Availability of Draft Supplemental Information Regarding the Recovery Plan for the Grizzly Bear (Ursus Arctos Horribilis) for Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of Draft Supplemental Information Regarding the

Recovery Plan for the Grizzly Bear (Ursus Arctos Horribilis) for Review

and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the

availability for public review of draft supplemental information to the

recovery plan for the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). This

information addresses certain aspects of the recovery plan. Portions of

the information will be added to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. The

Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft

information.

DATES: Comments on the draft supplemental information must be received

on or before November 10, 1997 to ensure they receive consideration by

the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft supplemental information

may obtain a copy by contacting the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University Hall, Room 309, University

of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812. Written comments and materials

regarding this information should be sent to the Recovery Coordinator

at the address given above. 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: Dr. Christopher Servheen, Grizzly Bear

Recovery Coordinator (see ADDRESSES above), at telephone (406) 243-

4903.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plan to the point

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

a primary goal of the Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) 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

recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and estimate time

and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.

Under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act) as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Service approved the revised

Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan on September 10, 1993. The Plan approved in

1993 did not contain a complete chapter on the Bitterroot or North

Cascade ecosystems because the specific information necessary to

develop these chapters was not available. The Service approved the

Bitterroot Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Chapter and the North

Cascades Ecosystem Recovery Plan Chapter on September 11, 1996, and

June 23, 1997, respectively.

In May 1994 The Fund For Animals, Inc., and 22 other organizations

and individuals filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District

of Columbia over the adequacy of the Plan approved in 1993. Later in

May 1994 the National Audubon Society and 19 other organizations and

individuals also filed suit in the same court. The two cases were

eventually consolidated. In September 1995 the court issued an opinion.

The motions for summary judgment of both the plaintiffs and the

defendants were granted in part and denied in part. The court ordered

the Service to reconsider certain portions of the Plan, and to provide

supplemental information. The information presented in the document

being made available for review includes supplemental information that

the Service was to provide and the results of its reconsideration.

The Service is also in the process of developing habitat based

recovery criteria to be added to the Plan. Those criteria are not

included in the information being made available now. The habitat based

recovery criteria will be made available for public review at a later

date.

Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988, requires that public

notice and an

[[Page 47678]]

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 also will take

these comments into account in the course of implementing approved

recovery plans.

The grizzly bear was listed under the Act as a threatened species

in the 48 conterminous States on July 28, 1995 (40 FR 31734). Threats

to grizzly bear populations come primarily from habitat modification

caused by human activities and from direct bear/human conflicts

resulting from recreational and resource use activities, highway and

railroad corridors, illegal mortality, etc. The grizzly bear population

in each of the ecosystems included in the Plan can be delisted

independently once recovery criteria stated in the Plan are met.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments on the supplemental

information described above. All comments received by the date

specified in the DATES section above will be considered prior to

finalization of the information. Appropriate portions of the

information will be appended to, and become part of, the Plan.

Authority

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

Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: September 3, 1997.

Terry T. Terrell,

Deputy Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.

[FR Doc. 97-23938 Filed 9-9-97; 8:45 am]

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