[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9119-9120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4512]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Services, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides notice that
the public
[[Page 9120]]
comment period on the proposed list or the Pecos pupfish (Cyprinodon
pecosensis) as an endangered species is reopened. The Service, in
cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico
Divison of State Parks, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Bureau
of Land Management, has formulated a Conservation Agreement that may
provide significant new information concerning the threats to the
survival of the species. The comment period was reopened from December
28, 1998, to January 27, 1999, to allow all interested parties to
submit comments on the proposal and the draft Conservation Agreement.
Comments were received on the last day of the public comment period
from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico that would add
a signatory entity to the agreement, the New Mexico Department of
Agriculture. Reopening the public comment period will allow sufficient
time for all entities involved with the Conservation Agreement to sign
the document.
DATES: The comment period for this proposal and the Conversation
Agreement will be reopened February 24, 1999 and will close on March
26, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and materials should be sent to the Field
Supervisor. New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna NE,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. Comments and materials received will be
available for public inspection during normal business hours, by
appointment, at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Fowler-Propst, Field Supervisor, New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office, at the above address (505) 346-2525.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Pecos pupfish was proposed for listing as an endangered species
on January 30, 1998 (63 FR 4608). A public hearing on the proposal was
held in Carlisbad, New Mexico on April 9, 1998. During the extended
public comment period (January 30 to November 20, 1998) we contacted
state and Federal land and resource management agencies in New Mexico
and Texas to determine if adequate protections could be implemented
through a Conservation Agreement. The Conservation Agreement was made
available for public review from December 28, 1998, to January 27,
1999. This comment period did not allow sufficient time for the
signatory entities to fully execute the document.
The Conservation Agreement sets forth the commitments of state and
Federal agencies to control nonnative competing species and to protect
and manage the Pecos pupfish and its habitat to ensure its survival and
promote its conservation. The Agreement addresses the significant
threats to the species arising from its small, isolated populations and
from the potential for hybridization with the sheepshead minnow
(Cyprinodon variegatus). The signatory agencies to the Agreement have
made commitments protect known extant populations of pure Pecos
pupfish, expand the distribution of the species within its native range
by establishing new population, and to prohibit the use of sheepshead
minnow through revision of baitfish regulations in New Mexico and
Texas. If these commitments are adequate in removing the identified
threats to the Pecos pupfish, listing of the species may not be
required.
Author
The primary author of this document is Jennifer Fowler-Propst, New
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1532 et seq.).
Dated: February 18, 1999.
Nancy M. Kaufman,
Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 99-4512 Filed 2-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M
