Endangered Species; Receipt of Recovery Permit Applications

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-ES-2026-N003; FXES11130500000-267-FF05E00000]

Endangered Species; Receipt of Recovery Permit Applications

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of receipt of permit applications; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received applications for permits to conduct scientific research to promote conservation or other activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. We invite local, State and Federal agencies, Tribes, and the public to comment on these applications. Before issuing the requested permits, we will take into consideration any information that we receive during the public comment period.

DATES:

We must receive any written comments on or before April 6, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Use one of the following methods to request documents or submit comments. Requests and comments should specify the applicant's name and application number (

e.g.,

PER0001234).

•

Email: permitsR5ES@fws.gov.

•

U.S. Mail:

Abby Goldstein, Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Dr., Hadley, MA 01035.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Abby Goldstein, 413-253-8212 (phone), or

permitsR5ES@fws.gov

(email). 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:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite local, State and Federal agencies, Tribes, and the public to review and comment on applications we have received for permits under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531

et seq.

), and our implementing regulations in part 17 of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The requested permits would allow the applicants to conduct activities intended to promote recovery of species that are listed as endangered under the ESA. Documents and other information submitted with the applications are available for review, subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a) and the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).

Background

With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities that constitute take of listed species, unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. The ESA's definition of “take” includes such activities as pursuing, harassing, trapping, capturing, or collecting, in addition to hunting, shooting, harming, wounding, or killing.

A recovery permit issued by us under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA authorizes the permittee to conduct activities constituting or resulting in take of endangered or threatened species for scientific purposes that promote recovery or for enhancement of propagation or survival of the species. Our regulations implementing section 10(a)(1)(A) for these permits are found at 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, and 50 CFR 17.72 for threatened plant species.

Permit Applications Available for Review and Comment

In accordance with the ESA, we invite local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public to submit written data, views, or arguments with respect to the applications in table 1.

Table 1—Permit Applications Received

Application No.

Applicant

Species

Location

Activity

Type of take

Permit action

PER25416918

James Hartley; Morgantown, WV

Big Sandy crayfish (

Cambarus callainus

) and Guyandotte River crayfish (

Cambarus veteranus

)

Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia

Presence/probable absence survey and release

Capture

New.

CS16116746

Caitlin N deVries; Stow, OH

Big Sandy crayfish (

Cambarus callainus

) and Guyandotte River crayfish (

Cambarus veteranus

)

Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia

Presence/probable absence survey and release

Capture

New.

18372D-2

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Hadley, MA

All federally listed plant and wildlife species occurring within the Northeast Region

Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia

Purposeful take in the form of all activities that further the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission to conserve wildlife, plants, and the ecosystems upon which they depend

Harass, harm, pursue, wound, lethal collection, trap, capture, or collect

Renew.

53603D-3

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources; South Charleston, WV

Candy Darter (

Etheostoma osburni

)

West Virginia

Survey, propagation, hold more than 45 days, translocate, research, release

Capture, collect

Renew with amendment.

Public Availability of Comments

Written comments we receive become part of the administrative record associated with this action. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can request in your comment that we withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Moreover, all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their entirety.

Next Steps

If we decide to issue permits to the applicants listed in this notice, we will publish a notice in the

Federal Register

.

Authority

Section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531

et seq.

).

Amanda Cross,

Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Northeast Region.

[FR Doc. 2026-04473 Filed 3-5-26; 8:45 am]

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