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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
the Wabash River by Duke Energy, the Service, and other Indiana Department of Natural Resources personnel and contractors Mills 2018, p. 14. Since the Interior least tern may continue to be protected by the State of Indiana, management and monitoring is expected to continue to some degree, regardless of a change in the Federal status of species.
To various degrees, a number of additional small, localized, and often temporary breeding colonies of Interior least tern and their habitats have been managed, protected, and monitored at industrial, municipal, and reservoir sites under the Acts conservation sections 6, 7a1, and 10 or consultation section 7a2
requirements. Managed sites have included coal mines e.g., Tanner and Hart 1998, entire, rooftops e.g., Boylan 2008, entire, and small reservoirs e.g., Nelson 2010, entire. Such efforts may or may not continue when the tern is delisted; however, it is also likely that the tern will continue to exploit small areas of suitable habitats as they are available and encountered in its range.
While such populations contribute some small benefit to the rangewide redundancy and representation of the tern see discussion of Population Trends, above, they cumulatively represent less than 2 percent of the summer nesting population and their success or failure within individual sites has little impact on the rangewide conservation status of the Interior least tern.
In summary, the expansion of the numbers and distribution of the Interior least tern, and its adaptation to and exploitation of anthropogenic habitats over the past several decades, indicate that the species is no longer conservation-reliant. Potential threats identified at the time of listing have been removed or ameliorated by conservation actions of multiple conservation partners, most principally the USACE, for more than 20 years.
These actions have assisted in recovery of the species as reflected in the large number of individuals rangewide, stable to increasing drainage populations since listing, and a high number of selfsustaining colonies in 18 States.
Furthermore, our partners in USACE
Divisions and Districts within the range of the Interior least tern have cooperatively modified their programs to provide for the long-term management of nesting and foraging habitats for about 80 percent of the rangewide population of the species USACE 2013, entire; 2016, entire; 2017, entire. Another 10 percent of the population is managed by State and private partnerships, which are
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expected to continue based upon State status and regulations. Regarding the remaining 10 percent of the population that nest in habitats with minimal or no management, while these areas contribute to redundancy and representation for the species, their success or failure within these sites is not essential to the continued existence of the Interior least tern.
Summary of Factors Affecting the Species 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;
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 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
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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 expected response by the species, 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 of the Interior 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.
We must consider these same five factors in delisting a species. We may delist a species according to 50 CFR
424.11e if the best available scientific and commercial data indicate that: 1
The species is extinct; 2 the species does not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species; or 3 the listed entity does not meet the statutory definition of a species.
A recovered species is one that no longer meets the Acts definition of endangered species or threatened species. Determining whether a species is recovered requires consideration of the same five categories of threats specified in section 4a1 of the Act.
For species that are already listed as endangered or threatened, this analysis of threats is an evaluation of both the threats currently facing the species and the threats that are reasonably likely to affect the species in the foreseeable future following delisting or downlisting i.e., reclassification from endangered to threatened and the removal or reduction of the Acts protections.
The Act does not define the term foreseeable future, which appears in the statutory definition of threatened species. Our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 424.11d set forth a framework for evaluating the foreseeable future on a case-by-case basis. The term foreseeable future extends only so far into the future as we can reasonably determine that both the future threats and the species responses to those
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