This page has links to Federal Register notices published in 2004 by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (and occasionally other agencies), most of them ESA-related. I post every FR notice from FWS (including subsistence notices), but in 2005 I stopped including every fishery-related item from NMFS (aka NOAA Fisheries). Most notably, on this page you will find NMFS ESA and MMPA items, as well as DOJ notices of proposed consent decrees in CWA Section 404 enforcement cases. Go here for current NEPA notices.

• 2005, 2003, and 2002

• About five months of 2001 are here.

2004 notices

• See TOC for NMFS notices on West Coast and Western Pacific fisheries (Bigeye tuna) and a Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting

• FWS, on behalf of natural resource trustees NOAA and New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, releases Draft Restoration Plan and EA for the Love Canal, 102nd Street, and Forest Glen Mobile Home Subdivision Superfund sites. "The Draft RP/EA presents a preferred alternative, consisting of a variety of restoration projects, that compensates for impacts to natural resources caused by contaminant releases and remedial activities associated with the three mentioned sites." (link in notice to NY Field Office doesn't work)
  • EA/plan is here in Word and in PDF
• CWA (wetlands) enforcement: Consent decree filed in U.S. v. Macaulay, 04-23209, D.S.C.)
  • Complaint and proposed consent decree
• Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), 301 Railway Avenue, Seward, AK 99664, (Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator) has applied for a permit to conduct scientific research on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) undergoing rehabilitation
• NMFS issues permit to Harold M. Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Inc., 112 Commons Court, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 19317 to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research

• FWS to reconsider decision to exclude certain areas (including five counties) from final rule designating critical habitat for four species of fairy shrimp and 11 vernal pool plants in California and Southern Oregon
• FWS releases draft economic analysis, reopens public comment period for proposed designation of critical habitat for Astragalus lentiginosus var. piscinensis (Fish Slough Milk-vetch)
• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Otay tarplant (Go here for plans)
• NMFS receives application for an enhancement of survival permit from the Lower Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group (LCFEG)
• Duke Power Company (Mr. Gene Vaughan, Principal Investigator), 13339 Hagers Ferry Rd., Huntersville, NC 28078, has applied in due form for a permit for scientific research on shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).
• Dr. Terrie Williams, Long Marine Lab, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California at Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, has requested an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 984-1587-03

• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list the Kern Brook Lamprey as threatened or endangered
• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list three species of lampreys as threatened or endangered
• FWS issues 12-Month findings on resubmitted petitions to list the Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel, Sand Dune Lizard, and Tahoe Yellow Cress. "We find that proposed rules to list these species continue to be warranted but precluded by other higher priority listing actions. We will continue to consider each of these species as a candidate for listing."
• FWS issues final CCP for Necedah National Wildlife Refuge
  • Go here for CCP(?)
• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits
• FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits
• St. George's School, P.O. Box 1910, Newport, RI 02840 has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research

• NMFS issues 2005 interim total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for each category of groundfish, Community Development Quota (CDQ) reserve amounts, American Fisheries Act (AFA) pollock allocations and sideboard limits, and prohibited species catch (PSC) allowances and prohibited species quota (PSQ) reserves for the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (mentions Steller sea lion conservation measures)
• Enforcement (CERCLA, CWA): DOJ: on December 10, 2004, proposed Consent Decrees in United States v. Alcoa, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:04-cv-00119, were lodged with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. (Go here for documents )
• CWA enforcement: Consent decree filed in U.S. v. City of Reading, Civ. No. 04-5696, E.D. Pa. ("The city also will perform a Supplemental Environmental Project in the Angelica Park wetlands."

• NMFS proposes to list Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) as threatened under the ESA. The service's status review was required by a court order. "Based on the review of the best available scientific and commercial information, including new data, published papers, and workshop reports available since the review in 2002, we are proposing to list the Southern Resident killer whales as threatened because these killer whales constitute a distinct population segment (DPS) under the ESA and are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range."

• FWS withdraws Sept. 6, 2001, proposal to list the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly as endangered with critical habitat. "We base this conclusion on our analysis of current threats. We find that best scientific and commercial data available indicate that the threats to the species and its habitat, as analyzed under the five listing factors described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act, have been reduced below the statutory definition of threatened or endangered. Therefore, we are withdrawing our proposal to list the species as endangered."

• FWS proposes migratory bird subsistence harvest regulations in Alaska for the 2005 season.
• FWS proposes to add the State of Connecticut to the list of states whose falconry laws meet or exceed federal falconry standards
• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for Five Plants from Monterey County, California: coastal dunes milk-vetch, Yadon's piperia, Hickman's potentilla, Monterey clover, and Gowen cypress.
• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Chorizanthe robusta var. robusta (Robust Spineflower)
  • Recovery plans are here
• NMFS has published a final rule revising Steller sea lion protection measures for the pollock and Pacific cod fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska NMFS Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska
• NMFS announces temporary restrictions on lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen consistent with the requirements of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan's implementing regulations.

• FWS proposes to designate approximately 17,299 acres (ac) (7,001 hectares (ha)) within 35 units along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington as CH for the Western snowy plover
• FWS, BuRec and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California release FEIS/R "for Proposed Adoption of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, Final Lower Colorado River Multi-Species [HCP], Final Biological Assessment, [ITP] Application, Draft Implementing Agreement, and Draft Funding and Management Agreement."
  • Main page here and Links to files here

• CWA enforcement: DOJ announces proposed consent decree in U.S.A. and the State of Alabama v. Knoxville Utilities Board, 04-CV-568, and Tennessee Clean Water Network v. Knoxville Utilities Board, Civ. No. 3:03-CV-497, both in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Northern Division
• FWS releases final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EIS for Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge

• FWS, NMFS: Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an EIS related to the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Agricultural Water Users Association's Conservation Plan
• NOAA: This announcement provides notice that the decision record has been closed for an administrative appeal filed with the Department of Commerce by Pedro Vidal.
• Liberty Science Center (Richard Weddle, Principal Investigator), 251 Phillip Street, Jersey City, New Jersey 07305, has applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of enhancement through educational display
• Daniel Costa, Ph.D., UC-Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, receives amendment to Permit No. 87-1593, to conduct scientific research on southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina).

• FWS proposes to designate 3,583 acres as critical habitat in three units in Riverside and San Bernardino counties for Astragalus lentiginosus var. coachellae (Coachella Valley milk-vetch)
• NMFS issues interim 2005 TAC amounts for each category of groundfish, American Fisheries Act sideboard limits, and prohibited species catch amounts for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska. The intended effect is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA. (mentions Steller sea lion protection measures)
  • Alaska region page with more info
• NMFS proposes critical habitat for 13 Northwest ESUs
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic seismic surveys on the Blanco Fracture and Gorda Ridge zones in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean has been issued to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO).

