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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
were collected during surveys from 2009 through 2017; in the Town Creek population, only 4 slenderclaw crayfish were collected during this same time period. Further, there is evidence of limited reproduction with only 3
juveniles collected from both populations since 2016. The slenderclaw crayfish exhibits low natural redundancy given its narrow range, but given presumed extirpation of sites within both populations, the species redundancy is further limited.
Several sources of indirect water quality impacts on both populations have been identified. However, no direct water quality-related impacts are known at this time, and crayfish generally have a higher tolerance to poor water quality conditions than other aquatic species. In addition, currently existing regulatory mechanisms, such as establishing TMDLs, are addressing the effects of poor water quality on the slenderclaw crayfish.
Currently, one of the primary threats to the slenderclaw crayfish is the nonnative virile crayfish. The virile crayfish is a larger crayfish, a strong competitor, and tends to migrate, and has been attributed to declines of other native crayfish species. Considering these characteristics of the virile crayfish and the size small-bodied of the slenderclaw crayfish, it is reasonable to infer that once virile crayfish is established at a site it will out-compete slenderclaw crayfish. This may already be the case at the slenderclaw crayfish type locality where virile crayfish were found in recent surveys. At present, the virile crayfish has been reported as occurring at only one site, the type locality, where the slenderclaw crayfish was known to occur. Specifically, the virile crayfish occupies approximately 12.5 river miles mi 20.1 river kilometers km at a few sites approximately 7 river mi 11 river km downstream of current slenderclaw crayfish sites in the Short Creek population 233.6 river mi 375.9 river km, and, therefore, the virile crayfish is an imminent threat to slenderclaw crayfish in the Short Creek population.
Although there are currently no records of the virile crayfish in the Town Creek population 281.7 river mi 453.4 river km, the virile crayfish is documented in Guntersville Lake, which leads directly into the Town Creek population. Based on the documented past expansion of the virile crayfish despite some uncertainty and variation in the rate at which it will expand, and documented impacts and declines to other native crayfish species, current invasion and expansion into the slenderclaw crayfishs range in the
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Town Creek population will occur.
Coupled with the current low abundance n=4 of slenderclaw crayfish in the Town Creek population, the invasion of virile crayfish makes the slenderclaw crayfish at high risk of extirpation in this watershed.
Overall, given the current low resiliency in both populations and the species limited redundancy, it will be difficult to reestablish an entire population, should it be affected by a catastrophic event, without human intervention, as the connectivity between the two populations is low.
Therefore, the slenderclaw crayfish is currently at risk of extirpation in both populations. Thus, we have determined that the slenderclaw crayfish is currently 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 slenderclaw crayfish is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range, warranting listing as endangered throughout its range. Accordingly, we did not undertake an analysis of any significant portion 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.
Determination of Status Our review of the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the slenderclaw crayfish meets the definition of an endangered species. Therefore, in accordance with sections 320 and 4a1 of the Act, we add the slenderclaw crayfish as an endangered species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife at 50 CFR 17.11h.
Available Conservation Measures 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. 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
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conservation by Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, private organizations, and individuals. The Act encourages cooperation with the States and calls for recovery actions to be carried out for all listed species. The protection required by Federal agencies and the prohibitions against certain activities are discussed, in part, below.
Subsection 4f of the Act requires 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 of 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 Alabama Ecological Services Field 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
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