3050 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 1996 / Notices

Individuals who want to attend the field

trip must provide their own

transportation and lunch. A schedule

for the field trip will be available prior

to departure. The council will return to

the District Office approximately 1 p.m.

for a business meeting. From 3 p.m. to

5 p.m., the council members and BLM

support staff will host an open house for

public input on the development of

Standards and Guidelines for range

reform. On February 15, the council will

meet from 8 a.m. to approximately 4

p.m. at the Las Vegas District Office.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The

purpose of the council is to advise the

Secretary of the Interior, through the

BLM, on a variety of planning and

management issues associated with the

management of the public lands.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lorraine Buck, Public Affairs Specialist,

Las Vegas District, telephone: (702) 647–

5000.

Michael F. Dwyer,

District Manager.

[FR Doc. 96–1750 Filed 1–29–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–M

[UT–912–06–0777–52]

Notice of Meeting of the Utah Resource

Advisory Council

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Utah.

SUMMARY: The Utah Resource Advisory

Council will meet on Friday, February

16, 1996 at the Airport Hilton Hotel,

Lakeview Room, 5151 Wiley Post Way,

Salt Lake City, Utah. The first half of the

meeting will consist of a training

session on rangeland ecology. The

training will begin at 9 a.m. and

conclude at 12 noon. The Council will

reconvene at 1:00 p.m. to discuss

various items including the

development of standards and

guidelines to promote rangeland health

and other resource management issues

affecting BLM programs within Utah

and the West. A public comment period

where members of the public may

address the Council, is scheduled for

4:30 p.m. The meeting will conclude at

approximately 5 p.m. All sessions of the

Utah Resource Advisory Council

meeting are open to the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don

Banks, Utah State Office, Bureau of

Land Management, 324 S. State St.,

Suite 300, Salt Lake City, 84111; phone

(801) 539–4021.

Dated: January 23, 1996.

G. William Lamb,

Utah BLM State Director.

[FR Doc. 96–1751 Filed 1–29–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–M

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Receipt of Applications for

Permit

The following applicants have

applied for a permit to conduct certain

activities with endangered species. This

notice is provided pursuant to Section

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et

seq.):

PRT–810290

Applicant: International Wildlife Museum,

Tucson, AZ.

The applicant requests a permit to

import one taxidermied cheetah

(Acinonyx jubatus) mount from the

estate of a foreign individual to enhance

the survival of the species. The cheetah

was originally taken in 1992 as a

personal sport-hunted trophy in

Zimbabwe.

PRT–810330

Applicant: Mary Katherine Gonder, New

York, NY.

The applicant requests a permit to

import hair samples of chimpanzee (Pan

troglodytes) collected from sleeping

nests and museum specimens in Nigeria

for enhancement of the species through

scientific research.

PRT–785441

Applicant: Zoological Society of San Diego,

San Diego, CA.

The applicant requests a permit to

import an additional captive-born

female Persian fallow deer (Dama dama

mesopotamica) from the Opel Zoo,

Kronberg, Germany, to enhance the

propagation of survival of the species

through captive-breeding.

Written data or comments should be

submitted to the Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Office of Management

Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive,

Room 420(c), Arlington, Virginia 22203

and must be received by the Director

within 30 days of the date of this

publication.

Documents and other information

submitted with these applications are

available for review, subject to the

requirements of the Privacy Act and

Freedom of Information Act, by any

party who submits a written request for

a copy of such documents to the

following office within 30 days of the

date of publication of this notice: U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of

Management Authority, 4401 North

Fairfax Drive, Room 420(c), Arlington,

Virginia 22203. Phone: (703/358–2104);

FAX: (703/358–2281).

The Fish and Wildlife Service regrets

that due to circumstances beyond its

control, the Office of Management

Authority’s permitting process and

other work have been significantly

impacted by the recent partial Federal

furlough and inclement weather. While

the Fish and Wildlife Service is

attempting to deal with these

circumstances, please be aware that

there will be delays in permit

processing, response to informational

inquiries, returning of phone calls, and

other office activities. Your

understanding and patience are greatly

appreciated during this time.

The furlough of December 18 to

January 5, 1996, followed by severe

weather conditions the week of January

8, created a significant backlog of

unprocessed permit applications, while

delaying our ability to complete

applications already received. The

Service’s Office of Management

Authority processes more than 5,000

permits annually, or approximately 450

per month. Prior to the furlough,

streamlined procedures had cut the

processing time in half for certain

permits. Due to these events, the time

required to process permit applications

temporarily has increased significantly.

Six hundred applications were

pending at the time of the furlough,

slightly more than our monthly average.

During the intervening three weeks of

Federal closure, 205 new applications

and 114 new written requests for

information were received. Due to this

backlog, applications received after

December 16 may require an additional

30 days beyond the normal 60–90 days.

Please note that applications are being

processed in date order. We anticipate

needing the extra time to work through

the 600 applications pending before the

furlough and complete subsequent

applications. Since our goal is to reduce

the number of backlogged applications

as quickly as possible, this activity is

the office’s priority until the backlog is

reduced and will preclude work on

other office commitments.

These circumstances also resulted in

an increased volume of phone calls. We

are returning calls as quickly as

possible. To help us help you, leave a

detailed voice mail message if a

biologist is unavailable to take your call

directly. You may fax specific questions

to (703) 358–2281. If requesting an

application, include your name, phone

and fax numbers, type of activity and

species. If inquiring about the status of

a permit, include the date you mailed
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 1996 / Notices 3051

your application, purpose of the permit,

and, if known, permit number and name

of the permit biologist processing it.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is

operating under a temporary spending

authority. Should another Federal

shutdown occur, our capability to carry

out our responsibilities to the public to

process applications expeditiously will

be further delayed. Please be assured

that we will continue to do everything

we can to process applications as

quickly and effectively as possible.

