2118 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2015 / Notices 

Dated: January 9, 2015. 

Melanie J. Gray, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00489 Filed 1–14–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2015–N003; 

FXES11130200000–156–FF02ENEH00] 

Endangered and Threatened Species 

Permit Applications 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of applications; 

request for public comment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, invite the public to 

comment on the following applications 

to conduct certain activities with 

endangered or threatened species. The 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act), prohibits activities with 

endangered and threatened species 

unless a Federal permit allows such 

activities. Both the Act and the National 

Environmental Policy Act require that 

we invite public comment before 

issuing these permits. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be received on or before 

February 17, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Susan Jacobsen, Chief, 

Division of Classification and 

Restoration, by U.S. mail at Division of 

Classification and Recovery, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1306, 

Albuquerque, NM 87103; or by 

telephone at 505–248–6920. Please refer 

to the respective permit number for each 

application when submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Jacobsen, Chief, Division of 

Classification and Restoration, by U.S. 

mail at P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, 

NM 87103; or by telephone at 505–248– 

6920. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act 

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

activities with endangered and 

threatened species unless a Federal 

permit allows such activities. Along 

with our implementing regulations in 

the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 

50 CFR 17, the Act provides for permits, 

and requires that we invite public 

comment before issuing these permits. 

A permit granted by us under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the Act authorizes 

applicants to conduct activities with 

U.S. endangered or threatened species 

for scientific purposes, enhancement of 

survival or propagation, or interstate 

commerce. Our regulations regarding 

implementation of section 10(a)(1)(A) 

permits are found at 50 CFR 17.22 for 

endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 

17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 

CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, 

and 50 CFR 17.72 for threatened plant 

species. 

Applications Available for Review and 

Comment 

We invite local, State, Tribal, and 

Federal agencies and the public to 

comment on the following applications. 

Please refer to the appropriate permit 

number (e.g., Permit No. TE–123456) 

when requesting application documents 

and when submitting comments. 

Documents and other information the 

applicants have submitted with these 

applications are available for review, 

subject to the requirements of the 

Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and 

Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 

552). 

Permit TE–819477 

Applicant: Parametrix, Inc., 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys of the following species within 

New Mexico: 

• Interior least tern (Sterna antillarum) 

• Jemez Mountain salamander 

(Plethodon neomexicanus) 

• Loach minnow (Tiaroga cobitis) 

• Northern aplomado falcon (Falco 

femoralis) 

• Piping plover (Charadrius melodus) 

• Southwestern willow flycatcher 

(Empidonax traillii extimus) 

• Spikedace (Meda fulgida) 

Permit TE–829761 

Applicant: U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management—Las Cruces District 

Office, Las Cruces, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys of the following species within 

Arizona and New Mexico: 

• Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris 

yerbabuenae) 

• Loach minnow (Tiaroga cobitis) 

• Mexican long-nosed bat 

(Leptonycteris nivalis) 

• Northern aplomado falcon (Falco 

femoralis) 

• Southwestern willow flycatcher 

(Empidonax traillii extimus) 

• Spikedace (Meda fulgida) 

Permit TE–819528 

Applicant: Natural Heritage New 

Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys for northern aplomado falcon 

(Falco femoralis) and presence/absence 

surveys and nest monitoring of 

southwestern willow flycatcher 

(Empidonax traillii extimus) within 

New Mexico. 

Permit TE–66055A 

Applicant: Navajo Nation Zoological 

and Botanical Park, Window Rock, 

Arizona. 

Applicant requests a new permit for 

research and recovery purposes to 

conduct husbandry and holding of black 

footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) at the 

zoo within Arizona. 

Permit TE–833866 

Applicant: Texas Forest Service, Lufkin, 

Texas. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct presence/absence 

surveys, cavity searchers, capture and 

band, and install restrictor plates for 

red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides 

borealis) within Texas. 

Permit TE–094365 

Applicant: Oklahoma Water Resources 

Board, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

Applicant requests a new permit for 

research and recovery purposes to 

conduct presence/absence surveys, 

seining, and capture and release of 

leopard darter (Percina pantherina) and 

Neosho madtom (Noturus placidus) 

within Oklahoma. 

Permit TE–54802B 

Applicant: Megan Phillips-Schaap, 

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Applicant requests a new permit for 

research and recovery purposes to 

conduct presence/absence surveys of 

American burying beetle (Nicrophorus 

americanus) within Arkansas, Kansas, 

Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and 

Texas. 

