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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 7, 2021 / Proposed Rules
with small populations or limited distributions, we have identified areas of critical habitat that will allow for the natural expansion of populations or support reintroductions.
3 Restored pine rockland habitats may allow the Miami tiger beetle to disperse, recolonize, or expand from areas already occupied by the beetle.
These restored areas generally are habitats within or adjacent to pine rocklands that have been affected by natural or anthropogenic factors but retain the essential physical or biological features that make them suitable for the beetle. These areas would help offset the anticipated loss and degradation of habitat occurring or expected from natural succession in the absence of disturbance, effects of climate change such as sea level rise, or development.
Summary In summary, for areas within the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of listing, we delineated critical habitat unit boundaries using the following criteria:
1 Evaluated habitat suitability of pine rockland habitat within the geographical area occupied at the time of listing current, and selected those areas that contain all of the physical or biological features to support lifehistory functions essential for conservation of the species;
2 Identified open sandy areas directly adjacent to occupied areas and with little to no vegetation that allow for or facilitate normal behavior and growth of the Miami tiger beetle, such as thermoregulation, foraging, egg-laying, larval development, and habitat connectivity, and which promote the overall distribution and expansion of the species.
The result was the inclusion of two units of critical habitat occupied by the
Miami tiger beetle. Approximately 1,052
ac 426 ha or 73 percent of the occupied units are existing critical habitat for other species.
For areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of listing, we delineated critical habitat unit boundaries using the following criteria:
1 Areas with pine rockland habitat that contained the essential physical or biological features and were of sufficient size to support introduced populations of Miami tiger beetles;
2 Areas that are spatially configured to support metapopulation dynamics, minimize adverse impacts from stochastic events, and maintain representation of the historical range of the species.
The result was the inclusion of 14
units of critical habitat not occupied by the Miami tiger beetle at the time of listing. These 14 units encompass approximately 405 ac 164 ha or 20
percent of proposed critical habitat. All 14 units are either publicly owned or privately owned conservation lands i.e., Porter Pineland Preserve, which is owned and managed by the Audubon Society.
When determining proposed critical habitat boundaries, we made every effort to avoid including developed areas such as lands covered by buildings, pavement, and other structures because such lands lack physical or biological features necessary for the Miami tiger beetle. The scale of the maps we prepared under the parameters for publication within the Code of Federal Regulations may not reflect the exclusion of such developed lands. Any such lands inadvertently left inside critical habitat boundaries shown on the maps of this proposed rule have been excluded by text in the proposed rule and are not proposed for designation as critical habitat.

Therefore, if the critical habitat is finalized as proposed, a Federal action involving these lands would not trigger section 7 consultation with respect to critical habitat and the requirement of no adverse modification unless the specific action would affect the essential physical or biological features in the adjacent critical habitat.
We are proposing for designation as critical habitat those lands that we have determined are occupied at the time of listing and which contain the physical or biological features to support lifehistory processes essential to the conservation of the species, and lands outside of the geographical area occupied at the time of listing that we have determined are essential for the conservation of the Miami tiger beetle.
The critical habitat designation is defined by the maps, as modified by any accompanying regulatory text, presented at the end of this document in the rule portion. We include more detailed information on the boundaries of the critical habitat designation in the preamble of this document. We will make shapefiles of the critical habitat units available to the public on http
www.regulations.gov at Docket No.
FWSR4ES20210053, and on our internet site www.fws.gov/verobeach/.
Proposed Critical Habitat Designation We are proposing 16 units as critical habitat for the Miami tiger beetle. The critical habitat areas we describe below constitute our current best assessment of areas that meet the definition of critical habitat for the Miami tiger beetle. Table 1 shows each critical habitat unit, its occupancy by the Miami tiger beetle at the time it was listed under the Act, and the extent of overlap with critical habitat previously designated for other federally listed species.

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TABLE 1PROPOSED CRITICAL HABITAT UNITS FOR THE MIAMI TIGER BEETLE, INCLUDING OCCUPANCY AND EXTENT OF
OVERLAPPING CRITICAL HABITAT FOR OTHER FEDERALLY LISTED SPECIES
Unit No.

Unit name
Occupancy at time of listing
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Trinity Pineland
Rockdale Pineland
Deering Estate South Edition
Ned Glenn Nature Preserve
Deering Estate at Cutler
Silver Palm Groves Pineland
Quail Roost Pineland
Eachus Pineland
Bill Sadowski Park
Tamiami Pineland Complex Addition
Pine Shore Pineland Preserve
Nixon Smiley Pineland Preserve
Camp Matecumbe

No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No

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Total area ac ha
Area of overlap with existing critical habitat ac ha
10 4
39 16
16 6
11 5
89 36
25 10
48 19
17 7
20 8
21 8
8 3
117 47
81 33

E:FRFM07SEP1.SGM

10 4
38 15
15 6
11 5
84 34
22 9
47 19
17 7
19 8
19 8
8 3
115 47
77 31

07SEP1

Area exclusive to Miami tiger beetle ac ha 0 0
1 <1
1 <1
0 0
5 2
3 1
1 <1
0 0
1 <1
2 <1
0 0
2 <1
3 1