[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26202]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 25, 1994]
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50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AB66
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of
Comment Period on Proposed Threatened Status for the Goliath Frog
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a reopening
of the comment period on the proposed rule to list the goliath frog
(Conraua goliath) as threatened through to November 1, 1994, in order
to allow additional time for receipt of comments from affected
countries.
DATES: Comments from all interested parties must be received by
November 1, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments, information, and questions should be submitted to
the Chief, Office of Scientific Authority; Mail Stop: 725, Arlington
Square, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington, D.C. 20240. Fax
number (703) 358-2276. Express and messenger delivered mail should be
addressed to the Office of Scientific Authority; Room 750, 4401 North
Fairfax Drive; Arlington, Virginia 22203. Comments and other
information received will be available for public inspection, by
appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at the
Arlington, Virginia, address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Charles W. Dane, Office of
Scientific Authority, at the above address, or by phone at (703) 358-
1708.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Following the receipt and review of a petition dated April 9, 1991,
to add the goliath frog to the List of Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife, the Service proposed in a September 12, 1991, Federal
Register notice (56 FR 46397) to list the goliath frog as threatened.
The information received in response to the request for comments
contained in the proposed rule, as well as the comments received at the
March 2-13, 1992, meeting of the Parties to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), left questions as to whether listing under the Act is
warranted. Consequently, a final decision has yet to be announced, and
the comment period was reopened on July 19, 1994 (59 FR 36737) to close
on October 17, 1994.
Additional information was requested from the CITES Management
Authorities of the range countries, i.e., Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,
and Gabon, before September 10, 1994. However, the official contact
with those countries through the U.S. Embassies in those countries was
completed at a later date. Therefore, in order to provide adequate
opportunity to receive additional information those countries were
informed that their comments would be accepted until November 1, 1994.
Public Comments Solicited
The Service intends that any final decision on the proposed rule
will accurately reflect the status of the species and will be based on
the best available scientific and commercial information. Therefore,
comments and suggestions concerning any aspect of this proposed rule
are hereby solicited from the public, concerned governmental agencies,
the scientific community, industry, private interests, and other
parties. Information is sought on the listing criteria described in the
Act:
(1) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of this species' habitat or its range;
(2) Any overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific,
or educational purposes;
(3) Disease factors or natural predation that may threaten this
species;
(4) Any inadequacies of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
(5) Other natural or manmade factors affecting this species'
continued existence.
The Service is particularly interested in the following
information:
(1) Information on habitat requirements, distribution of that
habitat, and threats to that habitat, as well as documentation of past
or future habitat losses and threats to that habitat throughout the
range of the goliath frog; and in particular quantification of the loss
of rainforest in the species' range, and information on the
displacement or extirpation of the species when rainforest along river
habitat of the species is opened for cultivation.
(2) Information as to any known population estimates or surveys of
this species;
(3) Further information on local utilization of this species;
(4) Any information on the reproductive biology of this species,
especially as it may relate to its ability to sustain harvest;
(5) Information as to the extent of commercial trade in this
species, especially information on international trade other than
imports into the United States; and
(6) Information as to current ability to transport and maintain and
reproduce this species in captivity.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 14, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-26202 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M
