[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32635-32636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15786]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AE
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of
Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearings on Proposed Threatened
Status for the Plant Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos Sunflower)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearings and reopening of
comment period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides notice
that three public hearings will be held on the proposed determination
of threatened status for Helianthus paradoxus (Pecos sunflower). This
plant is dependent on desert wetlands in New Mexico and western Texas.
DATES: Public hearings will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 8,
1998, in Fort Stockton, Texas; July 9, 1998, in Roswell, New Mexico;
and July 13, 1998, in Grants, New Mexico. The comment period, which
originally closed on June 1, 1998, is reopened and now closes on August
13, 1998.
ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held at the large Community Hall
in James Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway)
in Fort Stockton, Texas; the Roswell Public Library, 301 North
Pennsylvania Avenue, in Roswell, New Mexico; and the City Hall Council
Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue, in Grants, New Mexico. Written
comments and materials should be sent to the Field Supervisor, New
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2105 Osuna Road, NE., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113, facsimile
505/346-2542. Comments and materials received will be available for
public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment, at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlie McDonald, Endangered Species
Botanist, at the above address or telephone 505/346-2525, ext. 112;
facsimile 505/346-2542.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Pecos sunflower is a wetland plant that grows in permanently
saturated soils. Areas that maintain these conditions are mostly desert
wetlands (cienegas) associated with springs, but they may also include
stream margins and the margins of impoundments. When Pecos sunflowers
are associated with impoundments, the impoundments typically have
replaced natural cienega habitats. Pecos sunflower is presently known
from 25 sites that occur in 5 general areas. These areas are Pecos and
Reeves counties, Texas, in the vicinity of Fort Stockton and Balmorhea;
Chaves County, New Mexico, from Dexter to just north of Roswell;
Guadalupe County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Santa Rosa; Valencia
County, New Mexico, along the lower part of the Rio San Jose; and
Cibola County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Grants. Threats to Pecos
sunflower include drying of wetlands from groundwater depletion;
alteration of wetlands (e.g. wetland fills, draining, impoundment
construction); competition with nonnative plant species, particularly
saltcedar; excessive livestock grazing; mowing; and highway
maintenance.
On April 1, 1998, the Service published a proposed rule to list the
Pecos sunflower as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act). Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the
Act requires that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45
days of the publication of a proposed rule in the Federal Register.
Public hearing requests were received within the allotted time period
from the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau; New Mexico County Farm
and Livestock Bureaus in Colfax, Cibola-McKinley, and Santa Fe
counties; Production Credit Association of New Mexico; Texas and
Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; and Davis Mountains Trans-
Pecos Heritage Association.
The Service has scheduled hearings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Fort
Stockton, Texas, on July 8, 1998, at the large Community Hall in James
Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway); in
Roswell, New Mexico, on July 9, 1998, at the Roswell Public Library,
301 North Pennsylvania Avenue; and in Grants, New Mexico, on July 13,
1998, at the City Hall Council Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue.
Anyone wishing to make an oral statement for the record is encouraged
to provide a written copy of their statement to be presented to the
Service at the start of the hearing. In the event there is a large
attendance, the time allotted for oral statements may have to be
limited. Oral and written statements receive equal consideration. There
are no limits to the length of written comments presented at these
hearings or
[[Page 32636]]
mailed to the Service. Legal notices announcing the dates, times, and
locations of the hearings are being published in newspapers
concurrently with this Federal Register notice.
The comment period on the proposal originally closed on June 1,
1998. In order to accommodate the hearing, the Service also reopens the
public comment period. Written comments may now be submitted to the
Service until August 13, 1998, to the office listed in the ADDRESSES
section.
Author: The primary author of this notice is Charlie McDonald, New
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: June 5, 1998.
Renne Lohoefener,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 98-15786 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
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