• FWS extends comment period from Dec. 13 to March 31, 2005, on proposed designation of Critical Habitat for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
• FWS plans to gather information necessary to prepare Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCP) for Monomoy and Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and an associated EIS
• FWS releases Draft Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan for the Tinian Monarch, a forest bird endemic to the island of Tinian in the Mariana Archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean (Monarcha takatsukasae) (Plan is here)
  • DOI releases semi-annual agenda
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic seismic surveys in the in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETPO) off Central America (More here)
• NMFS: Dr. Thomas J. Kwak, U.S. Geological Survey, has been issued a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1375

• FWS publishes ITP revocation regulations
• FWS will conduct an open meeting on Jan. 27, 2005, to identify and discuss preliminary issues concerning the 2005-06 migratory bird hunting regulations
• NMFS issues letter of authorization to BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. to take marine mammals incidental to the production of offshore oil and gas at the Northstar development in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska
• NMFS proposes critical habitat for California ESUs
• Lawrence D. Wood, Marinelife Center of Juno Beach, 14200 U.S. Hwy. 1, Juno Beach, FL, 33408 has been issued a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1418

• FWS: Notice of Decision and Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Thurston and Pierce counties, Washington
  • More here
• FWS: Proposed Low Effect HCP for Shaw Mira Loma LLC, Riverside County, CA

• FWS, FS propose a rule to revise and clarify the jurisdiction of the Federal Subsistence Management Program in coastal areas in southwestern Alaska. This rulemaking is necessary in order to exclude numerous saltwater.
• FWS releases draft Economic Analysis, reopens public comment period for the Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for Astragalus jaegerianus (Lane Mountain Milk-vetch)
  • Go here for analysis
• FWS proposes to designate approximately 4,690 acres of land in 10 units in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego Counties, California as critical habitat for the federally threatened Brodiaea filifolia (thread-leaved brodiaea).
• FWS begins 5-Year status review of Topeka Shiner
• FWS receives ESA scientific research permit applications
• NMFS proposes 2005 and 2006 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch (PSC) allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (mentions Steller sea lion)

• FWS: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List Seven Foreign Species of Swallowtail Butterflies as Threatened or Endangered. "The best available information indicates that listing is not warranted for Papilio esperanza and Ornithoptera meridionalis. For the remaining five species, listing is warranted but precluded by higher-priority listing actions."
• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications
• FWS to revise a CCP and associated EIS for the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Tok, AK
• FWS denies permit to Peter A. Larsen, Newcastle, WY, to import a polar bear (Ursus maritimus) sport hunted from the Baffin Bay polar bear population in Canada for personal use
• NMFS issues a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 82 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. Amendment 82, if approved, would establish a framework for management of the Aleutian Islands subarea (AI) directed pollock fishery (mentions Steller sea lion)
• NMFS proposes 2005 and 2006 harvest specifications, reserves and apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska.

• FWS establishes temporary Pine Island-Estero Bay Refuge for manatees, effective Dec. 6, 2004
• FWS confers designated Port Status on Houston, TX; Louisville, KY; and Memphis, TN
• FWS reopens public comment period on proposed rule to establish the Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge in Lee County, Florida
• NMFS adjusts regulations governing the trade of species regulated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in the North and South Atlantic Ocean to implement recommendations adopted at the 2002 and 2003 meetings of ICCAT

• FWS to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for Egmont Key, Pinellas, and Passage Key National Wildlife Refuges located in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee Counties, Florida, respectively. These three refuges, known as the Tampa Bay Refuges, are managed as part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex
• FWS receives ES permit applications
• NMFS receives request from Glenn R. VanBlaricom for a 1-year renewal of his Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to the assessment of black abalone populations at San Nicolas Island (SNI), CA.
• NMFS receives application for Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of the University of California, to take small numbers of several species of cetaceans for a limited period of time within the next year, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (SWPO).

• FWS, FS: "This provides notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's management actions to provide for subsistence harvest opportunity and to protect a declining moose population in Units 22 and 24."
• NMFS publishes proposed List of Fisheries for 2005, as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. "The proposed LOF for 2005 reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NMFS must categorize each commercial fishery on the LOF into one of three categories under the MMPA based upon the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery."
• NMFS: Llewellyn Ehrhart, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816-2368, has applied in due form for a permit to take green, loggerhead, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, and leatherback sea turtles for purposes of scientific research

• FWS releases draft economic analysis on proposed designation of Critical Habitat for Allium munzii (Munz's onion)
  • It should be here soon
• NMFS issues 30-day authorization for a period of 30 days, to allow the use of limited tow times by shrimp trawlers as an alternative to the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in the state waters of Alabama and the state waters of Louisiana from the Mississippi/Louisiana border to a line at 90[deg]03'00'' West longitude (approximately the west end of Grand Isle).

• Wetlands: Corps proposes to modify NWP regulations so district engineers can issue NWP verification letters that expire on the same date the nationwide permit expires. "This amendment will allow district engineers to issue that nationwide permit verifications are valid throughout the period of time the nationwide permit is in effect, to provide regulatory flexibility and efficiency." Corps also proposes to increase the 30-day pre-construction notification review period to 45 days, to conform with nationwide permit general condition 13.
• FWS releases draft economic analysis for proposed CH designation for Buena Vista lake shrew
  • Shrew page
• FWS: Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for Whiskey Creek Bald Eagle Nest Site in Tillamook County, OR
• FWS to prepare Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EA for the Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Martin, SD
• NMFS issues a correcting amendment to clarify the regulations that prohibit approaches within 500 yards (460 m) of North Atlantic right whales (right whales). The purpose of this action is to correct errors contained in the text of the regulation that inadvertently refers to regulations contained in the previous paragraph within 50 CFR part 224. These technical amendments will not change the regulations for approaching right whales found in Sec. 224.103
• Pacific Islands Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Ste. 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814, has applied in due form for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
• Dr. Markus Horning, Texas A&M University, Laboratory for Applied Biotelemetry and Biotechnology, Department of Marine Biology, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, TX 77551 has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 1034-1685 and Dr. Patrick Butler, University of Birmingham, School of Biosciences, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United.

• No FWS or NMFS notices today

• CWA Enforcement: Proposed consent decree lodged in U.S. v. Chuchua (01-CV-1479 DMS (AJB), S.D. Cal.). (Discharging pollutants without a permit)
  • Consent decree is supposed to be here
• FWS: Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0112; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Employee Exit Follow-Up, Authorized by the Merit System Principles (5 U.S.C. 2301)
• FWS: Information Collection To Be Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation
• FWS issues endangered species and marine mammal permits
• FWS receives ES/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS receives permit application (Indiana bat)
• Klamath Fishery Management Council to meet
• FWS: North American Wetlands Conservation Council Meeting Announcement

Thursday, Nov. 25: Thanksgiving

Wednesday, Nov. 24 (Nov. 24 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS designates about 11,180 acres as critical habitat for the Santa Barbara population of the California tiger salamander
• Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0102; Special Use Permit Applications on National Wildlife Refuges Outside Alaska Covering 50 CFR 25.41, 25.61, 26.36, 27.71, 27.91, 27.97, 29.1, 29.2, 30.11, 31.2, 31.13, 31.14, 31.16, and 43 CFR 5

• NMFS amends regulations governing the North and South Atlantic swordfish fisheries to implement recommendations adopted at the 2002 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
• NMFS corrects Nov. 10 proposed rule re: taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Commercial Fishing Operations; Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan; Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions to Fishing Activities

• FWS issues ITP (Preble's meadow jumping mouse) for the Elizabeth Cross Roads Property, Elbert County, CO
• Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council: Notice of availability and opportunity to comment on subbasin plan draft amendments to the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program
  • More here on Northwest Power and Conservation Council web site

• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to city of San Diego to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to wall replacement and bluff improvement projects at La Jolla, Calif.

• FWS releases draft Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon
• FWS releases draft Recovery Plan for the Tidewater Goby
  • Recovery plans are here
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management plans to evaluate performance of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Coastal Management Program; the Louisiana Coastal Management Program; the North Inlet/Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, South Carolina; and the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, California
• NMFS has received a request from the Minerals Management Service for regulations to authorize the take, by harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals incidental to seismic surveys during oil and gas exploration activities by the U.S. oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico
• "NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). After a review of SARs and new information on the status of marine mammals, NMFS determined that marine mammal stocks in the Alaska and Atlantic regions did not change status or the status could not be determined more accurately. SARs for marine mammals in these two regions were not revised. SARs for marine mammals in the Pacific region were revised according to new information. NMFS also proposes changes to the guidelines for preparing SARs."
• "NMFS has received a scientific research permit application relating to Pacific salmon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts."

