[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 906-907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-252]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Availability of Draft Recovery Plan for Six plants from the
Mountains Surrounding the Los Angeles Basin 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 Six Plants from the
Mountains Surrounding the Los Angeles Basin. These plants occur in the
mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin in Ventura, Los Angeles,
and Orange counties, California.
DATES: Comments received on the draft recovery plan by April 6, 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 9393
(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 estimate 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 six plants from the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin
addressed in this recovery plan were added to the list of endangered
and threatened plants on January 29, 1997 (62 FR 4172). Two of the
plant species, Braunton's milkvetch (Astragalus brauntonii) and Lyon's
pentachaeta (Pentachaeta lyonii), were listed as endangered. The
remaining four species were listed as threatened. They are Conejo
dudleya (Dudleya abramsii ssp. parva), marcescent dudleya (Dudleya
cymosa ssp. marcescens (marcescent dudleya), Santa Monica Mountains
dudleya (Dudleya cymosa ssp. ovatifolia), and Verity's dudleya (Dudleya
verityi). These plants occur in grassland, chaparral, or coastal sage
scrub vegetation in the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin,
[[Page 907]]
California. The six plants are threatened by one or more of the
following--urban development, recreational activities, alteration of
fire cycles and fire suppression activities, excessive collecting,
habitat fragmentation and degradation, and competition from invasive
weeds. Several of the plants are also threatened with stochastic
extinction by virtue of their small numbers and small population sizes.
The goal of this plan is to stabilize and protect existing
populations to allow for the downlisting of Astragalus brauntonii and
Pentachaeta lyonii and their eventual delisting, and the delisting of
all four of the Dudleya species. These plants all have very restricted
distributions in specialized habitats, so the main conservation actions
will be to protect existing populations of these plants, ensuring that
the sites are managed for their benefit. The voluntary cooperation of
private landowners will be sought.
Public comments solicited
The Service solicits written comments on the 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: December 8, 1998.
Michael J. Spear,
Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 99-252 Filed 1-5-99; 8:45 am]
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