Endangered and threatened species: Findings on petitions, etc.— Limoncillo,

[Federal Register: June 29, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 124)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 34755-34756]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr29jn99-32]

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.

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

[[Page 34756]]

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. 99-16418Filed6-28-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P