Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for the Kanab Ambersnail (Oxyloma Haydeni kanabensis) for Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for the Kanab Ambersnail

(Oxyloma Haydeni kanabensis) for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the

availability for public review of a draft recovery plan for the Kanab

ambersnail (Oxyloma haydeni kanabensis). Three populations of the

species are known, two in southern Utah and the other within the Grand

Canyon of Arizona. The Service solicits review and comment from the

public on this draft plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or

before November 28, 1994 to ensure they receive consideration by the

Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft recovery plan may obtain

a copy by contacting the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Lincoln Plaza, Suite 404, 145 East 1300 South, Salt Lake City,

Utah 84115. Written comments and materials regarding this plan should

be sent to the Field Supervisor at the Salt Lake City address given

above. Comments and materials received are available on request for

public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John L. England, Botanist (see ADDRESSES above), at telephone 801/524-

5001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is

a primary goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service)

endangered species program. To help guide the recovery effort, the

Service is working to prepare recovery plans for most of the listed

species native to the United States. Recovery plans describe actions

considered necessary for conservation of the species, establish

criteria for recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and

estimate time and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.

1531 et seq.), requires the development of recovery plans for listed

species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a

particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988,

requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented during a public comment period prior

to approval of each new or revised recovery plan. The Service and other

Federal agencies also will take these comments into account in the

course of implementing approved recovery plans.

The Kanab ambersnail is a terrestrial snail in the family

Succineidae. The empty shell is a light amber color. The live snail has

a mottled grayish-amber to yellowish-amber color. The species' shell is

thin walled with a right handed, elevated spire and a broad expanded

opening. Mature individuals are up to 19 mm (0.75 inch) long, 9 mm

(0.33 inch) in diameter, with 3.25 to 3.75 whorls in a drawn out spire.

Three populations of the species are known, two in southern Utah and

the other within the Grand Canyon of Arizona. The two Utah populations

are near the Utah-Arizona border in Kane County. The larger Utah

population occurs in Three Lakes Canyon about 10 kilometers (6 miles)

northwest of the town of Kanab, Utah. The smaller Utah population is

adjacent to the main stem of Kanab Creek in Kanab Creek Canyon. The

Arizona population occurs in a spring-fed wetland at Vasey's Paradise

about 92 kilometers (57 miles) southeast of the two Utah populations.

The Kanab ambersnail was listed as an endangered species under the

authority of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended, on April 17,

1993. Critical habitat was proposed on November 15, 1992, for the

species' largest Utah population. This species was listed due to loss

of historical populations and past and threatened destruction of its

limited habitat. Initial recovery efforts will focus on protecting the

species population and habitat from habitat destroying activities

through the section 6, 7, and 9 prohibitions of the Act for animal

species. Biological and ecological research of the species biology and

its relationship and interaction with its environment is necessary to

guide future management of the species population and habitat to ensure

its continued survival and the preservation of the species ecosystem.

Additional recovery efforts will focus on inventory of potential

habitat and minimum viable population studies of its known populations.

Given the species vulnerability and lack of suitable habitat, it is

doubtful that recovery and delisting of the species can occur in the

foreseeable future.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan

described above. All comments received by the date specified in the

DATES section above will be considered prior to approval of the

recovery plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered

Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: September 21, 1994.

Terry T. Terrell,

Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 94-24067 Filed 9-28-94; 8:45 am]

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