Proposed Rule2022-22642
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Withdrawal of the Not-Warranted Finding for Endangered or Threatened Status for the North Oregon Coast Distinct Population Segment of Red Tree Vole
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 19, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), notify the public that we are withdrawing our December 19, 2019, not-warranted 12- month finding for the north Oregon coast distinct population segment (DPS) of red tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This document returns the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole to our candidate list. We are initiating a new status review of the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole to determine whether it meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species under the Act and requesting new information on the DPS's distribution and abundance, its habitat, conservation efforts for it, or its threats for consideration in the new 12-month finding.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63472-63473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22642]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2019-0096; FF09E21000 FXES1111090FEDR223]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Withdrawal of the
Not-Warranted Finding for Endangered or Threatened Status for the North
Oregon Coast Distinct Population Segment of Red Tree Vole
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notification of withdrawal of petition finding and initiation
of status review.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), notify the
public that we are withdrawing our December 19, 2019, not-warranted 12-
month finding for the north Oregon coast distinct population segment
(DPS) of red tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This document returns the north
Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole to our candidate list. We are
initiating a new status review of the north Oregon coast DPS of red
tree vole to determine whether it meets the definition of an endangered
or threatened species under the Act and requesting new information on
the DPS's distribution and abundance, its habitat, conservation efforts
for it, or its threats for consideration in the new 12-month finding.
DATES: Although we welcome new information submissions at any time, to
ensure that we can fully consider your information in the new status
assessment, please submit it on or before November 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES:
Document availability: You may obtain copies of the December 19,
2019, 12-month finding and supporting documents on the internet at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2019-0096, or by
mail from the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
New information submission: You may submit new information
regarding the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole by one of the
following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. In the Search box, enter FWS-R1-ES-2019-0096,
which is the docket number for this document. Then, click on the Search
button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of the
screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule box to
locate this document. You may submit information by clicking on
``Comment.''
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS-R1-ES-2019-0096, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We request that you submit new information only by the methods
described above. We will post all submissions on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see Public Availability of
Comments, below, for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Rowland, Acting State
Supervisor, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite
100, Portland, OR 97266; telephone (503) 231-6179. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Species Information
Please refer to the 2019 not-warranted 12-month finding (84 FR
69707; December 19, 2019) and supporting documents available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2019-0096 for more
detailed information about the Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole's
taxonomy, life history, habitat and food requirements, and geographic
range and distribution. Please also refer to our 2011 warranted-but-
precluded 12-month finding (76 FR 63720; October 13, 2011) on a
petition to list the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole for a
detailed evaluation of this DPS under our DPS policy. Our DPS policy
published in the Federal Register on February 7, 1996 (61 FR 4722).
Red tree voles (Arborimus longicaudus) are small, mouse-sized
rodents that live in conifer forests and spend almost all their time in
the tree canopy. They are one of the few animals that can persist on a
diet of conifer needles, their principal food. Red tree voles are
endemic to the humid, coniferous forests of western Oregon (generally
west of the crest of the
[[Page 63473]]
Cascade Range) and northwestern California (north of the Klamath
River). The north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole comprises that
portion of the Oregon Coast Range from the Columbia River south to the
Siuslaw River. Red tree voles demonstrate strong selection for nesting
in older conifer forests.
Previous Federal Actions
On June 18, 2007, we received a petition from Center for Biological
Diversity, Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Audubon Society of
Portland, Cascadia Wildlands Project, and OregonWild to list the dusky
tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus silvicola) as endangered or threatened
throughout its range under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
petitioners also gave the Service two other listing options to consider
if we determined that the subspecies was not a valid listable entity:
(1) List the north Oregon coast population of the red tree vole (A.
longicaudus) as a DPS, or (2) List the red tree vole throughout all its
range because it is endangered or threatened in a significant portion
of its range.
