Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices 20673

FY 2000 RECIPIENTS OF FUNDING AWARDS FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS—

Continued

Technical Assistance Awardee CHDO HOME Homeless

assistance Total

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, 501 N. Second

Street, The Jackson Center, Richmond, VA 23219 ............................................ $96,000 $96,000 $192,000

Wisconsin (State) Department of Administration, Division of Housing, 101 E. Wilson St., 4th Fl., P.O. Box 8944, Madison, WI 53708 .......................................... $78,100 $78,100

Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development, Inc., 121 South Pinckney

Street, Suite 200, Madison, WI 53703 ................................................................. $284,520 $108,000 $392,520

[FR Doc. 01–10046 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Intent to Prepare

Comprehensive Conservation Plans

for Okefenokee National Wildlife

Refuge, Charlton, Ware, and Clinch

Counties, Georgia, and Baker County,

Florida; and Banks Lake National

Wildlife Refuge, Lanier County,

Georgia

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the Fish and Wildlife Service

intends to gather information necessary

to prepare a comprehensive

conservation plan and associated

environmental documents for each of

the above stated refuges, pursuant to the

Service’s Comprehensive Conservation

Planning Policy and the National

Environmental Policy Act and

implementing regulations to achieve the

following:

(1) advise other agencies and the

public of our intentions; and

(2) obtain suggestions and information

on the scope of issues to include in the

environmental documents.

DATES: The Service intends to hold

public scoping meetings and collect

information and suggestions through

November 1, 2001, for Okefenokee

National Wildlife Refuge, and December

31, 2001, for Banks Lake National

Wildlife Refuge. A minimum of two

meetings will be held regarding the plan

for Okefenokee Refuge and one meeting

will be held for Banks Lake Refuge.

Mailings, newspaper articles, radio

announcements, and postings on the

refuge webstie will be the avenues to

inform the public of the dates and times

for these meetings.

ADDRESSES: Address comments and

requests for more information to the

following: Refuge Manager, Okefenokee

National Wildlife Refuge,

Comprehensive Conservation Planning,

Route 2, Box 3330, Folkston, Georgia

31537, (912) 496–7366, (912) 496–3332

(Fax).

Information concerning these refuges

may be found at the following website:

http://okefenokee.fws.gov

If you wish to comment, you may

submit your comments by any one of

several methods. you may mail

comments to the above address. you

may also comment via the Internet to

the following address:

sara_aicher@fws.gov. Please submit

Internet comments as an ASCII file

avoiding the use of special characters

and any form of encryption. Please also

include your name and return address

in your Internet message. If you do not

receive a confirmation from the system

that we have received your Internet

message, contact Sara Aicher directly at

the above address. finally, you may

hand-deliver comments to Sara Aicher

at Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeEast Entrance, 11 miles southwest of

Folkston, Georgia. Our practice is to

make comments, including names and

home addresses of respondents,

available for public review during

regular business hours. Individual

respondents may request that we

withhold their home address from the

rulemaking record, which we will honor

to the extent allowable by law. There

also may be circumstances in which we

would withhold from the rulemaking

record a respondent’s identity, as

allowable by law. If you wish us to

withhold your name and/or address,

you must state this prominently at the

beginning of your comment. However,

we will not consider anonymous

comments. We will make all

submissions from organizations or

businesses, and from individuals

identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is the

policy of the Fish and Wildlife Service

to have all lands within the National

Wildlife Refuge System managed in

accordance with an approved

comprehensive conservation plan. The

plan guides management decisions and

identifies the goals, objectives, and

strategies for achieving refuge purposes.

Public input into this planning process

is encouraged. The plan will provide

other agencies and the public with a

clear understanding of the desired

conditions of the refuge and how the

Service will implement management

strategies.

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

was established by Executive Order in

1937 and consists of 395,080 acres. The

primary purpose of the refuge is to

protect the ecological system of the

438,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp. In

1986, the refuge was designated by the

Wetlands Convention as a Wetland of

International Importance.

Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge,

established in February 1985, was

authorized under the Fish and Wildlife

Act of 1956, and funded through

provisions of the Land and Water

Conservation Fund Act of 1955. The

purpose of the refuge is to protect and

conserve a unique environment and

migratory and resident wildlife.

Dated: March 30, 2001.

H. Dale Hall,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 01–10143 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Application To Amend an

Endangered Species Act Incidental

Take Permit: Inclusion of the Canada

Lynx on the Washington Department of

Natural Resources Permit for Western

Washington

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service.

ACTION: Notice of Permit Amendment

Application.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) has received a request to add

the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) to

the list of species covered by incidental

take permit PRT–812521, issued to the

20674 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices

Washington Department of Natural

Resources (WDNR). This request is

provided for under the Implementation

Agreement for the Habitat Conservation

Plan (Plan) accompanying the incidental

take permit, and applies to forest

management activities on WDNR lands

west of the crest of the Cascade

Mountain Range in the State of

Washington. The purpose of this notice

is to seek public comment on the

Service’s proposed permit amendment.