• Nothing from FWS or NMFS of an ESA or MMPA-related nature

• North Pacific Fishery Management Council submits Amendment 82 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. Amendment 82, if approved, would establish a framework for management of the Aleutian Islands subarea directed pollock fishery. (Steller sea lion)

• NMFS receives application to renew a permit for scientific research from A.A. Rich and Associates (AAR) in San Anselmo, California. The permit would affect federally endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon and Southern California steelhead, and threatened Central Valley steelhead, Central California Coast steelhead, and Central California Coast coho salmon
• NMFS releases draft EA for NMFS' June 2004 proposed amendments to the ESA protective regulations for West Coast threatened salmon and steelhead
• NMFS Assistant Administrator for Fisheries renews affirmative finding for the Republic of Ecuador under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
• NMFS grants BPA and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation a scientific research permit under the ESA (salmon, steelhead)

• NMFS: NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) has been issued a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1260

Wednesday, Nov. 10 (Nov. 10 Table of Contents from GPO)

• FWS receives endangered species permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications
• FWS issues marine mammal permits

• FWS says listing of Cymopterus deserticola (desert cymopterus) as endangered is "not warranted"
• FWS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list white-tailed prairie dog
• NMFS grants amendment to scientific research permit (seals, various species)
• NMFS grants amendment to scientific research permit (northern fur seals)

• FWS releases draft economic analysis, draft EA on proposed critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly

• FWS asks for comment on HCP, draft EIR/EIS, and application for an ITP for the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Riverside County, CA
• NMFS: Daniel F. Cowan, M.D., The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0555, has been issued a permit to acquire, import and export specimen samples for purposes of scientific research

• FWS releases draft revised Recovery Plan for the Laysan Duck (Anas laysensis)
• CWA Enforcement: Proposed consent decree lodged in U.S. v. Robert Hummel, et al., 00-C-5184, N.N. Ill. ("This proposed Consent Decree concerns a complaint filed by the United States against the Defendants pursuant to Section 301(a) of the Clean Water Act (``CWA''), 33 U.S.C. 1311(a), to obtain injunctive relief from and impose civil penalties against the Defendants for filling wetlands without a permit.")

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is announcing two upcoming meetings of the Hanford Reach National Monument Federal Planning Advisory Committee

• NMFS implements concurrently Framework 16 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and Framework 39 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP developed by the New England Fishery Management Council
• NMFS rejects petition NMFS responds to a NMFS announces its decision not to undertake the rulemaking requested in a Petition submitted by the Fisheries Survival Fund and the Garden State Seafood Association asking NMFS to develop and implement an emergency rule to require specific modifications to the fishing gear used by Atlantic sea scallop vessels fishing south of Long Island and north of Cape Hatteras from May 1 through October 15, to address incidental sea turtle takes

• NMFS ANPR on possible rulemaking to control future access to the open access vessel permit category Atlantic sea scallop fishery if a management regime is developed and implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to limit the number of participants in this sector of the scallop fishery.
• NMFS to conduct public scoping meetings on the proposed Texas National Estuarine Research Reserve System

• FWS: Information Collection Renewal Submitted to OMB for approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0095; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, 50 CFR 17.84, Experimental Populations
• NMFS proposes regulations to implement resolutions adopted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and by the Parties to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program
• NMFS receives request from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation for Authorization to take by harassment small numbers of pinnipeds incidental to rocket launches from the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) on Kodiak Island, AK.

• FWS designates CH for the Mariana fruit bat, Guam Micronesian kingfisher, and Mariana crow
• FWS issues endangered species and marine mammal permits
• FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits
• FWS receives endangered species, marine mammal permit applications
• Interior Secretary renews Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group

• FWS: Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0066; Marine Mammal Marking, Tagging, and Reporting Certificates, 50 CFR 18.23(f)
• FWS: Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Meeting set Nov. 16-17

• FWS "will allow the trade in beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) and its by-products, provided that specimens are accompanied by valid permits issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

• FWS reopens until Nov. 24 the public Comment Period for the Draft Economic Analysis and Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Santa Ana Sucker
• FWS releases draft revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska (More here)

• FWS releases draft EA/HCP, receives permit application from Family Crisis Center for incidental take of the Houston Toad
• NMFS: Dr. Colleen Reichmuth Kastak, Long Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science, University of California at Santa Cruz, 100 Schaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct research on captive pinnipeds

• FWS, in cooperation with the states of Tennessee and Alabama and with Conservation Fisheries Inc., a nonprofit organization, propose to reintroduce one federally listed endangered fish, the boulder darter, and one federally listed threatened fish, the spotfin chub, into their historical habitat in Shoal Creek, Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Lawrence County, Tennessee

• FWS reopens public comment period on Draft Annual Funding Agreement (AFA) between the FWS and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The AFA covers activities at the National Bison Range Complex in Montana
• NMFS receives request for incidental take of marine mammals in connection with construction of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
• NMFS issues authorization for incidental take of marine mammals in connection with missile launch operations from San Nicolas Island, CA
• NMFS issues letter of authorization to take several species of marine mammals incidental to operation of a low-frequency sound source by the North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory to the University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

• FWS releases draft economic analysis for the proposed designation of Critical Habitat for the Riverside Fairy Shrimp (It's supposed to be here at some point)

• NMFS extends public comment period to Nov. 12, reschedules public hearing on proposed hatchery listing policy
• NMFS: Same deal on re-proposed salmonid ESUs

• FWS receives ES/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues emergency permit authorizing the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Ill., "to import multiple tissue samples from a male chimpanzee that recently died in the Gombe Stream Reserve, Tanzania for emergency and ongoing health/disease evaluation purposes." FWS says "the determination of the cause of the illness and possible treatment as quickly as possible will benefit the chimpanzee population in the wild."
• FWS issues marine mammal permit
• FWS: Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Northeast Regional Panel Meeting scheduled for Nov. 9-10 in Saratoga Springs, NY
• FWS: Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force 2005 meetings scheduled
• "NMFS issues 30-day authorization to allow the use of limited tow times by shrimp trawlers as an alternative to the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in the state waters of Alabama and Mississippi, and the state waters of Louisiana from the Mississippi/Louisiana border to a line at 90[deg] 03' 00'' West longitude (approximately the west end of Grand Isle). This action is necessary because excessive debris as a result of Hurricane Ivan may affect fishermen's ability to use TEDs effectively."
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Mississippi Coastal Management Program; the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Georgia; and the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
• NOAA releases Final Reserve Operations Plan for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (Plan is here)

• FWS, FS: "This final rule clarifies the membership qualifications for Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils established under Subsistence Management Regulations."
• NMFS receives scientific research permit application relating to Pacific salmon. "The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of [ESA-listed] species ... and to help guide management and conservation efforts."
• NMFS' Northwest Region issues 21 scientific research permits and permit modifications "allowing endangered and threatened species of Pacific salmon and steelhead to be taken for scientific research purposes."

• NMFS receives applications for amendments to endangered species, marine mammal permits

• FWS proposes CH desigation for Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
• FWS begins five-year status review on whether to delist Ute Ladies'-Tresses Orchid
• FWS submits ICR to OMB for review: Migratory Bird Harvest Surveys
• FWS submits ICR to OMB for review: Sandhill Crane Harvest Survey
• FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge located in Concordia Parish, Louisiana
• "NOAA is proposing amendments and technical refinements to its Civil Procedures which govern NOAA's administrative proceedings for assessment of civil penalties; suspension, revocation, modification, or denial of permits; issuance and use of written warnings; and release or forfeiture of seized property."

