[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36569-36571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14853]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2012-N128; FXES11130200000C2-112-FF02ENEH00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Thick-Billed
Parrot Draft Recovery Plan Addendum
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our Draft Recovery Plan Addendum for the Thick-billed
Parrot under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We
have developed this draft recovery plan addendum to comply with a
December 14, 2010, Stipulated Settlement Agreement between WildEarth
Guardians and the Secretary of the Interior. This species is currently
found in Mexico and is believed to be extirpated from the United
States; however, historically its range also included southern Arizona
and possibly southwestern New Mexico. We request review and comment on
this addendum from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the
public. We will also accept any new information on the status of the
thick-billed parrot throughout its range to assist in finalizing the
addendum to the recovery plan.
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DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive written comments on or
before August 20, 2012. However, we will accept information about any
species at any time.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to review the draft addendum, you may obtain a
copy by visiting our Web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona (type ``thick-billed parrot'' in the document title search
field) or http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/Documents/R2ES/Thick-billed_Parrot_Draft_Recovery_Plan_Addendum_June_2012.pdf.
Alternatively, you may contact the Arizona Ecological Services
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2321 West Royal Palm Road,
Phoenix, AZ 85021-4951 (602-242-0210, phone). If you wish to comment on
the draft addendum, you may submit your comments in writing by any one
of the following methods:
U.S. mail: Field Supervisor, at the above address;
Hand-delivery: Arizona Ecological Services Office at the
above address;
Fax: (602) 242-2513; or
Email: [email protected].
For additional information about submitting comments, see the
``Request for Public Comments'' section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Sferra, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, at the above address and phone number, or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program and the
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status
of listed species to the point at which listing is no longer
appropriate under the criteria set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
The Act requires the development of recovery plans for listed species,
unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a particular
species.
Species' History
Historically the thick-billed parrot's range extended from Mexico
into southern Arizona and possibly southwestern New Mexico in the
United States. There are no formal historical nesting records for the
United States; however, thick-billed parrots visited southeastern
Arizona, and in some years large flocks were observed (Snyder et al.
1999). At present, this species is believed to be extirpated from the
United States, with the last confirmed report of a thick-billed parrot
flock in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona in 1938
(Monson and Phillips 1981 in Snyder et al. 1999). Extirpation of the
U.S. population was likely caused by excessive, unregulated shooting
(Snyder et al. 1999). In Mexico, this species occurs in the States of
Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoac[aacute]n,
spanning the Sierra Madre Occidental.
The thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) was listed as
an endangered species on June 3, 1970 (35 FR 8491), pursuant to the
Endangered Species Conservation Act (ESCA), the precursor of the
Endangered Species Act. Based on the different listing procedures for
foreign and domestic species under the ESCA, the thick-billed parrot
was listed as a ``foreign'' species. When the Endangered Species Act
replaced the ESCA, the thick-billed parrot was not carried forward onto
the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants
(List) for the United States due to an oversight, although the thick-
billed parrot remained listed in Mexico. Subsequently, the parrot was
proposed to be listed in the United States on July 25, 1980, wherein
the proposed listing rule acknowledged that it was always the intention
of the Service to list the thick-billed parrot as endangered in the
United States (see 45 FR 49844, page 49845). In 2009, the U.S.
Department of the Interior's Assistant Solicitor for Fish and Wildlife
provided an explanation stating that the species has always been listed
as endangered throughout its entire range (see 74 FR 33957). Today, the
thick-billed parrot is listed throughout its range, including Mexico
and the United States. Critical habitat has not been proposed for the
thick-billed parrot.
Although thick-billed parrots are currently extirpated from the
United States, the Service has developed this draft recovery plan
addendum to comply with the December 14, 2010, Stipulated Settlement
Agreement between WildEarth Guardians and the Secretary of the
Interior. The Thick-billed Parrot Draft Recovery Plan Addendum was
created by adopting the 2009 thick-billed parrot recovery plan for
Mexico, ``Programa de Acci[oacute]n para la Conservaci[oacute]n de las
Especies: Cotorras Serranas (PACE),'' and adding contents required by
the Act (such as Recovery Criteria, Management Actions in the United
States, and an Implementation Table) as an Addendum. In addition to
statutory requirements of the Act, this draft addendum to the PACE
addresses the species' historical occurrence in the United States,
summarizes information from scientific literature and U.S. and Mexican
biologists regarding the status and threats to the thick-billed parrot,
and presents additional information required by U.S. recovery planning
policy. We support the strategy for recovering the thick-billed parrot
set forth in the PACE (2009) and note that this is the first time the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is adopting a Mexican recovery
plan for a species to serve as the best available science to inform a
U.S. recovery plan.
The PACE was initiated by the Mexican National Commission of
Protected Natural Areas (Comisi[oacute]n Nacional de [Aacute]reas
Protegidas, CONANP) under the 2007 Federal ``Commitment to
Conservation'' programs in Mexico. Experts and public officials were
brought together to prevent the deterioration of Mexican ecosystems and
biodiversity. Thirty-five priority and endangered species were
selected, including the thick-billed parrot, with the objective of
creating the framework for, coordinating, and promoting the Federal
government's efforts to recover these species within the Conservation
Program for Species at Risk (PROCER). The focus of the PACE (2009) is
on extant populations of the thick-billed parrot; it does not address
extirpated thick-billed parrots or their historical range in the United
States. As a result, our recovery actions are focused primarily on
conservation within the current range of this species in Mexico and, to
a lesser degree, on the potential for expansion into the historical
range in the United States. Recommended actions for addressing current
threats to the species and evaluating recovery may be applied or
refined in the future.
