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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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TABLE 3RELATIVE RISK OF DECLINE SUMMARY FOR CURRENT CONDITION AND THREE FUTURE SCENARIOS
Risk of decline Analysis unit
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North Coast Oregon
North Coast California
North Feather
North Sierra
South Sierra
Central Coast
South Coast

Current condition
Lower change scenario
Mean change scenario
Low
Medium
Medium
Low
Medium
Medium
Medium

Medium
Medium
Medium
Low
High
Medium
Medium

Medium
Medium
High
Medium
High
High
Medium

Conservation Efforts and Regulatory Mechanisms Several initiatives and conservation efforts are in place and being implemented for foothill yellow-legged frog conservation including measures for rearing headstarting, nonnative species removal, development of reintroduction feasibility studies, and habitat conservation planning for the species Service 2021, table 9, pp. 117
120. Headstarting hatching eggs and rearing into releasable frogs has been started on the North Feather River. The program has just been started and the extent from headstarting is limited to a portion of the range of the North Feather DPS. Also benefitting the species through regulatory protection is the decision by the California Fish and Game Commission to list five foothill yellow-legged frog genetic clades referred to as analysis units in this document under the California Endangered Species Act. In February 2020, the California Fish and Game Commission adopted the findings of the CDFW to list the South Coast, Central Coast, and South Sierra clades as endangered and list the North Feather and North Sierra clades as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act Commission 2020, p. 1.
Another regulatory benefit that applies to breeding and rearing habitat is the 2009 moratorium on suction-dredge mining in California. However, benefits to the foothill yellow-legged frog from the moratorium have not been studied, and permitting processes are in development so that the moratorium may be lifted State Water Resources Control Board 2020, entire.
The foothill yellow-legged frog is listed as a sensitive species by the BLM
and the Forest Service under their Sensitive Species program. These agencies define sensitive species as those species that require special management consideration to promote their conservation and reduce the likelihood and need for future listing under the Act. Any actions conducted by the Forest Service or BLM would
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need to take into consideration impacts to sensitive species and, if possible, implement best management practices to limit impacts to the species or its habitat. In addition, the species in northern portions of California and the species range in Oregon on National Forest or BLM lands currently receive protection through conservation measures and best management practices under the Northwest Forest Plans Survey and Manage program USDAUSDOI 2001, entire. These measures reduce or eliminate impacts to habitat for the foothill yellow-legged frog and areas occupied by the species during road construction and maintenance activities as well as any vegetation management actions which assist in the reduction of threats associated with wildfire on BLM and Forest Service lands.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC issues licenses for the operation of nonfederal hydropower projects. Within the range of the foothill yellow-legged frog, numerous hydropower projects require FERC
licensing to operate. Part of the licensing process includes consideration of recommendations for the protection of fish and wildlife. Some FERC license requirements have included measures to help protect and conserve foothill yellow-legged frogs including actions such as collection of data, implementation of modified flow regimes to mimic more natural conditions, and other standard best management practices.
Two joint Federal and State habitat conservation plans HCPs and California State natural community conservation plans NCCPs Santa Clara Valley HCP/NCCP and East Contra Costa HCP/NCCP have been approved and implemented for the foothill yellowlegged frog as a covered species and assist in local population and habitat conservation Jones & Stokes 2006, entire; ICF International 2012, entire.
Both HCP/NCCPs are in the northern portion of the Central Coast DPSs range.
Another Federal HCP has been issued to
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Higher change scenario Medium.
Medium.
High.
Medium.
High.
High.
High.

the Humboldt Redwood formerly Pacific Lumber Company. The Humboldt Redwood Company HRC
HCP covers areas within the range of the North Coast DPS in Humboldt County and includes adaptive management strategies designed to maintain viability in populations of foothill yellow-legged frogs and other covered aquatic herpetofauna HRC 2015, entire.
Due to the limited nature of existing conservation efforts and no rangewide planning or coordination, the current conservation efforts are localized. In addition, several ongoing efforts are preliminary steps to on-the-ground conservation e.g., feasibility research and other efforts have not had enough time to verify long-term success e.g., population headstarting or determine if and how the condition of a foothill yellow-legged frog population may have improved e.g., bullfrog removal Service 2021, section 7.15, pp. 116
121. Therefore, large scale conservation efforts are not known to be currently outweighing any of the threats described above at the species or DPS level, but may reduce some effects at the individual or smaller localized population level.
Determination of Status for the Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog 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 meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species. The Act defines an endangered species as a species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and a threatened species as a species 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 a species meets the definition of 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

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