[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57640-57642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28882]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding for
a Petition To List the Junaluska Salamander as Endangered With Critical
Habitat
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
[[Page 57641]]
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding and initiation of status
review.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 90-day
finding for a petition to list the Junaluska salamander (Eurycea
junaluska) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
The Service finds that the petition presents substantial information
indicating that listing this species may be warranted. A status review
is initiated.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on October 8,
1998. To be considered in the 12-month finding for this petition,
information and comments should be submitted to the Service by December
28, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Data, information, comments, or questions concerning this
petition should be sent to the State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Asheville Field Office, 160 Zillicoa Street, Asheville, North
Carolina 28801. The petition finding, supporting data, and comments are
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business
hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. J. Allen Ratzlaff (see
``ADDRESSES'' section), telephone 828/258-3939, Ext. 229; facsimile
828/258-5330.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the Service make a
finding as to whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a
species presents substantial scientific or commercial information to
demonstrate that the petitioned action may be warranted. This finding
is to be based on all information available to the Service at the time
the finding is made. To the maximum extent practicable, the finding
shall be made within 90 days following receipt of the petition and
promptly published in the Federal Register. Following a positive
finding, section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires the Service to promptly
commence a status review of the species.
The processing of this petition conforms with the Service's final
listing priority guidance for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, published in
the Federal Register on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502). The guidance calls
for giving highest priority to handling emergency situations (Tier 1);
second highest priority to resolving the listing status of outstanding
proposed listings, resolving the conservation status of candidate
species, processing administrative findings on petitions, and
processing a limited number of delistings and reclassifications (Tier
2); and third priority to processing proposed and final designations of
critical habitat (Tier 3). The processing of this petition falls under
Tier 2.
The Service has made a 90-day finding on a petition to list the
Junaluska salamander (Eurycea junaluska). The petition, dated March 30,
1998, was submitted by Mr. Ray Vaughan on behalf of Appalachian Voices
and the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and was received by the Service
on March 31, 1998. It requests the Service to list the Junaluska
salamander as endangered and designate critical habitat under 16 U.S.C.
Sec. 1533(a)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act. The petition
identifies timber harvesting, nonnative trout, exposure to acid-bearing
rock, siltation, genetic drift, the inadequacy of current laws, and
naturally occurring events as immediate threats to the species'
continued existence.
The petitioners submitted claims that the Junaluska salamander is
imperiled because, ``despite decades of searching, only six or seven
populations have been found'' and ``even within those populations,
adult individuals are extremely rare.'' Further elaborating on this
point, the petitioners quote one source as stating, ``Trends of
existing populations are not known; however, the rarity of existing
populations suggests that most populations have suffered long-term
declines.'' Some of the demographic problems associated with small
population size are also cited as threats. The petitioners also
identify ``stocked trout, timber harvesting, `exposure to acid-bearing
Anakeesta rock formations during road construction,' and other
disturbances that dump silt into their stream habitat'' as threats to
the species. The petitioners also claim that existing laws are
inadequate to protect the species, specifically the U.S. Forest
Service's (USFS) National Forest Management Act.
The Service concurs with the petitioners that this is a rare
species, currently known from only six populations. However, rarity in
itself is not a listing criterion (see section 4 of the Act). The
petitioners assert that the rarity of adults is indicative of low
recruitment into the population, citing one researcher as collecting
only 50 adults in 10 years of field work. This may be true, but others
have collected as many as 18 adults in a single night (W. Gutzke,
University of Memphis, personal communication, 1998). The rarity of
collected adults is possibly more a function of sampling.
One of the main reasons the petitioners cite for the need to list
the Junaluska salamander is ``clearcuts and sediment from timber sales
and road building operations of the U.S. Forest Service''
(specifically, a salvage sale in the Snowbird Creek drainage in Graham
County, North Carolina). The circumstances regarding the proposed USFS
salvage operation on Snowbird Creek have changed since the petition was
written, and the mitigation efforts implemented to minimize impacts to
the species, specifically sedimentation, may now nullify this sale as
an example of the potential threats to the species and its habitat.
