95-5809. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Revisions for Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl  

  • [Federal Register Volume 60, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 1995)]
    [Proposed Rules]
    [Pages 12728-12730]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 95-5809]
    
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
    
    Fish and Wildlife Service
    
    50 CFR Part 17
    
    RIN 1018-AD02
    
    
    Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Revisions 
    for Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Mexican Spotted 
    Owl
    
    AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
    
    ACTION: Supplemental proposed rule, proposed revisions to proposed 
    designation of critical habitat.
    
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    SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces 
    proposed exclusions from its previously published proposal to designate 
    critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl. The draft economic 
    analysis upon which the exclusions are partly based has also been made 
    available.
    
    DATES: The original comment period on the proposed rule to designate 
    critical habitat extended from December 7, 1994, to March 7, 1995. The 
    comment period on the proposal and the proposed exclusions extends 
    through May 8, 1995.
    
    ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Service's Economic Analysis and 
    comments concerning that document and the proposal to designate 
    critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl or [[Page 12729]] proposed 
    exclusions should be sent to the State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and 
    Wildlife Service, 2105 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. 
    Comments and materials received will be available for public 
    inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above 
    address.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Fowler-Propst, New Mexico 
    State Supervisor, at the above address, telephone (505) 761-4525.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    Background
    
        The Service listed the Mexican spotted owl as a threatened species 
    on March 16, 1993 (58 FR 14248). At the time of the listing, the 
    Service found that, although considerable knowledge of Mexican spotted 
    owl habitat needs had been gathered in recent years, habitat maps in 
    sufficient detail to accurately delineate these areas were not 
    available. Subsequent to listing the owl, the Service began gathering 
    the data necessary to develop the proposed rule to designate critical 
    habitat. On February 14, 1994, several environmental groups and an 
    individual filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Arizona against 
    the Department of the Interior for failure to designate critical 
    habitat for the Mexican spotted owl (Dr. Robin Silver, et al. v. Bruce 
    Babbitt, et al., CIV-94-0337-PHX-CAM). On October 6, 1994, the Court 
    ordered the Service to ``publish a proposed designation of critical 
    habitat, including economic exclusion pursuant to 16 U.S.C. Sec. 
    1533(b)(2), no later than December 1, 1994.'' The proposal was 
    published on December 7, 1994 (59 FR 63162); since the Service had not 
    yet completed an economic analysis on the potential effects of the 
    designation, economic exclusions were not proposed at that time. A 
    total of 4,770,223 acres was proposed for inclusion in critical habitat 
    for the Mexican spotted owl.
        The extent and trend of habitat loss and degradation was the basis 
    for determining that protection under the Endangered Species Act (Act) 
    was necessary. The vegetative communities and structural attributes 
    used by the Mexican spotted owl vary across its range. In forested 
    habitat types, the vegetative communities consist primarily of warm-
    temperate and cold-temperate forests, and, to a lesser extent, 
    woodlands and riparian deciduous forests. Canyons, deep drainages, and 
    other topographical features that influence vegetative associations are 
    also essential components of owl habitat. Characteristics associated 
    with forested Mexican spotted owl habitat usually develop with 
    increasing forest age, but their occurrence may vary by location, past 
    forest management practices, forest type, and productivity. The 
    attributes of nesting and roosting habitat typically include a moderate 
    to high canopy closure; a multi-layered canopy with large overstory 
    trees, often with various deformities; large snags; and accumulations 
    of fallen trees and other woody debris on the ground.
        Currently, land managing agencies characterize Mexican spotted owl 
    habitat under the term ``suitable.'' Suitable habitat is often only 
    applied to habitat able to sustain the combined nesting, roosting, and 
    foraging needs of the species' life history. Additional habitat 
    utilized only for foraging frequently comprises the majority of the 
    surrounding habitat base. The term ``capable'' is applied to habitat 
    that was suitable some time in the past, but whose condition has 
    changed through natural or human-caused structural modifications, and 
    that retains the potential to return to suitable conditions at some 
    time in the future.
        The Service's determination of the extent and trend of habitat loss 
    and degradation was based on the assessment of the impacts of timber 
    management in forested owl habitat. Under presently approved forest 
    management plans, timber on the majority of lands on which the owl 
    occurs is managed primarily under a shelterwood harvest regime. The 
    shelterwood harvest method results in even-aged stands, rather than the 
    uneven-aged, multi-layered stands used by Mexican spotted owls. In 
    addition, the shelterwood silvicultural system calls for even-aged 
    conditions in perpetuity. Thus, stands already changed from suitable to 
    capable would not be allowed to return to a suitable condition, and 
    acreage slated for future harvest would be similarly rendered 
    perpetually unsuitable for Mexican spotted owls. National Forest plans 
    currently in place in the Southwest Region allow for up to 95 percent 
    of commercial forest (59 percent of suitable owl habitat) to be managed 
    under a shelterwood system. The Service also considered the various 
    Federal and State laws and agency management policies, and concluded 
    that existing regulatory mechanisms were inadequate to protect the 
    Mexican spotted owl.
    