• NMFS receives permit applications to conduct scientific research on endangered and threatened sea turtles: Dr. Allen M. Foley, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Jacksonville Field Laboratory, 6134 Authority Avenue, Bldg. 200, Jacksonville, Florida 32221 (File No. 1501); and Dr. Blair Witherington, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish andWildlife Research Institute, Melbourne Beach Field Laboratory, 9700 SouthA1A, Melbourne Beach, Florida 32951 (File No. 1506).
• Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, Pacific Fishery Management Council, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to meet. See Table of Contents above

• FWS releases draft economic analysis for proposed critical habitat designation for the California tiger salamander in Santa Barbara County (Draft EA)
• Press release
• FWS proposes no critical habitat for San Miguel Island fox, Santa Rosa Island fox, Santa Cruz Island fox, and Santa Catalina Island fox
• FWS proposes CH designation for Navarretia fossalis (spreading navarretia)
• FWS: Draft Conservation Plan for the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti) released
  • News release

• FWS designates critical habitat for bull trout
• FWS proposes CH designation for Arkansas River shiner
• FWS proposes designation of critical habitat for Atriplex coronata var. notatior (San Jacinto Valley crownscale). " We identified 15,232 (ac) (6,167 hectares (ha)) of habitat essential for the conservation of A. coronata var. notatior."

• Pacific Islands Regional Office of NMFS, in coordination with the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, will hold a public hearing in Honolulu, HI, to receive comments on a draft EIS for management measures being considered for the domestic pelagic fisheries in the Pacific Ocean

• FWS releases final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Dugway, UT
  • go here to get to the plan
• FWS receives application from Southern Conservation Corporation for an enhancement of survival permit (Greater Adams Cave Beetle and Lesser Adams Cave Beetle, Madison County, Kentucky)

• FWS releases draft economic analysis on proposed designation of critical habitat for the Santa Ana sucker
  • More here, including draft analysis (which is also here) (here's the press release)
• FWS releases final CCP for Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, Walden, CO
• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for Sidalcea oregana var. calva (Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow) (More plans here)
• NMFS NE Administrator proposes to issue an EFP that would allow two vessels to conduct fishing operations that are otherwise restricted by the regulations governing the fisheries of the Northeastern United States. The EFP would allow for exemptions from the NE multispecies Georges Bank (GB) regulated mesh area minimum mesh size and gear requirements, the NE multispecies closed area restrictions, and the NE multispecies minimum fish size requirements. The applicant proposes to conduct a study of an experimental haddock separator trawl, a bycatch reduction device, in order to examine the effectiveness of this type of gear at reducing the catch of Atlantic cod, and other similarly behaving groundfish, when directing on haddock.

• FWS: Notice of Application for a Natural Gas Pipeline Right-of-Way on Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tyrrell County, North Carolina.
• NMFS receives application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic seismic surveys in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETPO) off Central America

• FS adopts "interpretative rule to clarify the intent of the transition section of the planning regulations regarding the consideration and use of the best available science to inform project decision making that implements a land management plan and, as appropriate, plan amendments."
• FWS final rule prescribes special late-season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands
• FWS issues negative 90-Day finding for a petition to list the Western Gray Squirrel as endangered rangewide
• FWS announces that we will hold one additional public hearing on the proposed rule to remove the Eastern Distinct Population Segment of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife
• FWS: Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0111; Summary Information for Ranking National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program Proposals, 50 CFR Part 84
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications
• FWS to prepare environmental document for issuance of an ITP associated with an HCP at the Fort Ord Military Installation, Monterey County, CA
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Gulf of Mexico Regional Panel Meeting scheduled
• FWS: Conference of the Parties to the CITES; Thirteenth Regular Meeting; Tentative U.S. Negotiating Positions for Agenda Items and Species Proposals Submitted by Foreign Governments and the CITES Secretariat; Announcement of Public Meeting
• NMFS issues Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals to conduct oceanographic seismic surveys in the Gulf of Alaska, to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO)
  • More on small takes here

• NMFS, FWS: National Museum of Natural History, Department of Systematic Biology, MRC 108, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 764-1703-00

• This rule prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits for general waterfowl seasons and those early seasons for which states previously deferred selection
• FWS releases technical agency draft recovery plan for the endangered Catesbaea melanocarpa for Review and Comment. "Catesbaea melanocarpa is extremely rare and is known from Puerto Rico, St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), Barbuda, Antigua, and Guadeloupe. (Recovery plans here)
• NMFS: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research

• FWS designates critical habitat for Gaura neomexicana ssp. coloradensis (Colorado Butterfly Plant)
• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for the threatened Guajon (Eleutherodactylus cooki), aka the Puerto Rican demon. The guajon is one of sixteen species of frogs from the genus Eleutherodactylus on Puerto Rico, and is also the second largest species found on the island.
• FWS releases draft revised Recovery Plan for the Nene or Hawaiian Goose
  • Plans are here

• FWS prescribes final late-season frameworks from which states may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2004-05 migratory bird hunting seasons.
  • FWS Migratory Birds page
• FWS releases final CCP/EA for Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (NWFR), Havana, IL
• FWS releases final CCP/EA for Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri
• FWS releases final CCP/EA for the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (WMD), Bloomington, MN
• NMFS receives request from BP Exploration (Alaska), 900 East Benson Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99519 (BP) for renewal of an authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to operation of an offshore oil and gas platform at the Northstar facility in the Beaufort Sea in state waters (ringed seal, bearded seal, spotted seal, bowhead whale, etc.)
  • More on marine mammal small take authorizations here
• NMFS receives permit application from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Freshwater Fisheries Section and request to modify a permit application from Mr. Harold M. Brundage, Environmental Research and Consulting, Chadds Ford, PA (both shortnose sturgeon)
• Dr. Daniel Costa, Department of Biology and Institute of Marine Sciences, UC-Santa Cruz, has been issued a permit to conduct scientific research on northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). California sea lions may be incidentally harassed during the research, and Costa has asked to include those species in the permit

• OMB: ICR submitted for approval Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 101-0070; Incidental Take of Marine Mammals During Specified Activities Applications; 50 CFR 18, Subpart J
• Marin Islands NWR: FWS to prepare CCP/EA; public scoping meeting also scheduled

• FWS removes Tinian Monarch (bird) From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
• FWS releases draft EA on HCP, ITP application for the Pinery West Subdivision, City of Parker, Douglas County, CO
• NMFS proposes changes to Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures for the Pollock and Pacific Cod Fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska (More here)

No ESA-related notices today

• FWS corrects 2004-2005 Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations
• FWS clarifies rule approving Tungsten-Bronze Shot as Nontoxic for Hunting Waterfowl and Coots
• FWS releases EA, receives HCP and ITP application for golden-cheeked warbler. "The proposed take would occur as a result of the construction and operation of a commercial development on 19.3-acres (7.8-hectares) of the Horizon Center Development, Travis County, Texas."
• DOI: Notice of public meetings of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee

• FWS: Niagara Mohawk in New York requests renewal of a permit to take Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) larvae and eggs as a result of conducting habitat management activities for the purpose of maintenance and enhancement of existing Karner blue butterfly metapopulations.
• FWS receives scientific research permit applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species

• FWS receives ITP application from Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for proposed improvements to Gulf State Park Hotel/Convention Center & Pavilion, Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, AL
• FWS receives endangered species permit applications

• FWS reopens comment Period for the Draft Recovery Plan for the Pecos Sunflower
• FWS receives endangered species, marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues ES, marine mammal permits
• FWS releases draft Sentry Milk-vetch Recovery Plan for Review and Comment (Should be here soon)
• NMFS: Inwater Research Group, Inc., 4160 NE Hyline Dr., Jensen Beach, FL, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

• FWS: Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council to meet Sept. 29
• NMFS: NMFS final rule implements provisions of the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act. "This rule replaces the interim rule published in the Federal Register on January 3, 2000. This final rule makes technical changes and clarifications to the interim final rule which is already in effect. The interim final rule allows the entry of yellowfin tuna into the United States under certain conditions from nations fully complying with the International Dolphin Conservation Program and the Agreement on the IDCP.
• NMFS extends public comment period on June 1, 2004, ANPR, which announces a strategy to reduce North Atlantic right whale deaths from vessel collisions. NMFS extends public comment period through Nov. 15, "to allow for adequate time to conduct stakeholder meetings along the Atlantic coast in association with the ANPR comment period."

