# U.S. Endangered Species; Recovery Permit Applications
**AGENCY:**
Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
**ACTION:**
Notice of receipt of permit applications; request for comments.
**SUMMARY:**
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for a permit to conduct activities intended to recover and enhance endangered species survival. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), prohibits certain activities that may impact endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.
**DATES:**
To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by August 30, 2018.
**ADDRESSES:**
*Document availability:* Request documents by phone or email: Susan Jacobsen, 505-248-6641, *[email protected].*
*Comment submission:* Submit comments by U.S. mail to Susan Jacobsen, Classification and Recovery Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, NM 87103. Please specify the permit you are interested in by number ( *e.g.,* Permit No. TE-123456).
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Susan Jacobsen, Chief, Classification and Restoration Division, 505-248-6641.
**Background**
With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities that constitute take of listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. The ESA's definition of “take” includes hunting, shooting, harming, wounding, or killing but also such activities as pursuing, harassing, trapping, capturing, or collecting.
The ESA and our implementing regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) title 50, part 17, provide for issuing such permits and require that we invite public comment before issuing permits for activities involving endangered species.
A recovery permit we issue under the ESA, section 10(a)(1)(A), authorizes the permittee to conduct activities with endangered or threatened species for scientific purposes that promote recovery or enhance the species' propagation or survival. These activities often include such prohibited actions as capture and collection. Our regulations implementing section 10(a)(1)(A) for these permits are found at 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, and 50 CFR 17.72 for threatened plant species.
**Permit Applications Available for Review and Comment**
Documents and other information submitted with these applications are available for review by any party who submits a request as specified in *ADDRESSES* . Releasing documents is subject to the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) requirements.
Proposed activities in the following permit requests are for the recovery and enhancement of propagation or survival of the species in the wild. We invite local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies and the public to submit written data, views, or arguments with respect to these applications. The comments and recommendations that will be most useful and likely to influence agency decisions are those supported by quantitative information or studies. Please refer to the application number when submitting comments.
| Application No. | Applicant | Species | Location | Activity | Type of take | Permit action |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TE-72370C | Gonzales, Kelly; Houston, Texas | Aplomado Falcon
Interior Least Tern
Gulf Coast jaguarundi
Ocelot
Piping Plover
Red Knot | Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas | Presence/absence surveys, Nest monitoring | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-79697C | Clark, Barrett; Kyle, Texas | Coffin Cave mold beetle
Helotes mold beetle
Robber Baron Cave meshweaver
Madla Cave meshweaver
Bracken Bat Cave meshweaver
Government Canyon Bat Cave meshweaver
Government Canyon Bat Cave spider
Tooth Cave spider
Ground beetle
Ground beetle
Tooth Cave ground beetle
Tooth Cave pseudoscorpion
Kretschmarr Cave mold beetle
Cokendolpher cave harvestmen
Bee Creek Cave harvestmen
Bone Cave harvestman
Diminutive amphipod
Pecos amphipod
Comal Springs riffle beetle
Peck's Cave amphipod
Comal Springs dryopid beetle | Texas | Habitat assessments, presence/absence surveys, biological monitoring, biological inventories | Capture, harm, and harass, injury, death, removal | New. |
| TE-79170C | Ogle, Jennifer; Fayetteville, Arkansas | American burying beetle (
) | Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm, harass | New. |
| TE-43719A | Desert Botanical Garden; Phoenix, Arizona | Acuna cactus
var.
