Je veux savoir à propos de…

29432

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 103 / Tuesday, June 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17
Docket No. FWSR2ES20210015;
FF09E21000 FXES11110900000 212
RIN 1018BB27

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Lesser Prairie-Chicken;
Threatened Status With Section 4d Rule for the Northern Distinct Population Segment and Endangered Status for the Southern Distinct Population Segment Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Service, propose to list two Distinct Population Segments DPSs of the lesser prairie-chicken Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, a grassland bird known from southeastern Colorado, western Kansas, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended Act.
This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the lesser prairie-chicken. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the Southern DPS as endangered is warranted, and that listing the Northern DPS as threatened is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Southern DPS as an endangered species under the Act and the Northern DPS as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4d of the Act 4d rule. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it will add these two DPSs to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Acts protections to them. We also are notifying the public that we have scheduled informational meetings followed by public hearings on the proposed rule.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before August 2, 2021. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal see ADDRESSES, below must be received by 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time on the closing date. We must receive requests for a public hearing, in writing, at the address shown in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT by July 16, 2021.
Public informational meeting and public hearing: We will hold a public informational session from 5 p.m. to 6
p.m., Central Time, followed by a public
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS3

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

20:04 May 28, 2021

Jkt 253001

hearing from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Central Time, on July 8, 2021. We will hold a second public informational session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Central Time, followed by a public hearing from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Central Time, on July 14, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
1 Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWSR2ES20210015, which is the docket number for this rulemaking.
Then, click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the Search panel on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a comment by clicking on Comment Now!
2 By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn:
FWSR2ES20210015, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041
3803.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described above.
We will post all comments on http
www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any personal information you provide us see Information Requested, below, for more information.
Public informational meeting and public hearing: The public informational meetings and the public hearings will be held virtually using the Zoom platform. See Public Hearing, below, for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Debra Bills, Field Supervisor, Arlington Ecological Services Field Office, 2005
NE Green Oaks Blvd., Suite 140, Arlington, TX 76006; telephone 817
2771129. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf TDD may call the Federal Relay Service at 8008778339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Summary Why we need to publish a rule. Under the Act, if we determine that a species is an endangered or threatened species throughout all or a significant portion of its range, we are required to promptly publish a proposal in the Federal Register and make a determination on our proposal within 1 year. To the maximum extent prudent and determinable, we must designate critical habitat for any species that we determine to be an endangered or threatened species under the Act.
Listing a species as an endangered or threatened species and designation of
PO 00000

Frm 00002

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4702

critical habitat can only be completed by issuing a rule.
What this document does. We propose the listing of the Northern DPS
of the lesser prairie-chicken as a threatened species with a rule under section 4d of the Act and the Southern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken as an endangered species under the Act.
The basis for our action. Under the Act, we may determine that a species is an endangered or threatened species because of any of five factors: A The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; 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. We make these determinations solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available after conducting a review of the status of the species and after taking into account those efforts being made to protect the species.
We have determined that both the northern and southern parts of the lesser prairie-chickens range are discrete and significant under our DPS Policy and are, therefore, listable entities under the Act. The Southern DPS consists of the Shinnery Oak Ecoregion in New Mexico and Texas, and the Northern DPS
consists of the Sand Sagebrush Ecoregion, the Mixed Grass Ecoregion, and the Short Grass/Conservation Reserve Program CRP Ecoregion in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. These two DPSs together encompass the entirety of the lesser prairie-chickens range. The primary threat impacting both DPSs is the ongoing loss of large, connected blocks of grassland and shrubland habitat. The Southern DPS has low resiliency, redundancy, and representation and is particularly vulnerable to severe droughts due to being located in the dryer and hotter southwestern portion of the range. Because the Southern DPS
is currently at risk of extinction, we propose to list it as endangered.
In the Northern DPS, as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, resiliency has been much reduced across two of the ecoregions in the Northern DPS when compared to historical conditions. However, this DPS
still has redundancy across the three ecoregions and genetic and environmental representation. We expect habitat loss and fragmentation across the Northern DPS to continue into the foreseeable future, resulting in even further reduced resiliency. Because
E:FRFM01JNP3.SGM

01JNP3