[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 17 (Friday, January 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5480-5481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01573]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2012-N240; FXES11150200000-134-FF02ENEH00]
Draft Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances and Draft
Environmental Assessment; Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, New Mexico and
Colorado
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Vermejo Park, LLC, d/b/a Vermejo Park Ranch (Applicant), has
applied for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to Section
10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The
permit application includes a draft Candidate Conservation Agreement
with Assurances (CCAA) between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) and Vermejo Park Ranch for the Rio Grande cutthroat trout in
Taos County, New Mexico, and Costilla County, Colorado. If the Rio
Grande cutthroat trout becomes listed in the future, the enhancement of
survival permit will become effective, authorizing incidental take of
Rio Grande cutthroat trout resulting from ongoing, otherwise lawful
activities on enrolled lands. The draft CCAA and the draft
environmental assessment are available for public review, and we seek
public comment on the potential issuance of the above permit.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
March 26, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, the draft CCAA,
the draft EA, or other related documents may obtain copies by written
or telephone request to Field Supervisor, New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office, 505-346-2525 (U.S. mail address below).
Electronic copies of these documents are available for review on the
New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office Web site: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/NewMexico/. The application and related
documents will be available for public inspection, by appointment only,
during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at the New Mexico
Ecological Services Field Office at the address below.
Comments concerning the application, the draft CCAA, the draft EA,
or other related documents should be submitted in writing to the Field
Supervisor, by U.S. mail at the New Mexico Ecological Services Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2105 Osuna NE., Albuquerque, NM
87113; by telephone at 505-346-2525; or by facsimile at 505-346-2542.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
Please refer to Permit number TE72923A-0 when submitting comments.
Please specify if comments are in reference to the draft CCAA, draft
EA, or both.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wally ``J'' Murphy, Field Supervisor,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field
Office, at the address above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With the assistance of the Service, the
Applicant proposes to implement conservation measures for the Rio
Grande cutthroat trout by removing threats to its survival and
reintroducing it to historically occupied streams. The proposed CCAA
would be in effect for 25 years on Vermejo Park Ranch in Taos County,
New Mexico, and Costilla County, Colorado. This area constitutes the
CCAA's Covered Area. The CCAA has been developed in support of a
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) (Act) enhancement of survival permit.
If approved, Vermejo Park Ranch will be provided assurances that,
should the Rio Grande cutthroat trout be listed, the Service will not
require them to provide additional land, water, or financial resources,
nor will there be any further restrictions to their land, water, or
financial resources than they committed to under the CCAA provisions
(50 CFR 17.22(d) and 17.32(d)). Furthermore, if the Rio Grande
cutthroat trout is listed, participants would be provided incidental
take authorization under the enhancement of survival permit for the
level of incidental take on the enrolled lands consistent with the
activities under the CCAA provisions.
Background
The Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis) is
native to the Rio Grande, Pecos River, and Canadian River basins in New
Mexico and Colorado. It is the southernmost subspecies of cutthroat
trout. Because of nonnative species introductions, Rio Grande cutthroat
trout are now restricted to streams that are narrow and small compared
to the larger streams they once occupied; these populations occupy
approximately 10 percent of historical habitat. Rio Grande cutthroat
trout face a variety of imminent threats, including fragmentation and
isolation, small population size, presence of nonnative trout, whirling
disease, poor habitat conditions, fire, drought, and the effects of
climate change. Because of the range contraction and the imminent
threats, we made the Rio Grande cutthroat trout a candidate species on
May 14, 2008 (73 FR 27900), indicating that listing of the Rio Grande
cutthroat trout was warranted but precluded by higher priority actions.
The species was given a listing priority number of 9, indicating a
subspecies facing imminent threats of moderate to low magnitude.
Currently, cooperative efforts are in place to restore this
subspecies to the Rio Costilla watershed, where much of the habitat for
Rio Grande cutthroat trout exists on private land. The CCAA was
initiated in order to facilitate conservation and restoration of the
Rio Grande cutthroat trout on private lands in New Mexico. Expected
conservation benefits for the Rio Grande cutthroat trout from
implementation of the conservation measures in this CCAA will be
recognized through additional connected populations being maintained
over time.
Furthermore, Rio Grande cutthroat trout conservation will be
enhanced by providing regulatory assurances under the Act for the
participating property owner. There will be a measure of security for
the participating landowner in the knowledge that they will not incur
additional land use restrictions if the species is listed under the
Act. The
[[Page 5481]]
Applicant has committed to implementation of the CCAA and requests
issuance of the enhancement of survival permit in order to address the
take prohibitions of section 9 of the Act should the species become
listed in the future.
The draft CCAA and application for the enhancement of survival
permit are not eligible for categorical exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. A draft environmental
assessment has been prepared to further analyze the direct, indirect,
and cumulative impacts of the CCAA on the quality of the human
environment and other natural resources.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments we receive become part of the public record. Requests
for copies of comments will be handled in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act, NEPA, and Service and Department of the Interior
policies and procedures. 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 to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee we will be able to
do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and
17.32), and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4371 et
seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR part 1506.6).
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2013-01573 Filed 1-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P