• FWS releases revised Recovery Plan for the Paiute Cutthroat Trout (Plan is here)

• "The Department of the Interior proposes a public review process for conditions and prescriptions of the Department pursuant to its authority under the Federal Power Act. The Department also proposes to create an administrative appeals process for review of such measures. The Federal Power Act authorizes the Department to include in hydropower licenses issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conditions and prescriptions necessary to protect Federal and tribal lands and resources and to provide fishways when navigable waterways or Federal reservations are used for hydropower generation. The public review process will enable the public and the license applicant to comment on the Department's preliminary conditions and prescriptions, and to provide information to assist the Department in its formulation of modified conditions and prescriptions."
• NMFS announces public hearings on proposed listing determinations for 27 salmonid ESUs will also be held at six locations in California from late September through mid-October.
• NMFS proposes a public review process for mandatory fishway prescriptions NMFS develops, pursuant to its authority under the Federal Power Act, for inclusion in hydropower licenses issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
• NMFS announces public hearings in California on proposed hatchery listing policy
• NMFS: Lawrence D. Wood, Marine Life Center of Juno Beach, 14200 U.S. Hwy. 1, Juno Beach, FL 33408, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1418 (sea turtles)

• FWS: The Fish and Wildlife Service adds 10 new refuges and wetland management districts to the list of areas open for hunting and/or sport fishing programs and increases the activities available at 7 other refuges.
• NMFS has incorporated public comments into revisions of marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs). The 2003 final SARs are now complete and available to the public (Go here for SARS)
• NMFS issues permit to Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle (Principal investigator: John L. Bengtson, Ph.D.) to conduct research on ice seals in Alaska

• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• Michael Clarke, City of San Luis Obispo, California, has been issued a permit to take the South Central California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) within the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed for the purpose of scientific research.
• NMFS has received four scientific research permit applications relating to Pacific salmon and steelhead.

• NMFS to conduct public scoping and prepare an EIS on the funding and operation of Columbia River hatcheries
• NMFS to prepare EA for proposed Amendment 24 to the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. EIS had been planned.
• FWS "prescribes special early season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands. This responds to tribal requests for [FWS] recognition of their authority to regulate hunting under established guidelines. This rule allows the establishment of season bag limits and, thus, harvest at levels compatible with populations and habitat conditions

• CWA, CERCLA, OPA enforcement: DOJ issues proposed consent decree, under which defendants will pay $53.6 million to restore natural resources, and $2.7 million to the Interior Department and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to reimburse them for the cost of conducting natural resource damage assessments. Defendants also will convey 233 acres of habitat to the state (U.S. and State of Indiana v. Atlantic Richfield Company; ARCO Environmental Remediation, L.L.C.; BP Products North America Inc.; E.I. du Pont De Nemours and Company; Exxon Mobil Corporation; GATX Corporation; Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Ispat Inland Inc.; and United States Steel Corporation, (04-348, N.D. Ind.) (Consent decree and complaint)

• FWS rule prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits of mourning, white-winged, and white-tipped doves; band-tailed pigeons; rails; moorhens and gallinules; woodcock; common snipe; sandhill cranes; sea ducks; early (September) waterfowl seasons; migratory game birds in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and some extended falconry seasons. Taking of migratory birds is prohibited unless specifically provided for by annual regulations. This rule permits taking of designated species during the 2004-05 season

• FWS designates 8.6 million acres of critical habitat on federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, for the Mexican spotted owl. "The owl inhabits canyon and forest habitats across a range that extends from southern Utah and Colorado, through Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, to the mountains of central Mexico."
• FWS designates 13 river and stream segments in the Tennessee and/or Cumberland River Basins, encompassing about 550 river miles, as critical habitat for five endangered mussels [Cumberland elktoe (Alasmidonta atropurpurea), oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis), Cumberlandian combshell (Epioblasma brevidens), purple bean (Villosa perpurpurea), and rough rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica strigillata)].
• FWS, FS: "This rule corrects the Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2004, (69 FR 40174) implementing the subsistence priority for rural residents of Alaska under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980."
• FWS, FS: "This proposed rule would establish regulations for hunting and trapping seasons, harvest limits, methods and means related to taking of wildlife for subsistence uses during the 2005-2006 regulatory year."
• FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EIS for Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (More here)
• NOAA announces "temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan's implementing regulations. "These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 2,600 square nautical miles (nm2) (8,918 km\2\), east of Cape Ann, MA, for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of North Atlantic right whales."
• NMFS extends comment period, announces public hearings on proposed listings of 27 salmonid ESUs
• NMFS extends comment period to Oct. 20, announces public hearings on proposed hatchery listing policy
• NMFS releases draft recovery plan for the North Atlantic Right Whale (Go to bottom for revised plan)
• NMFS re-opens public comment period on rulemaking petition to protect deep-sea coral and sponge habitat (Petition is here)
• NMFS announces Aug. 9 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California setting aside a final finding made on Dec. 31, 2002, by the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS. "Under the terms of this Order, the labeling standard for 'dolphin-safe' tuna shall be governed by the provisions of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act. Under that provision, tuna are deemed dolphin safe if 'no tuna were caught on the trip in which such tuna were harvested using a purse seine net intentionally deployed on or to encircle dolphins, and no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the sets in which the tuna were caught.' " (News coverage)

• FWS final rule prescribes final early-season frameworks from which the States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2004-05 migratory bird hunting seasons.
• FWS issues permit for incidental take of Preble's Meadow jumping mouse at Eagle's Nest Open Space, Larimer County, Colorado
• FWS: Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group to meet
• Executive Order 13352 of August 26, 2004: Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

• FWS releases draft EIS/EIR on the Bair Island Restoration and Management Plan, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and the Bair Island State Ecological Reserve, San Mateo County, CA (Documents)

• FWS corrects July 15 FR notice on its environmental review of a proposed Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, Hawaii
• NMFS proposes regulations to implement concurrently Framework 16 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and Framework 39 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP developed by the New England Fishery Management Council. Mentions sea turtles.

• FWS releases final Recovery Plan for the Zapata bladderpod (Lesquerella thamnophila)
• CWA, wetlands enforcement: United States v. Holly Ridge Associates, L.L.C., No. 7:01-CV-36-BO(3) was lodged with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on August 11, 2004 (Proposed decree here )
• CWA enforcement: DOJ announces proposed consent decree filed Aug. 9 in U.S.A. v. Yellowstone Mountain Club, LLC, (04-58-BU-RWA, D. Mt.). Complaint was filed "to obtain injunctive relief from and impose civil penalties against the defendants for violating the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants without a permit into waters of the United States. The proposed Consent Decree resolves these allegations by requiring the Defendants to restore impacted areas, perform mitigation and to pay a civil penalty." (Go here for decree and other documents)

• FWS proposes to establish the 2004-05 late-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds.
• FWS: Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement With Chevron Hawaii Refinery at James Campbell Industrial Park for Management of the Hawaiian Stilt and Hawaiian Coot, Oahu, HI
• FWS releases Record of Decision for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project: Spartina Control Program
• NMFS has received a request from the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals (Pacific harbor seals), incidental to the replacement of the Sandholdt Road Bridge in Moss Landing, Monterey County, CA.
• NMFS has issued two 1-year Letters of Authorization to take marine mammals by harassment incidental to the U.S. Navy's operation of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar operations to the Chief of Naval Operations, Department of the Navy

• NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries announces temporary restrictions consistent with the requirements of the ALWTRP's implementing regulations. These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,942 square nautical miles (nm\2\) (6,660 km\2\), southeast of Cape Cod, MA, for 15 days. The purpose of this action is to provide protection to an aggregation of North Atlantic right whales (right whales).

