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CFR Citation: 50 CFR Part 17

FWS ID: [FWS-R6-ES-2008-0022; 1111 FY07 MO-B2]

NOTICE: PROPOSED RULES

ACTION: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants:

DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice; initiation of status review and solicitation of new information.

SUBJECT CATEGORY: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Initiation of Status Review for the Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as Threatened or Endangered

DATES: To be considered in our determination whether listing is warranted, data, comments, and information should be submitted to us on or before May 27, 2008.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the initiation of a status review for the greater sagegrouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Through this action, we encourage all interested parties to provide us information regarding the status of, and any potential threats to, the greater sagegrouse.

SUMMARY: Greater Sage-Grouse,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

To ensure that the status review is complete and based on the best available scientific and commercial information, we are soliciting information concerning the status of the greater sagegrouse. We request any additional information, comments, and suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental agencies, Native American Tribes, the scientific community, industry, or any other interested parties on the status of the greater sagegrouse throughout its range, including: (1) Information regarding the species' historical and current population status, distribution, and trends; its biology and ecology; and habitat selection;
(2) Information on the effects of potential threat factors that are the basis for a listing determination under section 4(a) of the Act, which are:
(a) present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the species' habitat or range;
(b) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
(c) disease or predation;
(d) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or (e) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
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(3) Information on management programs for the conservation of the greater sagegrouse.

Please note that comments merely stating support or opposition to the action under consideration without providing supporting information, although noted, will not be considered in making a determination, because section 4(b)(1)(A) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) directs that determinations as to whether any species is a threatened or endangered species must be made ``solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available.'' At the conclusion of the status review, we will determine whether listing is warranted, not warranted, or warranted but precluded.

You may submit your comments and materials concerning this finding by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. We will not accept comments you send by email or fax.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that we will post your entire commentincluding your personal identifying informationon http://www.regulations.gov. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used in preparing this finding, will be available for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Suite 308A, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; telephone 3077722374.

Background

On July 2, 2002, we received a petition from Craig C. Dremann requesting that we list the greater sagegrouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as endangered across its entire range. We received a second petition from the Institute for Wildlife Protection on March 24, 2003 (Webb 2002), requesting that the greater sagegrouse be listed rangewide. On December 29, 2003, we received a third petition from the American Lands Alliance and 20 additional conservation organizations (American Lands Alliance et al.) to list the greater sagegrouse as threatened or endangered rangewide. On April 21, 2004, we announced our 90day petition finding in the Federal Register (69 FR 21484) that these petitions taken collectively, as well as information in our files, presented substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted.

Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that, for any petition to revise the Lists of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife and Plants that contains substantial scientific or commercial information that the action may be warranted, we make a finding within 12 months of the date of the receipt of the petition on whether the petitioned action is: (a) Not warranted, (b) warranted, or (c) warranted but precluded by other pending proposals. Such 12month findings are to be published promptly in the Federal Register. On January 12, 2005, we announced our 12month finding (70 FR 2244) that after reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information, we found that listing the greater sage grouse was not warranted.

Western Watersheds Project filed a complaint on July 14, 2006, alleging that our finding was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 701 et seq.). On December 4, 2007, the U.S. District Court, District of Idaho, ruled that our 12 month petition finding was in error and remanded the case to the Service for further consideration. Legal action is still pending and the Court has not yet set a date for completion of the remand.

Subject to any new court order, the Service has determined that it is appropriate to initiate a new status review to address information that has become available since our 2005 petition finding. That finding relied, in part, on information in the ``Conservation Assessment of Greater SageGrouse and Sagebrush Habitats'' published in 2004 by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Since the publication in 2004 of the Conservation Assessment, a significant amount of new research has been completed and new information has become available regarding threats, conservation measures, and population and habitat status of the greater sagegrouse.

Unless the court requires an earlier completion date for a remanded 12month finding, it is our intention to complete this new status review and make a new determination at that time as to whether listing is warranted.

At this time, we are soliciting new information on the status of and potential threats to the greater sagegrouse. Information submitted prior to January 12, 2005, will be considered and need not be resubmitted. We will base our new determination as to whether listing is warranted on a review of the best scientific and commercial information available, including all such information received as a result of this notice. For more information on the biology, habitat, and range of the sagegrouse, please refer to our previous 12month finding published in the Federal Register on January 12, 2005 (70 FR 2244).

Author

The primary author of this notice is the staff of the Wyoming Fish and Wildlife Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: February 15, 2008.
Dale Hall,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E83374 Filed 22508; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 431055P

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Suite 308A, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; telephone 3077722374. People who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 8008778339.