Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Platanthera praeclara (Western Prairie Fringed Orchid) for Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Platanthera praeclara

(Western Prairie Fringed Orchid) for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the

availability for public review of a technical/agency draft recovery

plan for the threatened Platanthera praeclara (western prairie fringed

orchid). This terrestrial orchid is currently known to occur in 74

populations in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North

Dakota, Oklahoma, and the Canadian province of Manitoba on Federal,

state, county, township, and private land. The Service solicits review

and comments from the public on this draft plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or

before August 8, 1994 to receive consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft recovery plan may obtain

a copy by contacting Chief, Division of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal

Drive, Fort Snelling, 55111-4056 (telephone: 612/725-3276). Written

comments and materials regarding the plan should be addressed to Zella

E. Ellshoff, Regional Botanist, at the above address. Comments and

materials received are available on request for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business hours, at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zella E. Ellshoff at the above address

and telephone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is

a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program. To help

guide the recovery effort, the Service is working to prepare recovery

plans for most of the listed species native to the United States.

Recovery plans describe actions considered necessary for conservation

of the species, establish criteria for the recovery levels for

downlisting or delisting them, and estimate time and cost for

implementing the recovery measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (16 U.S.C.

1531 et seq.), requires the development of recovery plans for listed

species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a

particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988,

requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented during a public comment period prior

to approval of each new or revised recovery plan. The Service and other

Federal agencies will also take these comments into account in the

course of implementing approved recovery plans.

Platanthera praeclara (western prairie fringed orchid) is currently

known to occur in the western Central Lowlands and eastern Great Plains

of the United States (in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,

North Dakota, and Oklahoma) and the Interior Plains of south-central

Canada (in Manitoba). Habitat includes fire- and grazing-adapted

communities including unplowed, calcareous prairies and sedge meadows,

old fields, and roadside ditches. The major threat to the species is

the destruction of habitat for cropland. Habitat alteration due to land

use practices (burning, grazing, and mowing) and hydrologic change

(filling of wetlands) also adversely affects the species. Recovery

efforts will concentrate on protecting and maintaining self-sustaining

populations in habitat known to support extant populations in

applicable physiographic regions of each state within the species'

historical range. These actions include, but are not limited to:

Identifying and searching potential habitat, maintaining habitat of

known populations as native prairie, conducting appropriate research

and monitoring, developing and implementing habitat management plans

that sustain and enhance populations of the species, disseminating

information about the species to a variety of audiences, and providing

the highest level of legal protection appropriate for all populations.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan

described. All comments received by the date specified will be

considered prior to approval of the plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered

Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1433(f).

Dated: May 3, 1994.

Marvin E. Moriarty,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 94-11082 Filed 5-6-94; 8:45 am]

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