The Service recognizes the potential threat from the exposure of
acid-bearing rock in watersheds that harbor the Junaluska salamander.
Construction of the Cherohala Skyway from Robbinsville, North Carolina,
to Tellico Plains, Tennessee, resulted in exposure of acid-bearing rock
(Anakeesta) in the Santeetlah Creek drainage as well as portions of the
Tellico River system in Tennessee. Acid-producing materials (usually
rock containing pyritic sulfur in excess of 0.5 percent, with little or
no alkaline materials) produce acidic leachate upon weathering. The
acidic leachate may result in downstream pH values of 4.5.
Excavation for road construction facilitates weathering by exposing
additional rock surface area. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
has published guidelines for handling situations with acid-producing
materials (FHWA 1989). However, it is not clear what effect some of the
mitigation measures for handling acidic rock may ultimately have on
aquatic life.
The Service agrees that the other threats listed by the petitioners
(genetic drift, nonnative trout, and naturally occurring events [at
least for individual populations]), along with several other factors
(including nonpoint source pollution from other than USFS activities
and competition with other salamander species) could potentially
threaten this species.
The Service has reviewed the petition, its accompanying literature,
and other literature and information in the Service's files. On the
basis of the best scientific and commercial information available, the
Service finds that the petition presents substantial information
indicating that listing the Junaluska salamander may be warranted. The
Service believes the petitioners have presented adequate information
about the status, distribution, and abundance of the
[[Page 57642]]
Junaluska salamander and that they have addressed most of the potential
threats to the species in North Carolina. However, the Service is in
need of additional information to adequately assess the status of the
species in Tennessee, to locate additional populations, and to identify
those factors that may affect its persistence. Prior to receiving the
subject petition, the Service had some knowledge of the status of the
Junaluska salamander, principally in North Carolina. Consequently, the
Service had initiated a status survey for the Tennessee portion of the
species' range. In addition, the USFS is working with the Service and
several other agencies and organizations to begin a multi-agency
conservation agreement to minimize or eliminate the threats to the
species in North Carolina.
The petitioners also requested that critical habitat be designated
for the Junaluska salamander. If after completion of the status review
the Service determines that the petition to list the Junaluska
salamander as endangered is warranted, the issue of designating
critical habitat would be addressed in the subsequent proposed rule.
References Cited
Bruce, R. C. 1982. Egg laying, larval periods, and metamorphosis of
Eurycea bislineata and E. junaluska at Santeetlah Creek, North
Carolina. Copeia 1982(4):755-762.
Bruce, R. C., and T. J. Ryan. 1995. Distribution and population
status of the salamander, Eurycea junaluska. U.S. Forest Service
Challenge Cost Share Report. No. 11-287. 84 pp.
Federal Highway Administration. 1989. Guidelines for handling
excavated acid-producing materials. FHWA/DF/89001, March 1989.
Mittleman, M. B. 1949. American Caudata VI: the races of Eurycea
bislineata. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 62:89-96.
Ryan, T. J. 1998. Larval life history and abundance of a rare
salamander, Eurycea junaluska. J. of Herpetology 32(1):10-17.
Sever, D. M. 1979. Male secondary sexual characters of the Eurycea
bislineata (Amphibia, Urodela, Plethodontidae) complex in the
Southern Appalachian Mountains. J. Herpetology 13:245-253.
________. 1983. Observations on the distribution and reproduction of
the salamander Eurycea junaluska in Tennessee. J. Tenn. Acad. Sci.
58:48-50.
Sever, D. M., H. A. Dundee, and C. D. Sullivan. 1976. A new Eurycea
(Amphibia: Plethodontidae) from southwestern North Carolina.
Herpetologica 32:26-29.
Author: The primary author of this document is Mr. J. Allen
Ratzlaff (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 8, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-28882 Filed 10-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
