April 22, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 78)]

[Notices]               

[Page 22720-22721]

Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl--Appendix C

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability; reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY: On September 15, 2010, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

announced the availability of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the 

Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) for public review and 

comment. We are reopening the comment period on an updated version of 

Appendix C of that document, which describes the development of a 

spotted owl habitat modeling tool.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 

May 23, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: Electronic copies of the draft 

revised recovery plan and the updated version of Appendix C are 

available online at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/

NorthernSpottedOwl/Recovery/. Printed loose-leaf copies of the updated 

version of Appendix C are available by request from Diana Acosta, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 

98th Avenue, Ste. 100, Portland, OR 97266 (phone: 503-231-6179). 

Comment submission: Written comments regarding the updated version of 

Appendix C should be addressed to the above Portland address or sent by 

e-mail to: NSORPComments@fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brendan White at the above address and 

phone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  On September 15, 2010, we published a 

Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131) announcing the availability of 

the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix 

occidentalis caurina) for public review and comment under the 

Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We originally opened 

this comment period for 60 days, from September 15, 2010, to November 

15, 2010. On November 12, 2010, we announced by way of press release an 

extension of the comment period until December 15, 2010, in response to 

several requests for additional time to review and comment on the Draft 

Revised Recovery Plan. On November 30, 2010, we announced in the 

Federal Register the reopening of the public comment period until 

December 15, 2010 (75 FR 74073). At that time we also announced the 

availability of a synopsis of the population response modeling results 

for public review and comment. This and other information regarding the 

modeling process was posted on our Web site. Of the approximately 

11,700 comments received, many requested the opportunity to review and 

comment on more detailed information on the habitat modeling process in 

Appendix C of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan.

[[Page 22721]]

    For background information on the Draft Revised Recovery Plan, see 

our September 15, 2010, Federal Register notice (75 FR 56131). The 

version of Appendix C contained in the Draft Revised Recovery Plan 

described the modeling framework under development for evaluation of 

habitat conservation measures for the spotted owl. Since that was 

written, we have completed development and testing of this modeling 

framework for public review and comment. Once comments have been 

considered and incorporated as appropriate, this modeling framework 

will have a wide variety of applications in support of spotted owl 

recovery.

    The revised Appendix C, which is now available for comment, 

describes the three-part modeling framework, which includes: A spotted 

owl habitat suitability model; a spotted owl conservation planning 

model that can be used to design habitat conservation network 

scenarios; and a spotted owl population simulation model to predict 

relative population responses to different habitat conservation network 

scenarios and conservation measures. To test the modeling framework's 

ability to evaluate the influence of habitat conservation network size 

and spatial distribution on spotted owl population performance, revised 

Appendix C also describes the results of an analysis of 10 different 

habitat conservation network scenarios under different conditions. We 

are seeking comments on the modeling process, our test results and 

other aspects of revised Appendix C.

    We anticipate revising recovery action 4 in the Revised Recovery 

Plan to reflect completion of development and testing of the modeling 

framework as part of recovery plan development.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 

other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 

aware that your entire comment--including personal identifying 

information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 

ask us in your comment to withhold personal identifying information 

from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.