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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations such as public lands, conservancy lands, or private lands with conservation easements Service 2018, Appendix A. Two sites in southwestern Washington collectively comprise the single largest population of the species with millions of plants. The vast majority of plants in the southwestern Washington population occur on private property that is not under formal protection, but over the years the site has been consistently managed in a manner conducive to supporting the largest population of Bradshaws lomatium known. The other portion of the population in southwestern Washington, owned by the Washington Department of Natural Resources WDNR, contains approximately 658
plants. The WDNR has been actively protecting, managing, and augmenting this smaller portion of the southwestern Washington population, and they are currently working to further expand protection at this site. Furthermore, the WDNR is working to conserve the sizeable Bradshaws lomatium site that is on private land.
Due to ongoing threats from woody encroachment and the spread of nonnative, invasive plants, sites containing Bradshaws lomatium require regular management to maintain the open prairie conditions that support robust populations. Management activities may include, but are not limited to, herbicide application, mowing, and prescribed fire. Although guarantee of management into perpetuity exceeds the requirements of the Act in evaluating whether a species meets the statutory definition of endangered or threatened, it is necessary to evaluate whether current and expected future management is sufficient to maintain resilient populations of Bradshaws lomatium into the foreseeable future. Across the range of Bradshaws lomatium, 75
percent of sites receive some form of management as described above, accounting for greater than 99 percent of known Bradshaws lomatium plants.
Sites receiving management span all ownership types. Rangewide, 58 percent of sites have a management plan with goals for the conservation of Bradshaws lomatium, or with goals for maintenance of the wet prairie habitat upon which this species depends. Sites with management plans include those owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, the Service, The Nature Conservancy, and privately owned sites covered by the Natural Resources Conservation Services Wetland Reserve Program Service 2018, pp. 3035, Appendix A.

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Although not considered as a basis for this delisting, a memorandum of understanding MOU among the Bureau of Land Management, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Service has been developed with the express purpose of providing for the long-term conservation and sustained recovery of Bradshaws lomatium Service et al. 2020, entire. Together these agencies own or manage at least 35 of the 71 known Bradshaws lomatium sites. The MOU describes the ongoing commitment of the cooperating management agencies to maintain wet prairie habitats containing Bradshaws lomatium populations at a sufficient quality to support the resilience of those populations, to the best of their abilities, irrespective of any change in the species legal status and its standing under the Act. This MOU did not enter into our consideration of the delisting of Bradshaws lomatium. However, it is added evidence of the strength of the ongoing collaborative efforts of conservation partners dedicated to the recovery of the native prairie species and ecosystems of the Willamette Valley.
These and other data that we analyzed indicate that most threats identified at listing and in the recovery plan are reduced in areas occupied by Bradshaws lomatium. The status of the species has improved primarily due to:
1 Discovery of previously unknown populations; 2 reestablishment and augmentation of populations over the 30
years since the species was listed; 3
improvement in habitat management;
and 4 an increase in protection from development.
Regulatory and Analytical Framework Regulatory Framework Section 4 of the Act 16 U.S.C. 1533
and its implementing regulations 50
CFR part 424 set forth the procedures for determining whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species. The Act defines an endangered species as a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and a threatened species as a species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
The Act requires that we determine whether any species is an endangered species or a threatened species because of any of the following factors:
A The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;

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B Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
C Disease or predation;
D The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or E Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
These factors represent broad categories of natural or human-caused actions or conditions that could have an effect on a species continued existence.
In evaluating these actions and conditions, we look for those that may have a negative effect on individuals of the species, as well as other actions or conditions that may ameliorate any negative effects or may have positive effects. We consider these same five factors in delisting removal from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants or downlisting reclassification from endangered to threatened a species see 50 CFR 424.11c through e.
We use the term threat to refer in general to actions or conditions that are known to or are reasonably likely to negatively affect individuals of a species. The term threat includes actions or conditions that have a direct impact on individuals direct impacts, as well as those that affect individuals through alteration of their habitat or required resources stressors. The term threat may encompasseither together or separatelythe source of the action or condition or the action or condition itself.
However, the mere identification of any threats does not necessarily mean that the species meets the statutory definition of an endangered species or a threatened species. In determining whether a species meets either definition, we must evaluate all identified threats by considering the species expected response and the effects of the threatsin light of those actions and conditions that will ameliorate the threatson an individual, population, and species level. We evaluate each threat and its expected effects on the species, then analyze the cumulative effect of all of the threats on the species as a whole.
We also consider the cumulative effect of the threats in light of those actions and conditions that will have positive effects on the speciessuch as any existing regulatory mechanisms or conservation efforts. The Secretary determines whether the species meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species only after conducting this cumulative analysis and describing the expected effect on the species now and in the foreseeable future.

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