI for this action are on file at

our Office of Scientific Authority in

Arlington, Virginia, and a copy may be

obtained by contacting the individual

identified under the section entitled,

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

Author

This notice was prepared by Mr.

Robert R. Gabel, Chief, Branch of

Consultation and Monitoring, Office of

Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (703/358–1708).

Dated: April 10, 2000.

Kristen Nelson,

Acting Chief, Office of Management

Authority.

[FR Doc. 00–9526 Filed 4–14–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability

Notice of Availability of an

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan and Receipt of

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the Construction of One

Single Family Residence on 0.5 acres of

the 7.6-acre Lot 20, Section 2 in the

Circle D Country Acres Subdivision in

Bastrop County, Texas.

SUMMARY: Paula Hanks and Jason Sims

(Applicants) have applied to the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for

an incidental take permit pursuant to

Section 10(a) of the Endangered Species

Act (Act). The Applicants have been

assigned permit number TE–024872–0.

The requested permit, which is for a

period of 5 years, would authorize the

incidental take of the endangered

Houston Toad (Bufo houstonensis). The

proposed take would occur as a result

of the construction and occupation of

one single family residence on Lot 20,

Section 2 of the Circle D Country Acres

Subdivision, Bastrop County, Texas.

The Service has prepared the

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) for the

incidental take application. A

determination of jeopardy to the species

or a Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) will not be made until at least

30 days from the date of publication of

this notice. This notice is provided

pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and

National Environmental Policy Act

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the

application should be received on or

before May 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the application may obtain a copy by

writing to the Regional Director, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box

1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103.