Permit TE–091551 

Applicant: U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service—Mexican Wolf Recovery 

Program, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Applicant requests a renewal to a 

current permit for research and recovery 

purposes to conduct the following 

activities for Mexican gray wolf (Canis 

lupis baileyi) within Arizona and New 

Mexico: Capture, including, but not 

limited to, leg-hold traps, helicopter or 

ground darting and net-gunning, and 

captive capture methods; handle; 

possession; administration of health 

care; propagation; radio collar or other 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2015 / Notices 2119 

marking techniques; release; obtain and 

preserve blood, tissue, semen, ova, and 

other samples that are considered parts 

of wolves (scat is not considered a part 

of a wolf and can be collected without 

a permit); translocate; transport between 

approved Mexican wolf captive 

management facilities in the United 

States and Mexico, to approved release 

sites, and to and from the Vermejo Park 

Ranch; purposeful lethal take (lethal 

control is limited to Mexican wolves 

within the MWEPA in Arizona and New 

Mexico); hazing via less-than-lethal 

projectiles; injurious harassment; 

research; and any other USFWSapproved husbandry practice or 

management action for Mexican wolves. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

In compliance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), we have made an initial 

determination that the proposed 

activities in these permits are 

categorically excluded from the 

requirement to prepare an 

environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement (516 

DM 6 Appendix 1, 1.4C(1)). 

Public Availability of Comments 

All comments and materials we 

receive in response to this request will 

be available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

Dated: January 8, 2015. 

Joy E. Nicholopoulos, 

Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00551 Filed 1–14–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–HQ–R–2014–N231; 

FXRS12650900000–145–FF09R20000] 

RIN 1018–AZ89 

Final Strategic Growth Policy for the 

National Wildlife Refuge System 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) has finalized a policy 

to implement a strategic approach to the 

growth of the National Wildlife Refuge 

System (Refuge System, System). The 

National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act (Administration 

Act), as amended by the National 

Wildlife Refuge System Improvement 

Act, requires that we ‘‘plan and direct 

the continued growth of the System in 

a manner that is best designed to 

accomplish the mission of the System.’’ 

This policy directs Refuge System 

employees to focus their protection 

measures on priority conservation 

features to ensure that our limited 

resources are used to make the greatest 

contribution to the conservation of 

species in a cost-effective and 

transparent manner. It ensures that the 

growth of the System reflects our vision 

toward managing functional landscapes, 

enhancing our scientific rigor, 

improving our effectiveness, and 

involving our partners and the 

American people. The Strategic Growth 

policy is found in ‘‘Refuge Planning,’’ 

chapter 5, part 602 in the Fish and 

Wildlife Service Manual. 

DATES: The policy was effective 

September 4, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may read the final 

policy online at http://www.fws.gov/

policy/602fw5.html. You may obtain a 

summary of how we addressed 

comments we received on the draft 

policy at http://www.fws.gov/refuges/

planning/StrategicGrowth.html. You 

may also request a copy of the policy by 

U.S. mail from USFWS, Division of 

Natural Resources and Conservation 

Planning, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls 

Church, VA 22041–3803 (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). The 

policy is also available for public 

inspection, by appointment, during 

normal business hours at the above 

address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian Salem, at the address above, or by 

telephone: (703) 358–2397. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

The Service has established a final 

Strategic Growth policy, which is 

available at http://www.fws.gov/policy/

602fw5.html. The policy is chapter 5, 

part 602, ‘‘Refuge Planning,’’ in the Fish 

and Wildlife Service Manual. The 

purpose of the policy is to implement a 

strategic approach to the growth of the 

National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Background 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997 (Improvement 

Act), which amended the 

Administration Act (16 U.S.C. 668dd– 

ee), states that the Refuge System 

mission is to ‘‘administer a national 

network of lands and waters for the 

conservation, management, and where 

appropriate, restoration of the fish, 

wildlife, and plant resources and their 

habitats for the benefit of present and 

future generations of Americans.’’ The 

Improvement Act requires us to ‘‘plan 

and direct the continued growth of the 

System in a manner that is best 

designed to accomplish the mission of 

the System,’’ ‘‘to fulfill the mission of 

the System, as well as the specific 

purposes for which [the] refuge was 

established,’’ and to ‘‘ensure timely and 

effective cooperation and collaboration 

with Federal agencies and State fish and 

wildlife agencies during the course of 

acquiring and managing refuges.’’ 

Because we are facing unparalleled 

challenges related to climate and nonclimate stressors, we must provide 

consistent direction for adding lands 

and waters to the System in a sciencebased, cost-effective, and transparent 

manner. The Strategic Growth policy is 

a result of this need for strategic and 

consistent planning. 

Final Policy 

The policy prioritizes acquisitions 

within existing refuge boundaries, 

expansion of existing refuges, and 

establishment of new refuges. It focuses 

protection measures on priority 

conservation features so that we can 

make the most of our limited resources. 

The policy is consistent with the 

biological planning and conservation 

design components of Strategic Habitat 

Conservation, the Service’s sciencebased adaptive management framework 

for determining where and how to 

deliver conservation efficiently to 

achieve specific biological outcomes. 

The policy identifies threatened and 

endangered species, migratory birds of 

conservation concern, and waterfowl, or 

the surrogate species that represent 

them, as priority conservation features. 

The policy requires application of the 

best available science to incorporate 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES