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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
will be robust in the face of potential cumulative effects to which they may be exposed.
Overall, we conclude that under current conditions, most populations of Bradshaws lomatium are resilient, because they have abundant numbers of individuals. There are redundant populations of Bradshaws lomatium, meaning that multiple populations occur in most recovery zones, indicating that the species has the ability to minimize potential loss from catastrophic events. The concern at the time of listing about a possible genetic bottleneck has been alleviated by genetic studies demonstrating that Bradshaws lomatium has relatively high genetic diversity for a rare species.
Also, with populations distributed across the known historical range of the species Service 2018, p. 40, Bradshaws lomatium has likely retained much of its adaptive capacity i.e., representation. We also considered the potential future conditions of Bradshaws lomatium, taking into account the current condition and additional stressors not considered at the time of recovery plan development e.g., the effects of climate change. Projecting 25 to 50 years into the future, under a conservative estimate that conditions could potentially worsen such that all existing populations are reduced by half, the species would retain its resiliency and redundancy. With an estimated 14 to 16
populations in moderate or high condition expected to remain on the landscape with ongoing management, representation was not anticipated to be affected Service 2018, p. 44. As noted earlier, the degree to which threats to the species have been successfully addressed is incorporated into the evaluation of population resiliency at each site i.e., site protection and management actions were considered in the scoring of each populations current condition; Service 2018, p. 28. The continuation of these conservation measures was an assumption of our projection.
We note that, by using the SSA
framework to guide our analysis of the scientific information documented in the SSA report, we have not only analyzed individual effects on the species, but we have also analyzed their potential cumulative effects. We incorporate the cumulative effects into our SSA analysis when we characterize the current and future condition of the species. Our assessment of the current and future conditions encompasses and incorporates the threats individually and cumulatively. Our current and future condition assessment is iterative
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because it accumulates and evaluates the effects of all the factors that may be influencing the species, including threats and conservation efforts.
Because the SSA framework considers not just the presence of the factors, but to what degree they collectively influence risk to the entire species, our assessment integrates the cumulative effects of the factors and replaces a standalone cumulative effects analysis.
See the SSA report Service 2018, entire for a more detailed discussion of our evaluation of the biological status of Bradshaws lomatium and the influences that may affect its continued existence. Our conclusions are based upon the best available scientific and commercial data and the expert opinions of the species status assessment team members.
Summary of Comments and Recommendations In the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2019
84 FR 65067, we requested that all interested parties submit written comments on our proposal to delist Bradshaws lomatium by January 27, 2020. We also contacted appropriate Federal and State agencies, scientific experts and organizations, and other interested parties and invited them to comment on the proposal. Newspaper notices inviting general public comment were published in The Oregonian. We did not receive any requests for a public hearing. All substantive information provided during the comment period has either been incorporated directly into this final rule or is addressed below.
Public Comments We received three comments from the public on our November 26, 2019, proposed rule. One of these generally opposed the delisting of Bradshaws lomatium but did not provide substantive comments to respond to or address. The remaining two provided substantive comments on the proposed rule or the draft post-delisting monitoring plan, and are addressed below.
Comment 1: One commenter expressed concerns that Federal delisting of Bradshaws lomatium would likely result in a petition for State delisting as well, resulting in a potential threat from the inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms to require habitat maintenance for the species Factor D.
The commenter states that habitat management benefitting this conservation-reliant species may not necessarily continue after delisting, which would again expose populations
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of Bradshaws lomatium to the threat of habitat degradation through encroachment of woody vegetation and nonnative plants. In particular, the commenter argued that if only 58
percent of total sites have a management plan with conservation goals for Bradshaws lomatium or wet prairie habitat, a worst case future scenario could leave the remaining 42 percent of sites unmanaged, or under-managed, in terms of habitat maintenance. Overall, the commenter suggested that more measures are needed to formalize the commitment of landowners to continue Bradshaws lomatium habitat management efforts to ensure habitat for the species remains protected from degradation following delisting, with particular emphasis on non-Federal public sites and the large population in Washington.
Our Response: Our evaluation of the level of protection and active management provided to populations of Bradshaws lomatium, required to effectively ameliorate the threat of habitat degradation now and into the future, was one of our primary considerations in determining the appropriate status of the species. As described in the November 26, 2019, proposed rule 84 FR 65067 and in Appendix A of the SSA report, our information indicates that in Oregon, where 69 of the 71 sites of Bradshaws lomatium are found, nearly 99 percent of Bradshaws lomatium individuals now receive protection from further habitat loss and fragmentation due to land ownership by Federal, State, or other public entities, or by NGOs, or due to protections through management agreements or conservation easements on private lands. Nearly all of these management commitments are longterm or perpetual 61, and the shortterm management agreements 8 are renewable. Of the 71 total known sites, 51 are in public ownership and 9 have either a conservation easement or Partners for Fish and Wildlife agreement in place. There are only 11 sites on privately owned lands without a formal agreement in place, but even without formal protections, several of these are managed such that they provide habitat for Bradshaws lomatium, and they support relatively few plants overall.
The 58 percent of sites with a management plan mentioned by the commenter refers only to those sites that have a plan specific to Bradshaws lomatium or the maintenance of wet prairie habitat; even without such a plan, many of these sites do have management plans, and the majority of sites experience some degree of habitat
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