    Proposed Revisions to Proposed Critical Habitat
    
        In analyzing potential areas of critical habitat for the owl, the 
    Service evaluated the known and primary threats to the species: even-
    aged timber harvest practices, steep-slope timber harvests, and 
    inadequate regulatory mechanisms. Areas of known or suspected threats 
    were compared to areas containing habitats that support or could 
    support the nesting, roosting, and foraging requirements of the owl. 
    This process resulted in the identification of the approximately 4.8 
    million acres that were included in the proposed rule to designate 
    critical habitat.
        After the Service identified areas to be proposed for designation 
    as critical habitat, information was submitted to the Service by the 
    Jicarilla Apache Tribe concerning the occurrence of the Mexican spotted 
    owl on its Reservation and the Tribe's plan for protecting the species 
    and managing timber resources. After reviewing this information, the 
    Regional Director of the Southwest Region of the Service (Regional 
    Director) is of the opinion that the Jicarilla Apache Reservation lands 
    do not require special Federal management considerations or protection. 
    Therefore, for reasons discussed in more detail below, the Service is 
    proposing to delete the reservation lands described below from the area 
    proposed for critical habitat designation in the Federal Register on 
    December 7, 1994.
        Approximately 101,923 acres of Jicarilla Apache Tribal lands, in 
    five discrete units (NM-JAIR-1, NM-JAIR-2, NM-JAIR-3, NM-JAIR-4, and 
    NM-JAIR-5), were included in the proposed designation of critical 
    habitat for the Mexican spotted owl. These critical habitat units 
    (CHUs) run north-south along a series of canyon-incised mesas, and lie 
    between the proposed CHUs in the Santa Fe National Forest to the south 
    and the Colorado-New Mexico state line. A parallel north-south series 
    of proposed CHUs in the Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson 
    National Forest lie 5 to 18 kilometers to the west. The majority of the 
    high-potential breeding habitat (steep slopes, mixed conifer) receives 
    little or no timber management, and the surrounding foraging habitat is 
    managed primarily under uneven-age silviculture. Furthermore, there are 
    only two known records for the Mexican spotted owl on the Jicarilla 
    Reservation. Both records were documented in the 1980's approximately 3 
    miles west of the Town of Dulce. Additional records exist for areas 
    adjacent to the Reservation. Extensive surveys between 1990 and 1994 
    were unsuccessful in locating any owls, nests, or roost sites on the 
    Jicarilla Reservation.
        Informal discussions between staffs of the Service's New Mexico 
    Ecological Services State Office and Jicarilla Game and Fish Department 
    on owl related issues were initiated during the data 
    [[Page 12730]] collection period for critical habitat development in 
    early summer 1993. Continued discussions led to a mutual recognition of 
    the significant differences between resource management and habitat 
    conditions on federally administered lands and Jicarilla Apache 
    Reservation lands. These differences afforded an opportunity to address 
    the threats identified in the listing proposal through the development 
    of a tribal management plan for the owl. Working independently, the 
    Jicarilla Game and Fish Department developed a draft ``Conservation 
    Plan for the Mexican Spotted Owl on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, 
    New Mexico'' and requested review of the document by the New Mexico 
    Ecological Services State Office at a meeting on November 21, 1994. 
    Reviews were conducted and recommendations provided by the Service at 
    that meeting and during subsequent telephone conversations with 
    representatives of the Tribe. On December 16, 1994, the Jicarilla 
    Apache Tribal Council approved the plan and formally submitted it to 
    the Service.
        The plan addresses the identified threats to owl habitat by 
    maintaining sufficient suitable habitat across the landscape and the 
    site-specific retention of complex forest structure following timber 
    harvest. Nest/roost habitats, primarily in mixed conifer and steep 
    slope areas, are not managed for timber extraction and are to remain in 
    suitable nest-roost condition. Foraging habitat consisting of ponderosa 
    pine is to be managed almost entirely by uneven-aged methods. Timber 
    harvest may lower the quality of a fraction of the foraging habitat 
    base, but adequate residual structure remains so that the habitat may 
    rapidly reattain suitable condition. At any point in time the majority 
    of foraging habitat remains in suitable foraging condition across the 
    landscape. Site-specific management of territories address both habitat 
    conditions and behavioral disturbance within owl territories. 
    Territorial management includes the establishment of 300-acre protected 
    activity centers (PAC) around nest-roost sites. No timber, or oil and 
    gas development is to occur within these areas, and no behaviorally 
    disturbing activities are permitted within \1/4\ mile of any nest or 