• Information Collection Submitted to OMB for approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Injurious Wildlife; Importation Certification for Live Fish and Fish Eggs (50 CFR 16.13)
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues endangered species/marine mammal permits
• FWS receives scientific research permit applications
• FWS releases draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EA for Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Franz Lake NWR, and Pierce NWR
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• NMFS receives application from the City of San Diego to harass "small numbers" of Pacific harbor seals for 1 year, "incidental to wall replacement and bluff improvement projects at La Jolla, CA."
• St. George's School, P.O. Box 1910, Newport, RI, 02840, applies for a permit to take green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research. (More about research)
• NOAA releases 5-Year Research Plan Draft and the 20-Year Research Vision

• FWS proposes to designate about 4,649 acres in the Central Valley floor of Kern County, California, as critical habitat for the Buena Vista lake shrew
• FWS reopens the Public Comment Period, announces public hearings for the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Santa Ana Sucker

• FWS issues negative 12-month petition finding, removes black-tailed prairie dog from list of candidate species
• FWS releases final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Certus, Inc. Chemical Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment in Tazewell County, VA
• CWA enforcement: DOJ announces proposed settlement agreement in U.S. and state of California ex rel. California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region v. City of Los Angeles, Civ. 01-191-RSWL, C.D. Cal.). The agreement "contains a list of possible [Supplemental Environmental Projects], most of which are wetland and stream restoration projects, located primarily along the Los Angeles River, that are designed to restore aquatic areas and provide water quality benefits by treating local runoff."
• NMFS issues final rule "that removes a harvest restriction on participants in the harvest limit area (HLA) Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutian Islands subarea. The regulatory amendment allows participants assigned to an HLA fishery to harvest Atka mackerel outside of the HLA during the first HLA fishery in each of two seasons. This action allows participants to harvest Atka mackerel efficiently, reduces competition with [endangered] Steller sea lions for prey species within the HLA, and does not increase competition among participants in the groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson."
• Christine A. Tomichek, Kleinschmidt Associates, Kleinschmidt Building, 35 Pratt Street, Essex, Connecticut, 06426, has applied for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research

• FWS proposes special migratory bird hunting regulations for certain Tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands for the 2004-05 migratory bird hunting season
• NMFS establishes effective dates for the requirement to have a NOAA-approved VMS unit installed and operating on vessels with directed shark limited access permits (LAPs) and with gillnet or bottom longline gear on board. VMS will aid in the enforcement of time/area closures

• FWS to hold nine public hearings on our proposed rule to remove the Eastern Distinct Population Segment of the gray wolf from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
• FWS receives application for an Incidental Take Permit and Availability and Opening of Comment Period for an Environmental Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) for the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker in Association With Mr. Owen Strickler's Timber Harvest of a 75-acre Tract of Forest on the Border of Sussex and Southampton Counties, Virginia

• FWS announces meeting of Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Western Regional Panel
• NMFS announces ANPR. "NMFS is considering adjustments to the regulations governing the Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) pelagic longline fishery based upon a June 1, 2004, Biological Opinion (2004 BiOp) regarding Atlantic sea turtles. NMFS issues this ANPR to request comments on potential regulatory changes to further reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality of sea turtles in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery as well comments on as the feasibility of framework mechanisms to address unanticipated increases in sea turtle interactions and mortalities, should they occur."

• Wetlands enforcement: DOJ announces proposed consent decree in U.S.A. v. Hyponex Corp. (92-1940, D.N.J.) ("The consent decree enjoins Hyponex Corporation from discharging dredged or fill material into waters of the United States at the Site. The consent decree further requires that Hyponex Corporation: (a) Implement a restoration plan to restore wetlands damaged by the unauthorized discharges at the Site and to enhance other wetlands at the Site; (b) pay a civil penalty of $50,000; (c) place a conservation easement on over 1,000 acres of land at the Site, which includes all wetlands at the Site, and transfer that property to an organization approved by the Corps of Engineers for the purpose of permanently protecting and managing the transferred property in an undeveloped state, consistent with the function and values of the wetlands at the Site; and (d) pay $125,000 to establish a fund to be used by the holder of the conservation easement for the purpose of overseeing the preservation and maintenance of the 1,000-plus acre [parcel].")

• FWS proposes to designate 382,666 acres as critical habitat for the California tiger salamander, Central California population
• NMFS publishes final List of Fisheries (LOF) for 2004, as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act
• NMFS issues negative 90-day finding on petition to list the Cherry Point Stock of Pacific Herring as an Endangered or Threatened Species

• FWS approves three shot types, Tungsten-Bronze [formulated of tungsten, bronze (copper and tin), and less than 1 percent iron], Tungsten-Iron (formulated of tungsten and iron), and Tungsten-Tin-Bismuth (formulated of tungsten, tin, and bismuth), as nontoxic for hunting waterfowl and coots
• FWS: The Woodlands Operating Company, L.P., has requested an amendment to 2002 ITP that authorizes incidental take of the threatened bald eagle "as a result of the otherwise lawful development of the East Lake Area of The Woodlands, Montgomery County, Texas. The requested amendment would authorize incidental take at all nests built by the pair of bald eagles whose territory is on the East Lake Area of the Woodlands and that a 330 foot management zone be established around each active nest site."
• FWS receives applications for scientific research permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species

• Weaver's Cove Energy, L.L.C.; Mill River Pipeline, L.L.C.; Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS and the Draft General Conformity Determination for the Proposed Weaver's Cove LNG Project
• FWS: "terminat[es] ... emergency establishment of the Pine Island-Estero Bay Refuge, which was created when a rule was published in the Federal Register on April 7, 2004, and will expire effective August 5, 2004. We are publishing a proposed rule to establish these areas as the Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge by standard rulemaking elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register." (see below)
• FWS proposes to establish an additional manatee protection area in Lee County, Florida (Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge).
• FWS proposes to designate 8,486 acres along approximately 113 stream miles as critical habitat for the Colorado butterfly plant. "The proposed critical habitat is located in Laramie and Platte counties in Wyoming; Kimball County in Nebraska; and Weld County in Colorado
• Hungerford's Crawling Water Beetle (Brychius hungerfordi) Draft Recovery Plan for Review and Comment
• FWS releases Scaleshell Mussel (Leptodea leptodon) Draft Recovery Plan for Review and Comment (Go here for plan)
• FWS submits ICR to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Fish and Wildlife Service Employee Exit Follow-Up Survey (1018-0112) (Go here for plan)
• NMFS "corrects the gear requirements for bottom longline fishermen that were inadvertently changed in a July 2004 final rule to minimize sea turtle bycatch and bycatch mortality in the pelagic longline fishery." "In changing the requirements for pelagic longline fishermen, NMFS inadvertently changed the requirements for bottom longline fishermen by failing to correct a paragraph cross-reference referring to the previous linecutter and dipnet requirements. Thus, the regulatory text in the July 6, 2004 (69 FR 35599) final rule indicated that bottom longline fishermen would also need to carry the additional equipment and use the revised handling procedures established for pelagic longline fishermen. This was not the intent of that."
• NMFS renews affirmative finding for the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
• NMFS: University of Florida, Aquatic Animal Program, Gainesville, FL has been issued a permit to import and export marine mammal specimens for purposes of scientific research

• CWA enforcement: DOJ releases proposed consent decree (U.S. v. Thorson, 03-74-C, W.D. Wisc.) (Consent decree "requires Defendants to restore the impacted areas and to pay a civil penalty.")
• CWA enforcement: DOJ releases proposed consent decree (U.S. and the State of Illinois v. Embassy Builders Inc. and Randall Stevenson 03-6723, N.D. Ill.) ("The proposed Consent Decree requires the defendants to pay $106,250 to a wetland restoration fund as mitigation for the wetlands that were filled without a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit."
• FWS, NMFS issue joint counterpart regulations (pesticides)

• FWS, FS: Federal Subsistence Board takes in-season management actions to protect chinook salmon escapement in the Unalakleet River, while still providing subsistence harvest opportunities for other fish.
• FWS lists California Tiger Salamander as threatened, issues special rule exempting "routine ranching activities."
• FWS designates 21,836 acres as critical habitat in Imperial County for the threatened Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii (Peirson's milk-vetch).
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• NMFS receives applications to renew and modify permits from BuRec, Weaverville, CA (Permit 1072) and BLM, Arcata, CA (Permit 1088), and to issue a new Permit to Humboldt State University Foundation, Institute for River Ecosystems (1283). "These permits would affect any or all of three Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of salmonids identified in the Supplementary Information section": Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho salmon, California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon, or Northern California (NC) steelhead ( O. mykiss).
• The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council are meeting. Go here and scroll down.

