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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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habitat agriculture, urbanization, severe wildfire Factor A, recreation Factor E, and the effects of climate change Factor E, including cumulative effects.
In our analysis, we did not find any portion of either the North Coast DPSs range or the North Sierra DPSs range where the threats identified above are currently acting at a biologically meaningful scale such that any portion of the DPSs ranges may be endangered, or where threats are likely to act on either DPS into the future such that any portion may be threatened. Occupied stream segments are distributed throughout each of the DPSs, and connectivity in the majority of each DPS
is considered to be good except within the Oregon portion of the North Coast DPS. However, the Oregon portion also has fewer regulated streams, and populations, although small, are in a low risk of decline both now and into the future. Therefore, no portion of the two DPSs ranges provides a basis for determining that either DPS is in danger of extinction now or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in a significant portion of its range, and we find that the DPSs are not in danger of extinction now or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in any significant portion of their ranges. This does not conflict with the courts holdings in Desert Survivors v. U.S. Department of the Interior, 321 F. Supp. 3d 1011, 107074 N.D. Cal. 2018, and Center for Biological Diversity v. Jewell, 248 F.
Supp. 3d 946, 959 D. Ariz. 2017
because, in reaching this conclusion, we did not need to consider whether any portions are significant and therefore did not apply the aspects of the Final Policys definition of significant that those court decisions held were invalid.
Determination of Status of the North Coast DPS and North Sierra DPS of the Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog Our review of the best scientific and commercial information available indicates that the North Coast DPS and North Sierra DPS of the foothill yellowlegged frog do not meet the Acts definition of an endangered species or a threatened species in accordance with sections 36 and 320 of the Act.
Therefore, we find that listing the North Coast DPS and North Sierra DPS of the foothill yellow-legged frog under the Act is not warranted at this time.
Available Conservation Measures Conservation measures provided to species listed as endangered or threatened species under the Act include recognition, recovery actions, requirements for Federal protection, and prohibitions against certain practices.

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Recognition through listing results in public awareness, and conservation by Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, private organizations, and individuals. The Act encourages cooperation with the States and other countries and calls for recovery actions to be carried out for listed species. The protection required by Federal agencies and the prohibitions against certain activities are discussed, in part, below.
The primary purpose of the Act is the conservation of endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The ultimate goal of such conservation efforts is the recovery of these listed species, so that they no longer need the protective measures of the Act. Section 4f of the Act calls for the Service to develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation of endangered and threatened species. The recovery planning process involves the identification of actions that are necessary to halt or reverse the species decline by addressing the threats to its survival and recovery. The goal of this process is to restore listed species to a point where they are secure, selfsustaining, and functioning components of their ecosystems.
Recovery planning consists of preparing draft and final recovery plans, beginning with the development of a recovery outline and making it available to the public within 30 days of a final listing determination. The recovery outline guides the immediate implementation of urgent recovery actions and describes the process to be used to develop a recovery plan.
Revisions of the plan may be done to address continuing or new threats to the species, as new substantive information becomes available. The recovery plan also identifies recovery criteria for review of when a species may be ready for reclassification from endangered to threatened downlisting or removal from protected status delisting, and methods for monitoring recovery progress. Recovery plans also establish a framework for agencies to coordinate their recovery efforts and provide estimates of the cost of implementing recovery tasks. Recovery teams composed of species experts, Federal and State agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and stakeholders are often established to develop recovery plans. When completed, the recovery outline, draft recovery plan, and the final recovery plan will be available on our website http www.fws.gov/
endangered, or from our Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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Implementation of recovery actions generally requires the participation of a broad range of partners, including other Federal agencies, States, Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and private landowners.
Examples of recovery actions include habitat restoration e.g., restoration of native vegetation, research, captive propagation and reintroduction, and outreach and education. The recovery of many listed species cannot be accomplished solely on Federal lands because their range may occur primarily or solely on non-Federal lands. To achieve recovery of these species requires cooperative conservation efforts on private, State, and Tribal lands.
If any of the DPSs identified above are listed, funding for recovery actions will be available from a variety of sources, including Federal budgets, State programs, and cost-share grants for nonFederal landowners, the academic community, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, pursuant to section 6 of the Act, the State of California would be eligible for Federal funds to implement management actions that promote the protection or recovery of the DPSs. Information on our grant programs that are available to aid species recovery can be found at:
https www.fws.gov/grants.
Although the four DPSs are only proposed for listing under the Act at this time, please let us know if you are interested in participating in recovery efforts for this species. Additionally, we invite you to submit any new information on this species whenever it becomes available and any information you may have for recovery planning purposes see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Section 7a of the Act requires Federal agencies to evaluate their actions with respect to any species that is proposed or listed as an endangered or threatened species and with respect to its critical habitat, if any is designated. Regulations implementing this interagency cooperation provision of the Act are codified at 50 CFR part 402. Section 7a4 of the Act requires Federal agencies to confer with the Service on any action that is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a species proposed for listing or result in destruction or adverse modification of proposed critical habitat. If a species is listed subsequently, section 7a2 of the Act requires Federal agencies to ensure that activities they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat. If a Federal action may affect a listed species or its
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