Endangered and threatened species: Pecos pupfish,

[Federal Register: February 24, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 36)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 9119-9120]

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

[DOCID:fr24fe99-17]

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.

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. 99-4512Filed2-23-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-M