DATES: Written comments regarding the

Service’s proposal to add the Canada

lynx to the WDNR permit must be

received on or before May 24, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to Jon Avery, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond

Drive, SE., Suite 102, Lacey,

Washington 98503. Documents cited in

this notice and comments received will

be available for public inspection by

appointment during normal business

hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through

Friday).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jon

Avery, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive,

SE., Suite 102, Lacey, Washington

98503, (360) 753–5824.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

January 30, 1997, the Service issued an

incidental take permit (PRT–812521) to

WDNR, pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B)

of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1532 et

seq.). The Plan and an Environmental

Impact Statement associated with the

original permit decision analyzed the

effects that implementing the Plan

would have on listed species and

unlisted species including the Canada

Lynx. The original permit authorizes the

incidental take of the threatened

northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis

caurina), and other listed species, in the

course of otherwise legal forest

management activities related to timber

and non-timber resource uses within the

range of the northern spotted owl that

occurs on WDNR lands.

Pursuant to the Plan and the

Implementation Agreement, WDNR also

received assurances from the Service,

with respect to WDNR-manager land

west of the Cascade Crest, that specific,

unlisted species would be added to the

permit upon their listing under the Act

in accordance with the Plan and the

Implementation Agreement.

On March 24, 2000, the Service listed

the Canada lynx as a threatened species

throughout its range in the contiguous

United States (65 FR 16051). On April

25, 2000, WDNR requested that the

Canada lynx be added to their permit.

The Service is proposing to respond to

WDNR’s request and determine if

adding the Canada lynx occurring west

of the Cascade Crest to the WDNR

permit is appropriate.

Following the proposal to list the

Canada lynx as threatened or

endangered under the Act the Service

receives significant public comments

and data. The Service is reviewing that

information to determine if the Service’s

initial Canada lynx determinations for

the WDNR permit remains valid. The

findings of that review along with any

new information obtained through this

public comment request will be used in

the Service’s decision making process.

According to the Implementation

Agreement for the WDNR Plan, if any

species addressed in the Plan that was

unlisted at the time of permit issuance

subsequently becomes listed under the

Act, WDNR may request a permit

amendment to have the species added to

their permit with respect to their lands

west of the Cascade Crest. Under the

terms of the Plan and the

Implementation Agreement, the Service

would add the newly listed species to

the WDNR permit without requiring

additional mitigation unless

extraordinary circumstances exist.

Extraordinary circumstances defined in

the WDNR Implementation Agreement

to mean continued WDNR Plan

management activities that would result

in a substantial and material adverse

change in the status of a species that

was not foreseen on the effective date of

the Implementation Agreement and that

can be remedied by additional or

different mitigation measures on the

permit lands.

Prior to adding the Canada lynx to the

WDNR permit, the Service will

determine whether adding this species

to WDNR’s permit would appreciably

reduce the likelihood of its survival and

recovery of the wild. To make this

determination, the Service will follow

the section 7 process under the Act. The

Service will also determine whether the

permit amendment meets each of the

issuance criteria described in section

10(a)(2)(B) of the Act and that

extraordinary circumstances have not

occurred since initial permit issuance.

At the time of initial permit issuance,

the Service made a preliminary

determination that the WDNR Plan

adequately provided for the

conservation of the Canada lynx. The

Service included that analysis as

Appendix B (Analysis of Impacts of the

Washington Department of Natural

Resources Habitat Conservation Plan on

unlisted Species Within the Planning

Area) of the Statement of Findings. In

that analysis the Service noted that the

Canada lynx uses a mosaic of forest

types from early-successional to mature

conifer and deciduous forests and the

presence of snowshoe hares, a species

upon which they are almost totally

dependent as prey. The Canada lynx

forages in early-successional forests and

dens in mature forests.

The Service analysis further

determined that the Canada lynx could

occur on WDNR-managed lands west of

the Cascade Crest but that the likelihood

is low. The WDNR-managed lands most

likely to support the Canada lynx would

be the higher elevation lands in

proximity to National Forests. The

location of these lands is similar to the

location of lands that will be managed

under the habitat conservation plan for

northern spotted owl nesting and

foraging habitats (NRF-management

areas). The service expects the amount

of early seral forest to decrease in these

areas while the amount of complex

forest will increase. However, the

quality of the early seral forest habitat

will increase under the Plan due to

conservation measures associated with

structural retention and other harvest

practices, as well as a reduction in and

regulation of herbicide spraying. In

addition to the amount and quality of

managed forests provided by the WDNR

plan, the Canada lynx is expected to

benefit from the mosaic of natural

habitats including avalanche chutes,

high-elevation meadows, and old burns.

The Service also determined in the

analysis for the original permit that

species such as the snowshoe hare will

find sufficient amounts of foraging and

hiding habitat within the Plan area

throughout the terms of the permit thus

providing the essential prey-based

necessary for Canada lynx to possibly

occupy WDNR-managed lands west of

the Cascade Crest.

This notice is provided pursuant to

section 10(a) of the Endangered Species

Act and the regulations of the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40

CFR 1506.6). All comments that we

receive, including names and addresses,

will become part of the official

administrative record and may be made

available to the public. We will evaluate

the application, associated document,

and comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act regulations

and section 10(a) of the Endangered

Species Act. If we determine that those

requirements are met, we will issue a

permit to the Applicant for the

incidental take of the Canada lynx. We

will make our final permit decision no

sooner that 45 days from the date of this

notice.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices 20675

Dated: March 9, 2001.

