[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1583-1584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-564]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AF56
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of
Reopening of Comment Period on the Proposed Rule To List the Alabama
Sturgeon as Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, give notice that we are
reopening the comment period on the proposed rule to list the Alabama
sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi) as endangered. We are reopening the
comment period to enter into the record Dr. Stephen Fain's 1999 study,
The Development of a DNA Procedure for the Forensic Identification of
Caviar, and any comments we receive related specifically to the
relationship of this study, as it pertains to the proposed listing of
the Alabama sturgeon as endangered. We invite all interested parties to
submit comments on this study as it relates to the proposed
determination.
DATES: We will accept comments until February 10, 2000. We will
consider any comments received by the closing date in the final
decision on this proposal.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any
one of several methods. You may mail or hand-deliver comments to the
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi Field
Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi 39213. You may
also comment via the Internet to paul_hartfield@fws.gov. See
Supplementary Information for comment procedures.
To obtain a copy of the aforementioned study, you can download or
print one from http://endangered.fws.gov/listing/index.htm (under
Announcements) or contact Kelly Bibb at 404/679-7132 (phone) or 404/
679-7081 (facsimile) to receive a faxed or mailed copy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Hartfield (see ADDRESSES
section), 601/321-1125; facsimile 601/965-4340.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Alabama sturgeon is a small freshwater sturgeon that was
historically found only in the Mobile River Basin of Alabama and
Mississippi. The Alabama sturgeon's historic range once included about
1,600 kilometers (km) (1,000 miles (mi)) of the Mobile River system in
Alabama (Black Warrior, Tombigbee, Alabama, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Mobile,
Tensaw, and Cahaba rivers) and Mississippi (Tombigbee River). Since
1985, all confirmed captures of this fish have been from a short, free-
flowing reach of the Alabama River below Miller's Ferry and Claiborne
Locks and Dams in Clarke, Monroe, and Wilcox counties, Alabama. The
decline of the Alabama sturgeon is attributed to over-fishing, loss and
fragmentation of habitat as a result of historical navigation-related
development, and water quality degradation. Current threats primarily
result from its small population numbers and its inability to offset
mortality rates with reproduction and recruitment.
On March 26, 1999, we published a rule proposing endangered status
for the
[[Page 1584]]
Alabama sturgeon in the Federal Register (64 FR 14676). Section
4(b)(5)(E) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that we hold a
public hearing if it is requested within 45 days of the publication of
the proposed rule. Sheldon Morgan, Chairman, Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers
Coalition, requested a public hearing within the allotted time period.
On May 25, 1999, we published a notice in the Federal Register
announcing a public hearing and extending the comment period until July
5, 1999 (64 FR 28142). We held a public hearing on June 24, 1999, at
the Montgomery Civic Center in Montgomery, Alabama. We published
another extension of the comment period on July 12, 1999 (64 FR 37492).
While the proposed rule was out for comment, we received a wide range
of comments on numerous issues which will be addressed in our final
determination. The purpose of reopening the comment period through
February 10, 2000, is to enter into the record Dr. Stephen Fain's 1999
study, The Development of a DNA Procedure for the Forensic
Identification of Caviar, and any comments we receive that address the
relationship of this study to the proposed listing of the Alabama
sturgeon as endangered.
Public Comments Solicited
We intend that any final action resulting from this proposal will
be as accurate and as effective as possible. Therefore, we request
comments or suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental
agencies, the scientific community, industry, or any other interested
party concerning this study and its relation to the proposed rule. In
making a final decision, we will take into consideration the comments
we receive and their relationship to the proposed action. Such
communications may lead to a final determination that differs from this
proposal.
The previous comment period on this proposal closed on September
10, 1999. To allow all interested parties time to submit their comments
for the record, we are reopening the comment period until February 10,
2000.
Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use
of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include
``Attention: [Alabama sturgeon]'' and your name and return address in
your Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the
system that we have received your Internet message, contact us directly
at the above address or by telephone at 601/965-4900. Finally, you may
hand-deliver comments to the above address. Our practice is to make
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents
may request that we withhold their home address from the rulemaking
record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also
may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking
record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at
the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous
comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials or organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety. Comments and materials
received will be available for public inspection, by appointment,
during normal business hours at the above address.
References Cited
Fain, S.R., J.P. Lemay, J. Shafer, R.M. Hoesch, and B.H. Hamlin. 1999.
Unpublished report. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory,
Ashland, OR. 23 pp. with figures.
Author
The primary author of this notice is Paul Hartfield (see ADDRESSES
section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: January 4, 2000.
H. Dale Hall,
Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 00-564 Filed 1-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