• NMFS, in cooperation with the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, is preparing an EA for Amendment 15 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources
• NMFS receives marine mammal permit application re: large whales

• FWS: Hanford Reach National Monument Federal Advisory Committee Meetings scheduled
• NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center receives modification to scientific research Permit No. 1227

• NMFS prohibits retention of arrowtooth flounder in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area

• OMB: Information Collection Renewal to be Submitted to OMB for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Experimental Populations; Endangered and Threatened Species
• FWS issues endangered species and marine mammal permits
• FWS receives endangered species and marine mammal permit applications
• NMFS releases ROD on EIS: Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Final Environmental Impact Statement Addressing Essential Fish Habitat Requirements of the Fishery Management Plans of the Gulf of Mexico
• Sea World gets permit to import one beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and one Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) for the purposes of public display

• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska
• FWS, Maryland Fisheries Resource Office, 177 Admiral Cochrane Drive, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (Michael Mangold, principal investigator) has been issued a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirosturm) for purposes of scientific research

• FWS excludes all previously proposed critical habitat in Missouri, Kansas and South Dakota from final critical habitat designation for the Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka). Final designation includes 83 stream segments, representing 836 miles of stream in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
• FWS begins 5-year review of the Bliss Rapids snail
• NMFS proposes rule that would implement Amendment 48 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and Amendment 48 to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) (Amendments 48/48)
• NMFS issues permits to Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Conn., and the Virginia Living Museum, Newport News, Va., to take shortnose sturgeon for purposes of enhancement through educational display.

• FWS: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has applied for an enhancement of survival permit The application includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker
• BLM releases ROD for the South Powder River Basin Coal FEIS, NARO North LBA Tract, Wyoming
  • Should be here
• NMFS is prohibiting retention of ``other rockfish'' in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pelagic shelf rockfish in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska
• NMFS has received three scientific research permit applications-and one application to modify an existing permit-relating to Pacific salmon and steelhead.
• NMFS issues marine mammal permit or permit amendment for purposes of scientific research

• FWS corrects June 30 notice on 2004-2005 Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations
• FWS releases DEIS for Caspian Tern Management To Reduce Predation of Juvenile Salmonids in the Columbia River Estuary
• FWS: Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the Ranch View Terrace Project, University of California, Santa Cruz County, CA
• FWS releases Restoration Compensation Determination Plan/Environmental Assessment for the Grand Calumet River, Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, Indiana Harbor and Associated Lake Michigan Environments
• NMFS: Northeast Regional Administrator decreases commercial Loligo squid quota for Quarter III in the Exclusive Economic Zone

• FWS: Information Collection Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Application; Native Endangered and Threatened Species
• FWS, in cooperation with other agencies, to prepare EIS/R for an amendment to the Incidental Take Permit for the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan, San Mateo County, CA
• NMFS announces temporary restrictions to protect right whales. These regulations apply to lobster trap/pot and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling approximately 1,638 square nautical miles (nm\2\) (5,618 km\2\) in July and approximately 1,688 square nautical miles (nm\2\) (5,790 km\2\) in August, east of Cape Cod, MA for 15 days
• NMFS proposes rule to limit entry into the American Samoa-based pelagic longline fishery.

• FWS issues new (still negative) 90-day petition finding on delisting petition for Lost River Sucker and Shortnose Sucker; announces five-year status review
• FWS proposes removing the Eastern DPS of the Gray Wolf From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
• FWS proposes to establish 2004-05 early-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds.
• FWS: Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the OMB for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0092, Applications for Permits/Licenses
• FWS to conduct five-year status review of Holy Ghost Ipomopsis and Kuenzler hedgehog cactus
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Western Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska
• NMFS has determined that the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category daily retention limit should be adjusted in order to allow for maximum utilization of the General category June through August time-period subquota
• NMFS announces approval of an Operations Plan and Sector Contract titled ``Georges Bank Cod Hook Sector Operations Plan and Agreement", and the associated allocation of GB cod, consistent with regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan
• NMFS makes positive preliminary determination re: exempted fishing permit. These EFPs would allow up to seven vessels to fish for haddock and pollock using jigged hand gear in two Northeast (NE) multispecies year-round closed areas

• FWS releases draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and EA for Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Dugway, UT (More here)
• FWS Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Construction of a Single-Family Home in Brevard County, FL
• NMFS: Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Inseason Actions 5 - Adjustments of the Commercial Fishery from the U.S.-Canada Border to Cape Falcon, Oregon
• NMFS final rule establishes an insignificance threshold as 10 percent of the Potential Biological Removal level (PBR) of a stock of marine mammals
• NMFS proposes a regulation to implement the annual harvest guideline for Pacific mackerel in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast

• FWS: Correction to proposed designation of Critical Habitat for the Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River Populations of Bull Trout
• FWS: Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Eastern Shore of Virginia and Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuges
  • Go here for more
• FWS releases final CCP for Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, Las Vegas, NM
• FWS releases Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, Muleshoe, TX and Grulla National Wildlife Refuge, Arch, NM
• FWS releases draft recovery plan for Phlox hirsuta
  • Plans are here
• FWS to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and associated EA for Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron and Willacy Counties, TX
• NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council will prepare an EIS to analyze a range of alternatives for the annual allocation of the Pacific sardine harvest guideline
• NMFS, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1260

• FWS: Information Collection To Be Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Special Use Permit Applications on National Wildlife Refuges Outside Alaska
• FWS releases Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/EA for Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Mound City, MO (Go here for more)
• FWS receives endangered species/marine mammal permit applications
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management will evaluate the performance of the Hawaii Coastal Management Program; the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Rhode Island; the Minnesota Coastal Management Program; the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, New York; and the Washington Coastal Management Program and Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Washington
• NOAA drafts a strategic plan for the period 2005-2011 that builds on the NOAA Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 and reflects updated stakeholder priorities, recent external events, and change to NOAA's operations

• FWS will prepare EA or EIS for a proposed HCP that is being prepared by the Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative
• NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2004 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in this area.
• NMFS is re-arranging the Pacific Coast Groundfish regulations so that they read in a more logical order.
• NMFS receives applications for marine mammal permits and permit amendments
• NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, FL, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 1260

• FWS corrects June 30 proposed regulations "related to the addition of 10 refuges and wetland management districts to the list of areas open for hunting and/or sport fishing programs and increas[ing] the activities available at 7 other refuges."
• FWS approves Recovery Plan for the Higgins Eye Pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii).
• Recovery plan page
• FWS releases for public review a draft annual funding agreement with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, as amended by the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994
• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Central Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2004 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific ocean perch in this area.
• Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Revisions to the Annual Harvest Specifications Process for the Groundfish Fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area