Rowan W. Gould,

Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife

Service, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 01–10066 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Environmental Statements; Availability

etc: Incidental Take Permits—Bastrop

County, TX; Houston Toad and Bald

Eagle

Notice of Availability of a Revised

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan for Permit Numbers

TE–025997–0 and TE–025965–0 for

Issuance of Endangered Species Act

Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the

Incidental Take of the Endangered

Houston Toad and the Threatened Bald

Eagle During the Construction and

Occupation of Single Family Residences

or Other Similar Structures (each on

approximately 0.5 acres or less) in 46

Subdivisions in Bastrop County, Texas.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service has prepared a revised

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) for

issuance of Endangered Species Act

Section 10(a)(1)(B) permits (numbers

TE–025997–0 and TE–025965–0) for the

incidental take of the endangered

Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis) and

threatened bald eagle (Haliaeetus

leucocephalus). The revised EA/HCP

adds the bald eagle to the existing 46-

subdivision EA/HCP that currently only

covers the Houston toad. In addition,

the proposed EA/HCP would allow for

the construction of other similar

structures, as long as the action on the

property disturbs no more than

approximately 0.5 acres of habitat

within each eligible lot. The Service

proposes issuing endangered species

permits to individual lot owners under

an EA/HCP, where each permit would

authorize the incidental take of the

Houston toad and bald eagle, directly or

indirectly, from the construction and

occupation of a single-family residence

or other similar structure on an

undeveloped lot in the 46 subdivisions

covered under this EA/HCP. This

revised EA/HCP will allow for

responsible development of the lots

while minimizing and offsetting impacts

to the Houston toad and bald eagle by

providing for on-site and off-site

conservation measures that will be used

to promote the long-term survival of the

species. It is also considered to provide

the most simplified, expeditious, and

effective process by which landowners

can comply with the provisions of the

Endangered Species Act in a more

efficient manner. The revised EA/HCP

requires the same avoidance,

minimization, and mitigation efforts

from every lot owner, within their

respective category. Issuance of

incidental take permits for the Houston

toad and bald eagle will be conducted

as they are currently for the Houston

toad.

DATES: Written comments on the

revision are being accepted and should

be received on or before June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the revised EA/HCP may obtain a copy

by contacting: the Austin Office of the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10711

Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, Texas

78758 (512/490–0057). Documents will

be available for public inspection by

written request, or by appointment only,

during normal business hours (8 to 4:30)

at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Austin, Texas. Written data or

comments concerning the proposed

revisions should be submitted to the

Field Supervisor, Austin Field Office of

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at

the above address. Please refer to permit

numbers TE–025997–0 and TE–025965–

0 when submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Contact the Austin Office of the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service at the above

address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9

of the Act prohibits the ‘‘taking’’ of

endangered and threatened species such

as the Houston toad and bald eagle.

However, the Service, under limited

circumstances, may issue permits to

take threatened and endangered wildlife

species incidental to, and not the

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.

Regulations governing permits for

endangered species are at 50 CFR 17.22.

The Service has divided the 46

subdivisions into two categories, those

in low/marginal quality Houston toad

habitat, and those in medium quality

Houston toad habitat. The revised EA/

HCP and associated permits (TE–

025997–0 and TE–025965–0) will be in

effect for a period of 5 years, and

authorize the incidental take of the

Houston toad and bald eagle. The

proposed take to the Houston toad

would occur as a result of the possible

construction and occupation of

undeveloped lots, utilizing no more

than approximately 0.5 acres per

eligible property, in 46 subdivisions in

Bastrop County, Texas. The proposed

take to the bald eagle is anticipated to

occur only in the form of harassment,

such as an increase in noise generated

from the 46 subdivisions and increased

recreational use of area lakes and the

Colorado River. This notice is provided

pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and

National Environmental Policy Act

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Geoffrey L. Haskett,

Acting Regional Director, Region 2,

Albuquerque, New Mexico.

[FR Doc. 01–10062 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Environmental Statements;

Availability, etc: Incidental Take

Permits—Travis County, TX; Golden

Cheeked Warbler

Notice of Availability of an

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan and Receipt of

Application for Incidental Take Permit

for Construction and Occupation of

Residential and Commercial

Development on Portions of the

Approximately 740-acre Ribelin Ranch

Property, Austin, Travis County, Texas.

SUMMARY: Ribelin Ranch Partners, Ltd.,

Lucia Francis, and Charles Ribelin

(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 Application has been

assigned permit number TE–040090–0.

The requested permit, which is for a

period of 30 years, would authorize the

incidental take of the endangered

golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica

chrysoparia). The proposed take would

occur as a result of the construction and

occupation of residential and

commercial development on portions of

the approximately 740-acre Ribelin

Ranch Property on R.M. 2222, Austin,

Travis 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 before 60 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 June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the application may obtain a copy by

writing to the Regional Director, U.S.