Designated Critical Habitat; Re-opening of Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Revision of Critical Habitat for Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 226

[I.D. No. 120197A]

Designated Critical Habitat; Re-opening of Comment Period and

Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Revision of Critical Habitat for

Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearing and re-opening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is re-opening the public comment period until September

[[Page 44684]]

8, 1999, and announcing a public hearing on a proposed regulation to

revise critical habitat for Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

DATES: The public hearing date is Tuesday, August 31, 1999, 6:30 p.m.

to 9:00 p.m local time. Written comments on the proposed rule must be

received on or before September 8, 1999.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the Natural Resource Center,

Bureau of Land Management, 1387 South Binnell Way, Boise, Idaho.

Written comments should be sent to: Garth Griffin, NMFS, Protected

Resources Division, 525 NE Oregon St. - Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-

2737.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Garth Griffin at (503) 231-2005, or

Chris Mobley at (301) 713-1401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 2, 1999, NMFS published a proposal to revise critical

habitat for threatened Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (64 FR

29618). The proposed revision would specifically exclude areas upstream

of Napias Creek Falls (located on a tributary to Panther Creek, in

Lemhi County, Idaho) as critical habitat for the species. NMFS has

received a request from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes for a public

hearing on the proposal. The agency finds the request to be reasonable

and, hereby, announces a public hearing and re-opens the comment period

until September 8, 1999, to allow time to conduct the hearing and

solicit additional public comment.

NMFS is soliciting information, comments and/or recommendations on

any aspect of this proposal from all concerned parties (see ADDRESSES);

comments must be received by September 8, 1999. In particular, NMFS is

requesting any data, maps, or reports describing areas of the Napias

Creek watershed that currently or historically supported chinook salmon

populations and that may require special management considerations.

NMFS will consider all information received before reaching a final

decision.

Special Accommodations

This hearing is physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language interpretation or other aids should be

directed to Garth Griffin (see ADDRESSES) by August 24, 1999.

Dated: August 9, 1999.

Art Jeffers,

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-21323 Filed 8-16-99; 8:45 am]

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