94-31747. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of Comment Period on Data Pertaining to the Subspecies Taxonomy of the California Gnatcatcher  

  • [Federal Register Volume 59, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 27, 1994)]
    [Unknown Section]
    [Page 0]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 94-31747]
    
    
    [[Page Unknown]]
    
    [Federal Register: December 27, 1994]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
    50 CFR Part 17
    
     
    
    Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of 
    Comment Period on Data Pertaining to the Subspecies Taxonomy of the 
    California Gnatcatcher
    
    AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
    
    ACTION: Notice of reopening of public comment period.
    
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    SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) gives notice that 
    the comment period on the data pertaining to the subspecies taxonomy of 
    the California gnatcatcher is reopened through January 26, 1995. The 
    Service has reopened the comment period to ensure that the public may 
    review and comment on significant comments and analyses received during 
    the original public comment period, which was open from June 2, to 
    December 1, 1994.
    
    DATES: Comments and materials must be received by January 26, 1995.
    
    ADDRESSES: Comments and materials concerning the original public 
    comments and analyses should be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
    Service, Carlsbad Field Office, 2730 Loker Avenue West, Carlsbad, 
    California 92008. The data, original and subsequent public comments, 
    and other materials received will be available for public inspection 
    during normal business hours at the above address.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Gail Kobetich, Field Supervisor, at the address listed above (telephone 
    619/431-9440, facsimile 619/431-9624).
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    Background
    
        On March 30, 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) 
    published a final rule in the Federal Register determining the coastal 
    California gnatcatcher to be a threatened species (58 FR 16741). In its 
    decision to the list the gnatcatcher, the Service relied, in part, on 
    taxonomic studies conducted by Dr. Jonathan Atwood of the Manomet Bird 
    Observatory, Manomet, Massachusetts. As is the standard practice in the 
    scientific community, the Service did not request, nor was it offered, 
    the data collected and used by Dr. Atwood in reaching his conclusions. 
    Instead, the Service depended upon the conclusions published by Dr. 
    Atwood in a peer-reviewed scientific article on the subspecific 
    taxonomy of the California gnatcatcher (Atwood 1991).
        In response to a suit filed by the Endangered Species Committee of 
    the Building Industry Association of Southern California and other 
    plaintiffs, the United States District Court of the District of 
    Columbia vacated the listing of the coastal California gnatcatcher 
    because the Service did not make available Atwood's data for public 
    review and comment. In response to the court decision, Dr. Atwood 
    released his data to the Service, which the agency made available to 
    the public for review and comment on June 2, 1994 (59 FR 28508). On 
    June 16, 1994, the court reinstated threatened status for the coastal 
    California gnatcatcher until the Secretary of the Interior determines 
    in a finding whether the listing should be revised or revoked in light 
    of his review of the subject data and public comments received during 
    the comment period. As a result of the court orders of July 27, 1994, 
    and September 30, 1994, the Service extended the comment period to 
    December 1, 1994, (59 FR 38426, 59 FR 44125, and 59 FR 53628).
        The Service received 11 substantive comments in response to the 
    request for public comments on Dr. Atwood's data and analysis. Of 
    particular note, Dr. William Link mathematician, and Grey Pendleton, 
    biometrician, with the National Biological Survey (NBS) conducted new 
    analyses of these data and presented it in a report (Link and Pendleton 
    1994). Their four conclusions were:
        (1) That the morphological characters in Atwood's data set vary 
    along the geographical gradient,
        (2) That the changes in characters are more reasonably represented 
    by discrete groupings than by a gradual pattern of change, and are thus 
    consistent with the existence of subgroups within the population,
        (3) That there is at least 1 break north of site 5 (Atwood's BG27) 
    [approximately 30 deg. N latitude], and
        (4) That there is at least 1 break south of site 5.
        Moreover, the Service received two additional statistical analyses 
    (Dr. Atwood; and Dr. Karen Messer, Department of Mathematics, 
    California State University, Fullerton) that supported a southern 
    terminus of 30 deg. N latitude for the coastal California gnatcatcher. 
    However, the Service received three significant comments that, for 
    various reasons, did not support such a southern terminus (Dr. George 
    Barrowclough, ornithologist from New York; Dr. Lyman McDonald, 
    consultant from Wyoming; and Dr. James MacMahon and other colleagues, 
    College of Science, Utah State University).
        In light of the NBS report (Link and Pendleton 1994), the Service 
    reopens the comment period to ensure that the public may review and 
    comment on this and other significant comments and analyses received 
    during the original public comment period. The comment period is opened 
    through January 26, 1995.
    
    References Cited
    
    Atwood, J.L. 1991. Subspecies limits and geographic patterns of 
    morphological variation in California gnatcatchers (Polioptila 
    californica). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy Sciences 
    90:118-133.
    Link, W.A., and G.W. Pendleton. 1994. New analysis of Atwood's 
    California gnatcatcher data. National Biological Survey unpublished 
    report 28 pp.
    
    Authority
    
        The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
    1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
    
    List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
    
        Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and 
    recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
    
        Dated: December 19, 1994.
    Thomas Dwyer,
    Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
    [FR Doc. 94-31747 Filed 12-23-94; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4310-55-M
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
12/27/1994
Department:
Interior Department
Entry Type:
Uncategorized Document
Action:
Notice of reopening of public comment period.
Document Number:
94-31747
Dates:
Comments and materials must be received by January 26, 1995.
Pages:
0-0 (1 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Federal Register: December 27, 1994
CFR: (1)
50 CFR 17