Kuenzler hedgehog cactus
var. | Arizona, New Mexico | Collection of tissue | Harm | Renew. |
| TE-168185 | Cox/McClain Environmental Consulting; Austin, Texas | Gray bat
Northern long-eared bat
Ozark big-eared bat | Oklahoma | Capture, handle, tag, and release, presence/absence surveys, habitat assessments, habitat use studies, population monitoring, collection of tissue | Capture, harm, harass | Amend. |
| TE-148363 | Martin, Keith; Claremore, Oklahoma | American burying beetle
Northern long-eared bat | Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma | Presence/absence surveys, abundance inventories, presence/absence trapping, acoustic surveys, hibernacula monitoring, collection of tissue, exit surveys, banding, construction and repair internal grill/gate systems | Capture, harm, harass | Renew. |
| TE-009926-3 | Gulf South Research Corporation; Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Reticulated flatwoods salamander
Chiricahua leopard frog (
Southwestern willow flycatcher
Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog
Yosemite toad
Arroyo toad
Giant garter snake (
Interior Least Tern | Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, New Mexico | Presence/absence surveys, seining | Capture, harm, harass | Amend. |
| TE-77509C-0 | Schuster, Sara; Saint Louis, Missouri | Golden-cheeked Warbler | Texas | Presence/absence surveys, nest monitoring | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-74409C | Kitchen, Matthew; San Antonio, Texas | Golden-cheeked Warbler | Texas | Presence/absence surveys, habitat surveys | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-72898C | Williams, David; Fayetteville, Arkansas | American burying beetle | Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm and harass | New. |
| TE-71114C-0 | Kainer, Patrick; Austin, Texas | Houston toad | Texas | Presence/absence surveys | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-73319B-0 | Thompson, Brent; Los Alamos, New Mexico | Jemez Mountains salamander (
Southwestern willow flycatcher ( | New Mexico | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm, harass | Amend. |
| TE-72371C | Boone, Aaron; San Antonio, Texas | Golden-cheeked Warbler (
), Black-capped Vireo | Oklahoma, Texas | Presence/absence surveys, nest monitoring, habitat suitability surveys | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-60111B | Robb, Natalie; Mesa, Arizona | Razorback sucker
Bonytail chub
Colorado pikeminnow
Humpback chub (
Spikedace | Arizona, California, Nevada | Presence/absence surveys, electrofishing, minnow traps, hoop nets, seines, dip nets, snorkeling, angling and/or trammel or gill nets | Capture, harm and harass | Amend. |
| TE-72895C | Schatte, Joshua; Guthrie, Oklahoma | American burying beetle | Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm, and harass | New. |
| TE-69480C | Haverland, Matthew; San Marcos, Texas | Golden-cheeked Warbler (
) | Texas | Presence/absence surveys, territory mapping, nest monitoring | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE-17880C | Garrett, Timothy; Houston, Texas | American burying beetle | Oklahoma | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm, and harass | Amend. |
| TE-71101C-0 | Ramirez, Abbey; Tahlequah, Oklahoma | American burying beetle | Oklahoma | Presence/absence surveys | Capture, harm, and harass | New. |
| TE-71110C | Durish, Nevin; Austin, Texas | Golden-cheeked Warbler (
), Black-capped Vireo
Houston toad ( | Oklahoma, Texas | Presence/absence surveys | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE40886B | Zahratka, Jennifer; Durango, Colorado | Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
Black-footed ferret (
) | Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah | Presence/absence surveys | Harm and harass | Amend. |
| TE82893C | Pina, Anna; El Paso, Texas | Roswell springsnail (
), Koster's springsnail (
), Pecos asseiminea snail (
), Noel's amphipod (
) | New Mexico, Texas | Sampling, collection | Harm and harass | New. |
| TE30430B | University of Houston—Clear Lake; Houston, TX | Leon Springs pupfish (
), Comanche Springs pupfish (
), Big Bend gambusia (
), Pecos gambusia (
), Smalleye shiner (
), Sharpnose shiner (
) | Texas | Sampling, collecting | Harm and harass | Amend. |
**Public Availability of Comments**
All comments and materials we receive in response to these requests will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the address listed in *ADDRESSES* .
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
**Authority:**
We provide this notice under section 10 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 *et seq.* ).
Dated: March 30, 2018.
Amy L. Lueders.
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.