Comment on FR Doc # E8-26275

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed delisting of Cirsium vinaceum in southeast New Mexico. I am a professional Botanist, who was directly involved with this species from 1989-1998 on the Lincoln National Forest. I have read the delisting proposal published in the FR and am writing to discourage the FWS from approving this action. The USFS plant counts and inventories for the species are relevant only on a site by site basis over time. The LNF had different counting methods over the years; however, all who review site-specific data and correlate this with precipitation can see the real trends. In my observation, the single most important factor affecting the relative abundance, distribution, and ultimately the existence of this species is water quantity. The reason for Cirsium vinaceum’s vulnerability lies in its local endemism or the extremely small range it occupies. It occurs in a single mountain range within a range less than 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. This makes it vulnerable to a number of serious threats. When a species range is significantly limited, numbers have little biological meaning relative to ensuring its continued existence. Claims of Cirsium vinaceum’s recovery based on exclosures and new instream flow legislation seem insignificant to me. The exclosures and all of the good stewardship in the world will not prevent this species from becoming extinct from global climate change, low genetic diversity, water diversions, and/or exotic insects such as the rhinocyllus beetle. It is my understanding that the LNF went to court over a case of water rights being exercised at a spring on the forest with Cirsium vinaceum. My memory is the courts said the USFS was not legally permitted to dictate a point of diversion to protect plants because this was unsanitary and beyond their jurisdiction. I am unclear as to how this new instream flow law in New Mexico would protect against this happening again. Given the very limited range of Cirsium vinaceum and the historic bottlenecks it has been through, there should be a special regard to genetic diversity for true conservation. I question whether the existing exclosures represent an array of the true diversity in the population. Without the acquisition of water rights or any other Recovery Plan goals, it seems inappropriate to consider delisting Cirsium vinaceum at this time. The recent droughts in the Sacramento Mountains have significantly dried drinking wells as well as springs. This in combination with global warming and drying trends, leaves Cirsium vinaceum very much capable of becoming extinct in the foreseeable future. Lastly, I have always had concern that there is no contingency plan for when the musk thistle beetle arrives. As a narrow endemic, Cirsium vinaceum could readily succumb to such a parasite. I would not be surprised if it was already in the area or that it could be used as an agent to sabotage conservation efforts.