# 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, have received applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on these applications. Before issuing any of the requested permits, we will take into consideration any information that we receive during the public comment period.
**DATES:**
We must receive written data or comments on the applications by April 24, 2023.
**ADDRESSES:**
*Reviewing Documents:* Submit requests for copies of applications and other information submitted with the applications to Karen Marlowe (see *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT* ). All requests and comments should specify the applicant name and application number ( *e.g.,* Mary Smith, ESPER0001234).
*Submitting Comments:* If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by one of the following methods:
• *Email (preferred method): [email protected].* Please include your name and return address in your email message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that we have received your email message, contact us directly at the telephone number listed in *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT* .
• *U.S. mail:* U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Office, Ecological Services, 1875 Century Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30345 (Attn: Karen Marlowe, Permit Coordinator).
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Karen Marlowe, Permit Coordinator, 404-679-7097 (telephone) or *[email protected]* (email). Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite review and comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies on applications we have received for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered and threatened species under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 *et seq.* ), and our regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR part 17. Documents and other information submitted with the applications are available for review, subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a) and the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).
**Background**
With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits take of listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that authorizes such take. The ESA's definition of “take” includes hunting, shooting, harming, wounding, or killing, and also such activities as pursuing, harassing, trapping, capturing, or collecting.
A recovery permit issued by us under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA authorizes the permittee to take endangered or threatened species while engaging in activities that are conducted for scientific purposes that promote recovery of species or for enhancement of propagation or survival of species. These activities often include the capture and collection of species, which would result in prohibited take if a permit were not issued. 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**
The ESA requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits. Accordingly, 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. Proposed activities in the following permit requests are for the recovery and enhancement of propagation or survival of the species in the wild.
| Permit | Applicant | Species | Location | Activity | Type of take | Permit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ES812344-7 | Pennington and Associates, Inc.; Cookeville, TN | Fishes: amber darter (
), blackside dace (
), blue shiner (
), bluemask darter (
), boulder darter (
), chucky madtom (
), Conasauga logperch (
), Cumberland darter (
), duskytail darter (
), laurel dace (
), palezone shiner (
), pygmy madtom (
), and smoky madtom (
); Mussels: Alabama lampmussel (
), Alabama moccansinshell (
), Appalachian elktoe (
), Appalachian monkeyface (
), birdwing pearlymussel (
), clubshell (
), Coosa moccasinshell (
), cracking pearlymussel (
), Cumberland bean (
), Cumberland elktoe (
), Cumberland monkeyface (
), Cumberland pigtoe (
), Cumberlandian combshell (
), dromedary pearlymussel (
), fanshell (
), finelined pocketbook (
), finerayed pigtoe (
), fluted kidneyshell (
), Georgia pigtoe (
), littlewing | Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys, population estimates, and age class determinations | Fishes: capture, handle, identify, and release; Mussels: capture, handle, identify, release, and salvage relic shells; Snails: capture, handle, identify, and release; Crustaceans: capture, handle, identify, measure, sex, and release | Renewal. |
| | | pearlymussel (
), orangefoot pimpleback (
), ovate clubshell (
), oyster mussel (
), pale lilliput (
), pink mucket (
), purple bean (
), purple cat's paw (
), rayed bean (
), ring pink (
), rough pigtoe (
), rough rabbitsfoot (
), scaleshell (
), sheepnose (
), shiny pigtoe (
), slabside pearlymussel (
), snuffbox mussel (
), southern acornshell (
), southern pigtoe (
), spectaclecase (
), tan riffleshell (
[=
]), triangular kidneyshell (
), upland combshell (
), white wartyback (
), and winged mapleleaf (
); Snails: Anthony's riversnail (
) and royal marstonia (
); Crustaceans: Nashville crayfish (
). | | | | |
