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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 3, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
and redundancy for the Sierra Nevada DPS will likely continue to decline.
Thus, after assessing the best available scientific and commercial information, we determine that the Sierra Nevada DPS of the Sierra Nevada red fox is in danger of extinction 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. We have determined that the Sierra Nevada DPS
of Sierra Nevada red fox is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range, and accordingly, did not undertake an analysis of any significant portions of its range. Because we have determined that this DPS warrants listing as endangered throughout all of its range, our determination is consistent with the decision in Center for Biological Diversity v. Everson, 2020 WL 437289
D.D.C. Jan. 28, 2020, in which the court vacated the aspect of the Final Policy on Interpretation of the Phrase Significant Portion of Its Range in the Endangered Species Acts Definitions of Endangered Species and Threatened Species 79 FR 37578; July 1, 2014
that provided the Services do not undertake an analysis of significant portions of a species range if the species warrants listing as threatened throughout all of its range.

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Determination of Status Our review of the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the Sierra Nevada DPS of Sierra Nevada red fox meets the definition of an endangered species.
Therefore, we are listing this DPS as an endangered species in accordance with sections 36 and 4a1 of the Act.
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.
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.

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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 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.
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
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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.
Following publication of this final rule, 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 and Nevada if surveys indicate the species occurs there will be eligible for Federal funds to implement management actions that promote the protection or recovery of the DPS. Information on our grant programs that are available to aid species recovery can be found at: http
www.fws.gov/grants.
Please let us know if you are interested in participating in recovery efforts for the Sierra Nevada DPS of Sierra Nevada red fox. 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 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 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 any endangered or threatened species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat. If a Federal action may affect a listed species or its critical habitat, the responsible Federal agency must enter into consultation with the Service.
Federal agency actions within the species habitat that may require consultation as described in the preceding paragraph include: Issuance of section 404 Clean Water Act 33
U.S.C. 1251 et seq. permits by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers; construction and maintenance of roads or highways by the Federal Highway Administration;
and management actions or activities taken by the NPS, USFS, or Department of Defense that occur in the high elevation habitat of the DPS and that may affect individual DPS foxes.

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