Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Thirteen Plant Taxa From the Northern Channel Islands for Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Thirteen Plant Taxa From

the Northern Channel Islands 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 announces the availability

for public review of a Draft Recovery Plan for Thirteen Plants from the

Northern Channel Islands. These plants occur on the Northern Channel

Islands and Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California in Santa

Barbara and Los Angeles Counties, California.

DATES: Comments received on the draft recovery plan by May 26, 1999

will be considered by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the draft recovery plan and written

comments and materials regarding this plan should be addressed to the

Field Supervisor, at the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office: U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California

93003 (phone: 805/644-1766).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Thomas, Botanist, at the Ventura

address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring endangered or threatened animals and plants to the point

where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their

ecosystems 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

the conservation of the species, establish criteria for the recovery

levels for downlisting or delisting them, and estimated time and cost

for implementing the recovery measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

(Act), 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 the public comment period prior to

approval of each new or revised recovery plan. Substantive technical

comments will result in changes to the plans. Substantive comments

regarding recovery plan implementation may not necessarily result in

changes to the recovery plans, but will be forwarded to appropriate

Federal or other entities so that they can take these comments into

account during the course of implementing recovery actions.

Individualized responses to comments will not be provided.

The 13 plants from the Northern Channel Islands addressed in this

draft recovery plan were included on the list of endangered and

threatened species

[[Page 14746]]

on July 31, 1997 (61FR40954). Hoffmann's rock-cress (Arabis hoffmannii)

(Munz) Rollins, Santa Rosa Island manzanita (Arctostaphylos

confertiflora) (Eastw.), island barberry (Berberis pinnata Lag. ssp.

insularis) (Munz), soft-leaved paintbrush (Castilleja mollis)

(Pennell), island bedstraw (Galium buxifolium) (Greene), Hoffmann's

slender-flowered gilia (Gilia tenuiflora Benth. ssp. hoffmannii)

(Eastw.) A.D. Grant & V.E. Grant, Santa Cruz Island bushmallow

(Malacothamnus fasciculatus) (Torr. & A.Gray) (Greene ssp. nesioticus)

(B.L. Rob. in A. Gray) Kearney, island malacothrix (Malacothrix

indecora Greene), Santa Cruz Island malacothrix (Malacothrix squalida

Greene), island phacelia (Phacelia insularis Munz ssp. insularis), and

Santa Cruz Island fringepod (Thysanocarpus conchuliferus Greene) were

listed as endangered and Santa Cruz Island dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica

Moran) and island rush-rose (Helianthemum greenei Robinson) were listed

as threatened. All 13 taxa are endemic to the Northern Channel Islands

(Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel), with the exception

of two populations of Helianthemum greenei that occur on the more

southerly island of Santa Catalina. The plants occur in a variety of

habitats: coastal terrace, coastal bluff scrub, coastal sage scrub, and

chaparral. All 13 plant species and their habitats have been variously

affected or are currently threatened by one or more of the following--

soil loss, historic and continuing habitat alteration by mammals alien

to the Channel Islands (pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys, cattle, deer, elk,

horses, bison); direct predation by these same alien mammals; habitat

alteration by native seabirds; competition with alien plant taxa; and

increased vulnerability to extinction due to reduced genetic viability,

depressed reproductive vigor, and the chance of stochastic extinction

resulting from small numbers of individuals and isolated populations.

The goal of this plan is to stabilize and protect existing

populations to allow for the downlisting of Arabis hoffmannii,

Arctostaphylos confertiflora, Berberis pinnata ssp. insularis,

Castilleja mollis, Galium buxifolium, Gilia tenuiflora ssp. hoffmannii,

Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. nesioticus, Malacothrix indecora,

Malacothrix squalida, Phacelia insularis var. insularis, and

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus, and the delisting of Dudleya nesiotica and

Helianthemum greenei.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments on the draft recovery plan

described. All comments received by the date specified above will be

considered prior to approval of this plan.

Authority

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

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

Dated: March 22, 1999.

Michael J. Spear,

California/Nevada Operations Manager, Sacramento, California

[FR Doc. 99-7390 Filed 3-25-99; 8:45 am]

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