| ES11866B-1 | Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests, U.S. Forest Service; Columbia, SC | Red-cockaded woodpecker (
) and American chaffseed (
) | South Carolina | Red-cockaded woodpecker: population management and monitoring; American chaffseed: germination and reintroduction | Red-cockaded woodpecker: capture, band, drill nest cavities, install inserts and restrictors, install snake and squirrel excluders, monitor nest cavities and artificial nest cavities, recapture, and translocate; American chaffseed: collect seeds | Renewal and amendment. |
| PER0388631-0 | Gordon-Bryon Stuart Marsh; Raleigh, NC | Amphibians: Neuse River waterdog (
); Fishes: Carolina madtom (
) and Roanoke logperch (
); Mussels: Atlantic pigtoe (
), dwarf wedgemussel (
), Tar River spinymussel (
), and yellow lance (
) | North Carolina and Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys | Amphibians and Fishes: capture, handle, identify, mark, and release; Mussels: capture, handle, identify, mark, release, and salvage relic shells | New. |
| ES67197D-2 | Tyler Black; Chapel Hill, NC | Neuse River waterdog (
), Carolina madtom (
), and sickle darter (
) | North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys | Capture, handle, identify, and release | Amendment. |
| ES206872-12 | Joy O'Keefe, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL | Gray bat (
), Indiana bat (
), northern long-eared bat (
), tricolored bat (
), and Virginia big-eared bat (
) | Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming | Presence/probable absence surveys, studies to document habitat use, population monitoring, and to evaluate potential impacts of white-nose syndrome or other threats | Enter hibernacula or maternity roost caves, capture with mist nets or harp traps, handle, identify, band, radio tag, collect hair samples, swab, use tape to collect mites, wing punch, and release | Renewal and amendment. |
| ES38792A-3 | U.S. Army; Fort Gordon, GA | Red-cockaded woodpecker (
) | Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart, and Fort Benning, Georgia; Apalachicola and Ocala National Forests, Florida; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina | Population management and monitoring | Capture, band, drill nest cavities, install inserts and restrictors, install snake and squirrel excluders, monitor nest cavities and artificial nest cavities, recapture, and translocate | Renewal and amendment. |
| ES05565B-2 | UT-Battelle Corp.; Oak Ridge, TN | Gray bat (
), Indiana bat (
), northern long-eared bat (
), and tricolored bat (
) | Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee | Presence/probable absence surveys | Capture with mist nets, handle, identify, band, wing punch, salvage, and release | Renewal and amendment. |
| ES56515D-1 | Leslie Meade; Richmond, KY | Gray bat (
), Indiana bat (
), northern long-eared bat (
), Ozark big-eared bat (
), and Virginia big-eared bat (
) | Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming | Presence/probable absence surveys, studies to document habitat use, population monitoring, and studies to evaluate potential impacts of white-nose syndrome or other threats | Enter hibernacula or maternity roost caves, capture with harp traps, collect hair samples, wing punch, swab, and release | Amendment. |
| ES089074-5 | Corblu Ecology Group, LLC; Woodstock, GA | Fishes: amber darter (
), blue shiner (
), Cherokee darter (
), Conasauga logperch (
), Etowah darter (
), and goldline darter (
); Mussels: Alabama moccasinshell (Medionidus acutissimus), Coosa moccasinshell (
), fat threeridge (
), finelined pocketbook (
), Georgia pigtoe (
), Gulf moccasinshell (
), oval pigtoe (
), purple bankclimber (
), shinyrayed pocketbook (
), southern clubshell (
), southern pigtoe (
), and triangular kidneyshell (
) | Alabama and Georgia | Presence/probable absence surveys and population monitoring | Fishes: capture, handle, identify, and release; Mussels: capture, handle, identify, release, and salvage relic shells | Renewal. |
| ES054973-7 | Nicholas Haddad, Michigan State University; Hickory Corners, MI | Mitchell's satyr butterfly (
) | Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, and North Carolina | Scientific research | Collect caterpillars and sacrifice or retain all lab-reared caterpillars | Amendment. |
| ES56746B-5 | Joseph Johnson; Cincinnati, OH | Gray bat (
), Indiana bat (
), northern long-eared bat (
), tricolored bat (
), and Virginia big-eared bat (
) | Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys, investigate impacts of white-nose syndrome and habitat management on bat communities, migration studies, and genetic analyses | Enter hibernacula and maternity roost caves, capture with mist nets or harp traps, handle, identify, band, radio tag, wing punch, and release | Renewal and amendment. |
| ES37652B-3 | Blue Ridge Parkway, National Park Service; Asheville, NC | Spruce-fir moss spider (
) and rusty patched bumble bee (
) | North Carolina and Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys | Spruce-fir moss spider: lift bryophyte mats; rusty patched bumble bee: capture, handle, identify, and release | Amendment. |