• NMFS prohibits directed fishing for Pacific ocean perch in the Eastern Aleutian District of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area
• NMFS issues final rule to implement recreational measures for the 2004 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The intent of these measures is to prevent overfishing of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass resources

• FWS: Fish and Wildlife Service and Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments Sign Annual Funding Agreement (More here)
• Dr. James P. Kirk, U.S. Army, Engineer Research and Development Center, 3903 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180, has applied for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research

• FWS extends comment period until July 30 for submitting information pertinent to status review of greater sage-grouse.
• NMFS extends comment period, sets public meetings on, right whale ship strike reductions
• Thomas B. McCormick, Channel Islands Marine Resource Institute (CIMRI), P.O. Box 1627, Port Hueneme, CA 93044, has been issued a modification to Permit No. 1346 to take white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) for the purposes of scientific research.
• NMFS proposes regulations to amend the subsistence fishery rules for Pacific halibut in waters off Alaska

• NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries has been issued a permit to take loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, green, and hawksbill sea turtles for purposes of scientific research
• Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., [Principal Investigator], Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) for purposes of scientific research

• FWS removes federal protection status from two Manatee Protection Areas in Florida
• FWS receives endangered species and/or marine mammal permits
• FWS issues endangered species and/or marine mammal permits
• NMFS issues correction to Amendment 13 -- Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery
• NMFS announces inseason adjustments to the Pacific Coast limited entry trawl and fixed gear groundfish fisheries. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), will allow fisheries access to more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.
• NMFS announces that the commercial salmon fishery in the area from the Humbug Mountain, OR to the Oregon-California Border was modified to close at midnight on Saturday, June 19, 2004.
• NMFS announces receipt of a petition for rulemaking from the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) and the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) (Petitioners), both of which represent participants in the commercial fishing industry.
• NMFS issues this proposed rule to implement Amendment 16-3 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 16-3 amends the FMP to include overfished species rebuilding plans for bocaccio, cowcod, widow rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish within the FMP and would add two rebuilding parameters, the target year for rebuilding and the harvest control rule, to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for each overfished stock

• FWS to prepare CCP/EA for Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge located in Monroe, Sumter, and Conecuh Counties, Alabama
• NMFS issues final rule prescribing gear to avoid sea turtle bycatch in HMS longline fishery in Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
• NMFS has issued Permit 1400 to Wildlands, Inc., Permit 1407 to California Department of Fish and Game, Permit 1414 to East Bay Municipal Utility District, Permit 1431 to California Department of Water Resources, Permit 1467 to Dr. Peter Klimley, and Modification 1

• BuRec and FWS have released DEIS for the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. At the public hearings, individuals will have the opportunity to present written or short oral testimony on the environmental impacts of the Program. All testimony will be addressed in the FEIS as part of the comment and response process
• FWS, NMFS release EA on interagency consultation on regulatory actions under FIFRA Counterpart Regulations.
  • EA is supposed to be here
• FWS releases Recovery Plan for Pecos sunflower
• FWS: Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan and Receipt of Application for Incidental Take of the Houston Toad by Aqua Water Supply Corporation, Lower Colorado River Authority, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Austin Energy
• FWS: Intent to prepare CCP and associated Environmental Document for 39 Easement Refuges Located in North Dakota
• FWS: Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Thirteenth Regular Meeting; Provisional Agenda; Announcement of Public Meeting

• FWS, FS issue final rule: Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, Subpart C and Subpart D--2004-05 Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife Regulations
• FWS designates 1,093 miles of river and stream channels as critical habitat for three threatened (fine-lined pocketbook, orange-nacre mucket, and Alabama moccasinshell) and eight endangered freshwater mussels (Coosa moccasinshell, ovate clubshell, southern clubshell, dark pigtoe, southern pigtoe, triangular kidneyshell, southern acornshell, and upland combshell)
• FWS extends comment period to Jan. 3, 2005, on 5-year status review of bull trout
• FWS issues draft Recovery Plan for the Coastal-Puget Sound Distinct Population Segment of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus), Volumes I and II
• FWS issues draft Recovery Plan for the Jarbidge River Distinct Population Segment of Bull Trout (Salvelinus Confluentus)
  • Go here for recovery plans

• FWS issues positive 90-day finding on petition to list the New England cottontail. Status review begun.
• NMFS announces the receipt of a request for exempted fishing permits for tuna purse seine vessels to transfer purse seine caught bluefin tuna to a towed cage for the purposes of examining premature shedding of pop-up satellite tags, investigating alternative harvesting methods, and gathering information on how delayed landing of purse seine captured BFT impacts market prices

• FWS proposes special rule under Section 4(d) of the ESA to exempt international, foreign, and interstate commerce in certain beluga sturgeon (Huso huso)
• Notice of Availability of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for Review and Comment, and Notice of Public Meetings
• FWS receives endangered species recovery permit applications
• NMFS announces changes to the commercial limited entry fixed gear primary season sablefish tier limits for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery
• NMFS proposes to amend its regulations governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to operations of the U.S. Navy's Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2004

• FWS, FS provide notice of the Federal Subsistence Board's in-season management action of closure for the Federal subsistence salmon fisheries in Afognak Bay.
• FWS receives endangered species and/or marine mammal permit applications
• FWS receives endangered species and/or marine mammal permit applications
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• FWS issues marine mammal permits
• NMFS has received an application from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for a five-year direct take permit. The permit would authorize take of ESA-listed anadromous fish species associated with monitoring of salmon and steelhead in Nason Creek, a tributary of the Wenatchee River in Washington.
• NPS to prepare EIS for the Quarry Visitor Center, Dinosaur National Monument

• FWS proposes to designate critical habitat for the Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River populations of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
• FWS releases draft CCP/EA for Kern and Pixley National Wildlife Refuges
• FWS will "gather information necessary to prepare an [EIS] on [a] proposed [HCP] for the federally endangered California condor (Tejon Ranch Condor HCP)."
• NMFS proposes to extend the current moratorium on harvesting seamount groundfish from the Hancock Seamount in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) for 6 years, until August 31, 2010
• NMFS proposes rule to implement the 2004 management measures to prevent overfishing of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean tuna stocks, consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) that have been approved by the Department of State under the Tuna Conventions Act

• Some NMFS notices -- check TOC link

• NMFS issues positive 90-day finding for a petition to list elkhorn coral, staghorn coral, and fused-staghorn coral as endangered or threatened, and to designate critical habitat
• NMFS adjusts the daily retention limit for the recreational fishery for Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) for the 2004 fishing year that began June 1, 2004, and ends May 31, 2005
• NMFS is implementing approved measures contained in Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP), developed by the New England Fishery Management Council
• The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the South Carolina Coastal Management Program.
• NMFS asks for comments on amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. FMP Amendment 11 would establish a limited access permit program for the domestic pelagic longline fishery based in American Samoa. The amendment is intended to: reduce the potential for fishing gear conflict in waters of the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around American Samoa, prevent local depletion of Pacific pelagic management unit species, minimize fish bycatch and waste, sustain community participation in the fishery, minimize adverse economic impacts to local communities, and ensure opportunities for future participation by indigenous fishers in the domestic longline fishery
• NMFS has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), a part of Columbia University, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take small numbers of marine mammals (pinnipeds), by harassment, incidental to conducting oceanographic seismic surveys in the Gulf of Alaska
• Michael T. Williams, LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc., has been issued a permit to take northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) for purposes of scientific research

• NMFS announces approval by OMB of collection-of-information requirements contained in regulations implementing Amendment 66 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska

• FWS, on behalf of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the state of Vermont, announces the release for public review of the draft Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA) for the Burgess Brothers, Inc. and Tansitor Electronics, Inc. Superfund Sites
• NMFS: The final rule implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 13) authorized allocation of up to 20 perc