[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34755-34756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16418]
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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 Plant ``Esenbeckia runyonii'' (Limoncillo) as
Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of petition finding.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day
finding for a petition to list Esenbeckia runyonii (limoncillo) as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. This
small tree is known from Cameron County, Texas, and from the states of
Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, and Hidalgo in
Mexico. We find that the petition failed to present substantial
information indicating that listing this species may be warranted.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on June 3, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Data, information, comments, or questions concerning this
petition finding should be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Ecological Services Field Office, c/o Texas A&M University-
Corpus Christi, Campus Box 338, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, Texas
78412. 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: Robyn Cobb, c/o Texas A&M University-
Corpus Christi Field Office (see ADDRESSES section) (telephone 512/994-
9005; facsimile 512/994-8262).
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 we
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make a finding on 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 us at the time the
finding is made. To the maximum extent practicable, we make this
finding within 90 days of the date the petition was received, and
notice of the finding must be published promptly in the Federal
Register. If the finding is that substantial information was presented,
we are also required to promptly commence a review of the status of the
species involved if one has not already been initiated under our
internal candidate assessment process.
We have made a 90-day finding on a petition to list the plant
Esenbeckia runyonii (limoncillo). The petition, dated June 28, 1994,
was submitted by Joe Ideker, Secretary of the Native Plant Project, and
was received by the Service on July 5, 1994. The petitioner requested
that we list E. runyonii as endangered. Action on this petition was
delayed by a listing moratorium (Public Law 104-6, April 10, 1995) and
rescission of listing program funding in Fiscal Year 1996. This
moratorium was subsequently lifted and listing program funding restored
on April 26, 1996. On May 16, 1996 (61 FR 24722) the Service issued
guidance for priorities in restarting the listing program. This 90-day
finding was precluded by the Service's listing priority guidance for
Fiscal Year 1997, finalized December 5, 1996 (61 FR 64475). With the
publication of listing priority guidance for Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999
on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502) the Service returned to a more balanced
listing program. The processing of petition findings to add species to
the list of threatened and endangered species have significant
conservation benefit and these actions are now placed in Tier 2.
The petitioner states that all but one of the four (perhaps five)
historically known U.S. populations of this small tree have been lost
due to habitat destruction and that the remaining U.S. population
consists of 15 plants occurring on less than 0.4 hectare (ha) (1 acre
(ac)) of a Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge (LRGV-NWR)
tract. The petitioner states that this population is vulnerable to
destruction from catastrophic events such as hurricanes, freezes, or
fires. The petitioner mentions two unverified groups of E. runyonii
plants in a Brownsville, Texas, park that are threatened by
construction of a road to the Los Tomates Bridge. We investigated these
plants and found them to be Crescentia alata, a trifoliate-leaved
species in the bignonia family. The petitioner notes that other E.
runyonii populations occur in Mexico, but provides no information on
these populations.
Cameron County, Texas, on the U.S./Mexico border, is the northern
range limit of E. runyonii. Populations in Mexico are known from the
states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, and
Hidalgo (F. Gonzalez-Medrano, Instituto de Biologia, Mexico City,
Mexico, in litt. 1994; Kaastra 1982; A.M. Olivo, Instituto de Ecologia
y Alimentos, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in litt. 1994; J.M.
Poole, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas, in litt.
1994). Information from herbarium specimens at the Missouri Botanical
Garden (J.M. Poole, in litt. 1994), Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas
(A.M. Olivo, in litt. 1994), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Mexico, D.F. (F. Gonzalez-Medrano, in litt. 1994), and Kaastra (1982)
indicate at least 45 collection sites in Mexico. Chiang (1989) notes a
collection by Pringle in Nuevo Leon that may represent an additional
site. The species is also known from the canyons of the Sierra de
Picachos (Nuevo Leon) and the El Cielo (Tamaulipas) bioreserve (C.
Best, LRGV-NWR, Alamo, Texas, pers. comm. 1994).
Esenbeckia runyonii populations in Mexico occur primarily in moist
canyons on rocky talus slopes (C. Best, pers. comm. 1994; F. Gonzalez-
Medrano, in litt. 1994). This habitat is vastly different from the
floodplain delta of the Rio Grande where the species occurs in the
United States.
The petition indicates a willingness to list only the Texas
population of this plant until further studies are done on the
populations in Mexico. The Act allows the listing of distinct
population segments of vertebrate fish or wildlife species, but does
not extend the same option to plants or invertebrate animals. The
listing of any plant or invertebrate animal must include all
populations within the species' historical range.
We have reviewed the petition and appended data, and other
literature and information available in our files. On the basis of the
best scientific and commercial information available, we find that the
petition does not present substantial information that listing this
species may be warranted. The petition includes no information
regarding distribution, population sizes, or threats to E. runyonii in
Mexico, which constitutes most of the species' documented range
(Kaastra, 1982). Information readily available to us indicates that
while the U.S. populations have been reduced from four to one, the
populations in Mexico appear to be relatively abundant and under no
immediate threat that would justify listing the species as endangered
or threatened.
References Cited
Chiang, F. 1989. Casimiroa greggii, formerly in Sargentia
(Rutaceae) Taxon 38:116-119.
Kaastra, R.C. 1982. Flora Neotropica, Monograph Number 33,
Pilocarpinae (Rutaceae). New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Author: The primary author of this document is Angela Brooks,
formerly of the Corpus Christi Ecological Services Field Office (See
ADDRESSES).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: June 3, 1999.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 99-16418 Filed 6-28-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
