Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River Populations of Bull Trout

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River populations of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). For the Jarbidge River population, the proposed critical habitat designation includes approximately 131 miles (mi) (211 kilometers (km)) of streams in Idaho and Nevada. For the Coastal-Puget Sound population, the proposed critical habitat designation totals approximately 2,290 mi (3,685 km) of streams, 52,540 acres (ac) (21,262 hectares (ha)) of lakes, and 985 mi (1,585 km) of marine shoreline in Washington. For the Saint Mary-Belly River population, the proposed critical habitat designation totals approximately 88 mi (142 km) of streams and 6,295 ac (2,548 ha) of lakes in Montana. Section 4 of the Act requires us to consider the economic and other relevant impacts of specifying any area as critical habitat. We will conduct an analysis of the economic impacts of designating these areas in a manner that is consistent with the ruling of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in N.M. Cattle Growers Ass'n v. USFWS. We