| ES060988-5 | U.S. Army; Fort Jackson, SC | Red-cockaded woodpecker (
) | South Carolina | Population management and monitoring | Capture, band, monitor nest cavities, construct and monitor artificial nest cavities and restrictors, translocate, recapture, and release | Renewal and amendment. |
| ES43261B-1 | Ann Altman; Columbia, SC | Carolina heelsplitter (
) | North Carolina and South Carolina | Presence/probable absence surveys | Capture, handle, identify, release, and salvage relic shells | Renewal. |
| ES79580A-4 | Jason Butler; Midway, KY | Mammals: gray bat (
), Indiana bat (
), and northern long-eared bat (
); Fishes: blackside dace (
) and Cumberland darter (
) | Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia | Presence/probable absence surveys | Mammals: enter hibernacula or maternity roost caves, capture with mist nets or harp traps, handle, identify, band, radio tag, salvage dead bats, and release; Fishes: capture, handle, identify, and release | Renewal. |
| ES100626-10 | Selby Environmental, Inc.; Decatur, AL | Reptiles: flattened musk turtle (
); Fishes: amber darter (
), blue shiner (
), boulder darter (
), Cahaba shiner (
), chucky madtom (
), Cumberland darter (
), goldline darter (
), laurel dace (
), palezone shiner (
), rush darter (
), spring pygmy sunfish (
), vermilion darter (
), and watercress darter (
); Mussels: Alabama lampmussel (
), Alabama moccasinshell (
), Alabama pearlshell (
), Altamaha spinymussel (
), Appalachian elktoe (
), Appalachian monkeyface (
), black clubshell (
), Chipola slabshell (
), Choctaw bean (
), clubshell (
), Coosa moccasinshell (
), cracking pearlymussel (
), Cumberland bean (
), Cumberland elktoe (
), Cumberland monkeyface (
), Cumberland pigtoe (
), Cumberlandian combshell | Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin | Presence/probable absence surveys | Reptiles: flattened musk turtle: capture, identify, measure, and release; Fishes: capture, handle, identify, and release; Mussels: capture, handle, identify, release, and salvage relic shells; Snails: capture, handle, identify, release, collect vouchers, and salvage relic shells; Crustaceans: Nashville crayfish: capture, identify, measure, sex, and release | Renewal. |
| | | (
), dark pigtoe (
), dromedary pearlymussel (
), fanshell (
), fat pocketbook (
), fat threeridge (
), finelined pocketbook (
), finerayed pigtoe (
), flat pigtoe (
), fluted kidneyshell (
), fuzzy pigtoe (
), Georgia pigtoe (
), green blossom (
), Gulf moccasinshell (
), heavy pigtoe (
), inflated heelsplitter (
), littlewing pearlymussel (
), narrow pigtoe (
), Neosho mucket (
), Ochlockonee moccasinshell (
), orangefoot pimpleback (
), orangenacre mucket (
), Ouachita rock pocketbook (
), oval pigtoe (
), ovate clubshell (
), pale lilliput (
), pink mucket (
), purple bean (
), purple cat's paw (
), rabbitsfoot (
), rayed bean (
), ring pink (
), rough pigtoe (
), round ebonyshell | | | | |
| | | (
), rought rabbitsfoot (
), scaleshell (
), shiny pigtoe (
), shinyrayed pocketbook (
), slabside pearlymussel (
), southern acornshell (
), southern clubshell (
), southern combshell (
), southern kidneyshell (
), southern pigtoe (
), southern sandshell (
), spectaclecase (
), stirrupshell (
), tapered pigtoe (
), triangular kidneyshell (
), tubercled blossom (
), turgid blossom (
), upland combshell (
), white wartyback (
), and winged mapleleaf (
); Snails: Anthony's riversnail (
), armored snail (
), cylindrical lioplax (
), diamond tryonia (
), flat pebblesnail (
), Gonzales tryonia (
[=
]), interrupted rocksnail | | | | |
| | | (
), lacy elimia (
), painted rocksnail (
), Pecos assimenia snail (
), phantom tryonia (
), plicate rocksnail (
), rough hornsnail (
), round rocksnail (
), royal marstonia (
), slender campeloma (
), and tulotoma snail (
); Crustaceans: Nashville crayfish (
). | | | | |
| PER1408431-0 | Carnivorous Plant Nursery; Smithsburg, MD | (green pitcher-plant),
ssp.
(Alabama canebrake pitcher-plant), and
ssp.
(mountain sweet pitcher-plant) | Maryland | Interstate commerce | Sell artificially propagated plants in interstate commerce | New. |
| ES38397A-2 | Kathryn Craven; Savannah, GA | Green sea turtle (
), hawksbill sea turtle (
), Kemp's ridley sea turtle (
), leatherback sea turtle (
), and loggerhead sea turtle (
) | Georgia | Monitor and evaluate nest hatching success and conduct scientific research | Salvage hatched eggs, inviable eggs, and dead embryos, and collect cloacal swabs from wild or captive individuals | Renewal and amendment. |
**Public Availability of Comments**
Written comments we receive become part of the administrative record associated with this action. 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. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their entirety.
**Next Steps**
If we decide to issue a permit to an applicant listed in this notice, we will publish a notice in the *Federal Register* .
**Authority**
We publish this notice under section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 *et seq.* ).
John Tirpak,
Deputy Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Southeast Region.