Dated: January 25, 1996.

Caroline Anderson,

Acting Chief, Branch of Permits, Office of

Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 96–1732 Filed 1–29–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

Notice of Availability of ‘‘Black-footed

Ferret Survey Guidelines for Oil and

Gas Activities in Wyoming for

Compliance With the Endangered

Species Act’’ 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 ‘‘Black-footed

Ferret Survey Guidelines For Oil and

Gas Activities In Wyoming For

Compliance With The Endangered

Species Act’’. The draft guidelines offer

an alternative, only in Wyoming, to the

existing survey guidelines found in

‘‘Black-footed Ferret Survey Guidelines

For Compliance With The Endangered

Species Act’’, which were developed by

the Service in 1989. The Service solicits

review and comment from the public on

these draft guidelines.

DATES: Comments on the draft

guidelines must be received on or before

February 29, 1996, to ensure they

receive consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the draft guidelines may obtain a copy

by contacting the Field Supervisor,

Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 4000 Morrie Avenue,

Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001. Written

comments and materials regarding the

draft guidelines should be sent to the

Field Supervisor at the Cheyenne

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:

Chuck Davis (see ADDRESSES above), at

telephone 307/772–2374.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) proposes to implement the

newly developed ‘‘Black-footed Ferret

Survey Guidelines for Oil and Gas

Activities in Wyoming for Compliance

with the Endangered Species Act’’

(proposed guidelines) as an alternative

to the existing ferret survey guidelines

found in ‘‘Black-footed Ferret Survey

Guidelines for Compliance with the

Endangered Species Act’’ (1989

guidelines) which were developed by

the Service in April 1989. The failure of

ferret surveys to locate new populations,

coupled with the minimal impacts

arising from oil and gas activities, has

prompted the Service to develop the

proposed guidelines for use in

Wyoming. This alternative to the

existing survey recommendations as

outlined in the 1989 guidelines is

elective, not mandatory, and available

only in Wyoming. It deviates from the

1989 guidelines by eliminating the

black-ferret survey requirements in

white-tailed prairie dog towns/colonies/

complexes in Wyoming for all oil and

gas exploration, development, and

transmission activities except in certain

areas, which are identified in Appendix

A of the proposed guidelines. Wyoming

was selected to be the prototype area for

the proposed guidelines because of

intensive oil and gas development,

particularly in the southwestern part of

the State. If a project proponent opts not

to choose this alternative, the provisions

of the 1989 guidelines will continue to

apply.

The Service believes this alternative

approach will increase the potential for

black-footed ferret survival and recovery

by improving the manner in which

funds are used, particularly regarding

fruitless ferret survey efforts in whitetailed prairie dog towns as well as

repeated ferret surveys in black-tailed

prairie dog towns. Furthermore, the

Service believes this alternative to the

1989 guidelines will add to the

flexibility and options for the recovery

of this species. Instead of surveys, the

project proponent contributes to ferret

recovery through voluntary

participation in the Ferret Recovery

Enhancement Program (FREP), a

strategy the Service believes offers a

better black-footed ferret conservation

approach than the current strategy. The

money generated by FREP will fund

ferret recovery efforts that have a higher

potential for success than ferret surveys

in areas of limited habitat value and low

probability of impacts to ferrets from the

oil and gas activities.

Participation in the FREP requires the

project proponent to coordinate with the

Cheyenne Field Office of the Service,

provide documentation that the project

and project site qualify (including

identification of specific proposed oil

and gas activities, description of

anticipated disturbance, and a map of

the white-tailed prairie dog town

showing location of the disturbance),

and agree to provide to the FREP Fund

a one-time fee of $30/acre of prairie dog

town disturbance. Disturbance will be

defined to include all rights-of-way,

well sites, and other areas of ground

disturbance. Funds generated by the

contributions into FREP will be used for

actions that benefit the recovery of the

black-footed ferret. Such actions might

include, but would not be limited to:

activities such as development of

improved survey methodologies;

identification, mapping, digitizing of

maps; conducting ferret surveys of

prairie dog complexes greater than 5,000

acres or areas where physical evidence

has been found; and, identification of

potential reintroduction sites.

Applicability of the proposed

guidelines to black-tailed prairie dog

towns will be addressed on a case-bycase basis by the Cheyenne Field Office

of the Service. The determination will

be based on the size of the town/colony/

complex, quality of habitat, extent and

results of previous black-footed ferret

surveys in the vicinity, historical

presence of ferrets, and the importance

of the complex to the overall recovery

and survival of the black-footed ferret.

Other values of maintaining the

biological integrity of the prairie dog

ecosystem are still important and

should not be overlooked. The prairie

dog, as a keystone species, plays an

important role in maintaining specific

habitat conditions or providing forage

for many species, including several

candidate and sensitive species such as

the mountain plover, ferruginous hawk,

and burrowing owl. Severe impacts to or

loss of prairie dog colonies threaten all

species associated with that community.

This document addresses only

requirements for surveys and for

potential impacts to black-footed ferrets.

Other listed and candidate species

potentially impacted by proposed

actions must be addressed separately to

ensure compliance with applicable laws

and regulations.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the draft guidelines described above.

All comments received by the date

specified in the DATES section above

will be considered prior to approval of

the guidelines.