On October 28, 2008, we published a 90-day finding in the Federal
Register (73 FR 63919) concluding that the petition presented
substantial information indicating that listing the north Oregon coast
DPS of the red tree vole may be warranted, and we initiated a status
review. During that review, the best available scientific and
commercial data led us to conclude that the dusky tree vole is not a
valid subspecies for the purpose of our analysis, and we, therefore,
focused our analysis on the north Oregon coast population of the red
tree vole.
On October 13, 2011, we published in the Federal Register (76 FR
63720) a 12- month finding in which we stated that listing the north
Oregon coast population of the red tree vole as a DPS was warranted
primarily due to habitat loss. However, listing was precluded at that
time by higher priority actions, and the DPS of the red tree vole was
added to our candidate species list.
From 2012 through 2016, we addressed the status of the north Oregon
coast DPS of the red tree vole annually in our candidate notice of
review, with the determination that listing was warranted but precluded
(see 77 FR 69994, November 21, 2012; 78 FR 70104, November 22, 2013; 79
FR 72450, December 5, 2014; 80 FR 80584, December 24, 2015; 81 FR
87246, December 2, 2016). Our 2019 candidate notice of review (84 FR
54732; October 10, 2019) retained that determination but also stated
that we were working on a thorough review of all available data for the
DPS.
On December 19, 2019, after completing a species status assessment,
we published in the Federal Register (84 FR 69707) a 12-month finding
determining that the north Oregon coast DPS of the red tree vole was
not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened under the Act.
The petitioners filed a complaint in March 2021, challenging our
December 19, 2019, not-warranted finding. We reached a settlement
agreement with the petitioners, which was approved by the court on May
23, 2022, to reconsider our not-warranted finding and to develop a new
12-month finding as to whether the north Oregon coast DPS of the red
tree vole warrants listing as an endangered or threatened species.
This Document
In accordance with the settlement agreement mentioned above, we are
withdrawing our December 19, 2019, 12-month finding determining that
the north Oregon coast DPS of the red tree vole is not warranted for
listing as endangered or threatened under the Act (84 FR 69707). The
withdrawal returns the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole to our
candidate list, and the status of the DPS under the Act has, therefore,
reverted to that of a candidate species for the purposes of
consultation under section 7 of the Act.
We are initiating a new status review of the north Oregon coast DPS
of the red tree vole to determine whether this DPS meets the definition
of an endangered or threatened species under the Act, or whether the
DPS is not warranted for listing. Under the settlement agreement, we
will submit to the Federal Register a new 12-month finding on the
status of the DPS by January 31, 2024.
Request for Information
We are requesting the submission of any further information
pertaining to the north Oregon coast DPS of red tree vole that has
become available since, or was not considered in, the 2019 status
review. While we will accept new information on the red tree vole at
any time, we request that new information be submitted no later than
the date specified above under DATES to provide adequate time to
incorporate it into our status review. We are particularly interested
in the following types of information pertaining to the north Oregon
coast DPS of red tree vole:
(1) Distribution, ecology, and life history of the DPS, including
habitat needs and requirements for reproduction, growth, nutrition, and
dispersal;
(2) Positive and negative survey information on the DPS;
(3) Potential stressors to the DPS or its habitat, including the
threat of catastrophic wildfire;
(4) Ongoing and planned activities or projects in the areas
occupied by the DPS, and possible impacts of these activities on the
DPS;
(5) Whether there are any areas outside the area currently known to
be occupied by the DPS that may be important to its conservation; and
(6) Past, current, and future conservation actions or management
practices that may benefit the DPS or its habitat.
We will consider new information submitted to us in our new 12-
month finding for the north coast DPS of the red tree vole. You may
submit new information and materials by one of the methods listed in
ADDRESSES. We request that you send comments only by the methods
described in ADDRESSES.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your submission, be advised
that your entire submission--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. Although you
can ask us in your submission to withhold from public review your
personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authors
The primary authors of this notice are staff members of the Pacific
Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Stephen Guertin,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-22642 Filed 10-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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