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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 155 / Monday, August 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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determination. Because Cumberland sandwort has increased in representation and redundancy, generally, and in particular with respect to numbers of resilient, self-sustaining, and protected occurrences, we have determined that the species is currently viable and expect this species to be viable into the foreseeable future.
We have carefully assessed the best scientific and commercial information available regarding the threats faced by Cumberland sandwort in developing the April 27, 2020, proposed rule 85 FR
23302 and this final rule. Threats reported at the time of listing related to habitat loss and curtailment of range Factor A have been managed in many locations, and available data indicate the species possesses greater resilience to effects of substrate disturbance from trampling and various activities and to effects of timber harvesting in nearby areas than was determined at the time of listing. We have analyzed or evaluated potential effects of climate change and low population size Factor E and determined that they are not significant threats to the species now nor are they likely to be in the foreseeable future as defined above.
Although the Cumberland sandwort will no longer receive the protections of the Act once it is delisted see DATES, above, the remaining regulatory mechansims Factor D are adequate to protect Cumberland sandwort from threats to its habitat, given the fact that 66 of the 71 extant occurrences are located on Federal or State conservation lands. Considering the effect of current and future stressors to the species, and taking into account applicable conservation measures and the existing regulatory mechanisms, the species is not currently in danger of extinction, nor is it likely to become so in the foreseeable future, throughout all of its range.
Status Throughout a Significant Portion of Its Range Under the Act and our implementing regulations, a species may warrant listing if it is in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Having determined that Cumberland sandwort is not in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future throughout all of its range, we now consider whether it may be in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in a significant portion of its rangethat is, whether there is any portion of the species range for which it is true that both 1 the portion is significant; and 2 the species
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is in danger of extinction now or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in that portion. Depending on the case, it might be more efficient for us to address the significance question or the status question first. We can choose to address either question first. Regardless of which question we address first, if we reach a negative answer with respect to the first question that we address, we do not need to evaluate the other question for that portion of the species range.
In undertaking this analysis for Cumberland sandwort, we choose to address the status question firstwe consider information pertaining to the geographic distribution of both the species and the threats that the species faces to identify any portions of the range where the species is endangered or threatened. For Cumberland sandwort, we considered whether the threats are geographically concentrated in any portion of the species range at a biologically meaningful scale. We examined the following threats: Habitat modification and curtailment of range, including cumulative effects.
The range of Cumberland sandwort is restricted to a small geographic area in portions of five counties, with high similarity in geological and ecological conditions among occupied sites.
Within this geographic area, the species is known from two watersheds, South Fork Cumberland and Obey River, where there are 59 and 12 extant occurrences, respectively. Therefore, applying the process described above, we first evaluated the status of Cumberland sandwort to determine if any threats or population declines were concentrated in any specific portion of the range. Threats related to habitat modification or curtailment of range primarily affect occurrences in the South Fork Cumberland drainage. Our analysis of the species resilience see above, Recovery, which integrated information on abundance and threats, determined that 45 of the occurrences within the South Fork Cumberland and all of the occurrences within the Obey River drainages had resiliency indices of medium or higher. We have determined that 40 of these resilient occurrences in the South Fork Cumberland and 2 in the Obey River drainages are protected and contribute towards achieving the recovery criteria. The presence of 40
protected and self-sustaining occurrences in the South Fork Cumberland indicates that threats are not concentrated in this drainage so as to affect the representation, redundancy, or resiliency of Cumberland sandwort.
Nine protected occurrences in the Obey River watershed have resiliency indices of medium or higher, but lack sufficient
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monitoring data to evaluate trends in abundance and determine whether they are self-sustaining. Due to their locations on protected lands, primarily within PCNA where proposed trail routes are surveyed to minimize adverse effects to Cumberland sandwort TDEC
no date, pp. 1011, we expect that these nine occurrences will remain stable for the foreseeable future, adding to the resilience, representation, and redundancy afforded by the 42
occurrences currently considered to contribute to achieving recovery criteria.
Based on the distribution of 42
protected and self-sustaining occurrences among the two watersheds, all located on conservation lands managed according to rules, regulations, or management plans NPS 2005, pp.
3139; TDEC no date, entire that protect Cumberland sandwort, we have determined that threats related to habitat modification or curtailment of range are not concentrated in any portion of the species range so as to affect its representation, redundancy, or resiliency.
We found no concentration of threats in any portion of Cumberland sandworts range at a biologically meaningful scale. Therefore, no portion of the species range can provide a basis for determining that the species 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 the species is not in danger of extinction now or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in any significant portion of its range. This is consistent with the courts holdings in Desert Survivors v. Department of the Interior, No. 16-cv-01165JCS, 2018 WL 4053447
N.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2018, and Center for Biological Diversity v. Jewell, 248 F.
Supp. 3d, 946, 959 D. Ariz. 2017.
Determination of Status Our review of the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that Cumberland sandwort is not in danger of extinction nor likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Therefore, we find that Cumberland sandwort does not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species in accordance with sections 36
and 320 of the Act. Therefore, we are removing the species from the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants.
Effects of This Rule This final rule revises 50 CFR 17.12h to remove Cumberland sandwort from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants. The prohibitions and
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