    roost site during the breeding season. Habitat in the areas surrounding 
    the PACs are to be managed as described above.
        The plan fully incorporates the Service's criteria for management 
    of critical habitat. These criteria were adopted, in part, from the 
    recommended guidelines outlined in the Draft Recovery Plan prepared by 
    the Mexican Spotted Owl Recovery Team. In addition, the Jicarilla plan 
    has increased protection in ponderosa pine foraging habitat above those 
    levels identified in the Draft Recovery Plan.
        Based on information provided during the initial public comment 
    period by the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe, the Service has determined 
    that identified threats to the species over the majority of its range 
    have been removed on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation through 
    the establishment and enforcement of the Tribe's Mexican Spotted Owl 
    Conservation Plan. Therefore, the Service proposes to delete the 
    101,923 acres in Critical Habitat Units NM-JAIR-1, NM-JAIR-2, NM-JAIR-
    3, NM-JAIR-4, and NM-JAIR-5, on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation 
    from the proposed rule to designate critical habitat based on the new 
    information provided by the Tribe.
        Section 4(b)(2) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1533 (b)(2)) requires the 
    Service to consider economic and other impacts of designating a 
    particular area as critical habitat. In a final designation of critical 
    habitat, the Service is required to balance the benefits of excluding a 
    significantly impacted area against the benefits of including that area 
    within the boundaries of critical habitat. In fulfillment of that 
    requirement, the Service has prepared a draft economic analysis of the 
    effects that may be caused by the designation of critical habitat. The 
    Service will provide a copy of the Economic Analysis to interested 
    parties upon request. Based on the data provided for the draft economic 
    analysis, and the assessment of identified economic impacts, the lands 
    of the Navajo Nation, and the Southern Ute, Mescalero Apache, and San 
    Carlos Apache tribes are being proposed for exclusion under section 
    4(b)(2), contingent upon Service receipt and review of specific 
    economic information for each of those tribes, and biological data 
    concerning the presence, distribution, and habitat use of Mexican 
    spotted owls on those tribal lands. Information provided for the draft 
    economic analysis indicates that significant economic impacts may occur 
    on lands of these tribes due to the designation of critical habitat. 
    However, the information was not conclusive. In one instance, data were 
    grouped together for three of the tribes: Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero 
    Apache, and Southern Ute. Such aggregation does not allow specific 
    impacts to be delineated for individual tribes. In another instance, 
    information provided on economic impacts on the Navajo Reservation was 
    contradictory and may require further review and analysis. While 
    information is available regarding economic effects, biological 
    information is lacking concerning the abundance, distribution and 
    management of Mexican spotted owls on the Navajo, Southern Ute, 
    Mescalero Apache, and San Carlos Apache reservation lands. Therefore, 
    the Service is inviting submission of information and comment on these 
    and any other relevant issues. A more detailed discussion of economic 
    impacts is provided in the Economic Analysis. The Service will consider 
    the critical habitat designation in light of all additional relevant 
    information obtained during the comment period before making a final 
    decision with respect to the proposed rule.
        A series of public hearings have been scheduled in connection with 
    the announcement of availability of the draft economic analysis; notice 
    of the times and locations of the hearings appears elsewhere in today's 
    issue of the Federal Register. Comments regarding the proposed 
    exclusions described above will also be accepted at these hearings or 
    in writing through the end of the comment period on May 8, 1995.
    
    Author
    
        The primary author of this notice is Jennifer Fowler-Propst, New 
    Mexico State Supervisor, at the above address.
    
    Authority
    
        Authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
    U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
    
        Dated: March 6, 1995.
    George T. Frampton Jr.,
    Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
    [FR Doc. 95-5809 Filed 3-7-95; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
    
    

Document Information

Published:
03/08/1995
Department:
Fish and Wildlife Service
Entry Type:
Proposed Rule
Action:
Supplemental proposed rule, proposed revisions to proposed designation of critical habitat.
Document Number:
95-5809
Dates:
The original comment period on the proposed rule to designate critical habitat extended from December 7, 1994, to March 7, 1995. The comment period on the proposal and the proposed exclusions extends through May 8, 1995.
Pages:
12728-12730 (3 pages)
RINs:
1018-AD02
PDF File:
95-5809.pdf
CFR: (1)
50 CFR 17