The parrot's current range is limited to high elevations of the
Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, extending from northwestern
Chihuahua and northeastern Sonora into Durango and continuing in a
southeasterly direction to Jalisco, Colima, and Michoac[aacute]n.
Thick-billed parrots migrate seasonally from their primary breeding
(summering) grounds in Chihuahua to wintering areas farther south,
possibly migrating 1,000 kilometers (km) (621 miles (mi)) or more
between their summering and wintering areas (Snyder et al. 1999, PACE
2009). The northernmost breeding area is Mesa de Guacamayas, located
within 80 km (50 mi) of the U.S.-Mexico border (Snyder et al. 1999).
Thick-billed parrots live in gregarious flocks in old-growth mixed-
conifer
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forests and require a diversity of food resources and the availability
of size-specific cavities for nesting. The thick-billed parrot
primarily feeds on seeds of several pine species, and to a lesser
extent on acorns and terminal buds of pine trees (Snyder et al. 1999).
As an obligate cavity nester, the thick-billed parrot needs cavities
typically found in large-diameter pines and snags. Because of their
specialized habitat needs, thick-billed parrot populations have
experienced significant historical declines, corresponding to a drastic
loss of high-elevation mixed-conifer forests, mainly from a legacy of
logging. Only 1 percent of the old-growth forests is estimated to
remain, supporting small populations of thick-billed parrots
concentrated in a handful of sites.
Threats to the thick-billed parrot include loss of habitat,
primarily driven by extensive logging of large mature pines, removal of
nesting snags (Snyder et al. 1999), and, to a lesser degree,
catastrophic forest fires (PACE 2009); low numbers of individuals and
small remaining populations, leaving them vulnerable to stochastic
events; removal of birds from the wild in Mexico for the illegal pet
trade; and climate change, based on projections for the Southwestern
United States and northern Mexico predicting warmer, drier, and more
drought-like conditions (Hoerling and Eischeid 2007; Seager et al.
2007). Extirpation of the thick-billed parrot in the United States was
likely caused by excessive, unregulated shooting (Snyder et al. 1999).
The recovery plan addendum recommends protection of currently occupied
habitat; additional research to understand relationships between
habitat, migration patterns, and population dynamics; development of a
standardized monitoring protocol; development of replacement nesting
habitat; verification of occupied wintering habitat; development of
forest management plans; and the enforcement of existing environmental
and species collection laws. The plan recognizes the need to manage
these forest landscapes in both the United States and Mexico to
maximize resources for the species.
Recovery Plan Goals
The objective of an agency recovery plan is to provide a framework
for the recovery of a species so that protection under the Act is no
longer necessary. A recovery plan includes scientific information about
the species and provides criteria and actions necessary for us to be
able to reclassify the species to threatened status or remove it from
the List. Recovery plans help guide our recovery efforts by describing
actions we consider necessary for the species' conservation, and by
estimating time and costs for implementing needed recovery measures. To
achieve its goals, this draft recovery plan addendum identifies the
following objectives:
Support the thick-billed parrot throughout its range in
perpetuity.
Maintain habitat conditions necessary to provide feeding,
nesting, and wintering habitat for the thick-billed parrot through
time.
Assess the potential for the United States to support
naturally dispersing or actively relocated thick-billed parrots,
including a review of U.S. historical habitat, current habitat
management, and habitat connectivity with Mexico.
The draft recovery plan addendum contains recovery criteria based
on maintaining and increasing population numbers and habitat quality
and quantity. The draft recovery plan addendum focuses on protecting
populations, managing threats, maintaining habitat, monitoring
progress, and building partnerships to facilitate recovery.
As the thick-billed parrot meets recovery criteria, we will review
the subspecies' status and consider downlisting, and, ultimately,
removal from the List.
Request for Public Comments
Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to provide public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment during recovery plan
development. It is also our policy to request peer review of recovery
plans (July 1, 1994; 59 FR 34270). In an appendix to the approved
recovery plan, we will summarize and respond to the issues raised by
the public and peer reviewers. Substantive comments may or may not
result in changes to the recovery plan; comments regarding recovery
plan implementation will be forwarded as appropriate to Federal or
other entities so that they can be taken into account during the course
of implementing recovery actions. Responses to individual commenters
will not be provided, but we will provide a summary of how we addressed
substantive comments in an appendix to the approved recovery plan.
We invite written comments on the draft recovery plan addendum. In
particular, we are interested in additional information regarding the
current threats to the species and the costs associated with
implementing the recommended recovery actions. We provide an English
translation of the PACE in Appendix B of the addendum; however, we will
not address comments specific to the content of the PACE, as this
document was finalized by CONANP in 2009.
Before we approve our draft addendum, we will consider all comments
we receive by the date specified in DATES above. Methods of submitting
comments are in the ADDRESSES section above.
Public Availability of Comments
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.
Comments and materials we receive will be available, by
appointment, for public inspection during normal business hours at our
office (see ADDRESSES).
References Cited
A complete list of all references cited herein is available upon
request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Branch of Recovery
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section).
Authority
We developed our draft recovery plan addendum under the authority
of section 4(f) of the Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f). We publish this notice
under section 4(f) Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: June 6, 2012.
Benjamin Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-14853 Filed 6-18-12; 8:45 am]
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