Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Third Extension of Comment Period on Data Pertaining to the Subspecies Taxonomy of the California Gnatcatcher

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Third

Extension of Comment Period on Data Pertaining to the Subspecies

Taxonomy of the California Gnatcatcher

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) gives notice that

the comment period on the data pertaining to the subspecies taxonomy of

the California gnatcatcher is extended for a third time. The notice of

availability opening the public comment period was published on June 2,

1994, which opened the comment period until August 1, 1994. On July 28,

1994, the Service extended the comment period to August 31, 1994. On

August 26, 1994, the Service extended the comment period again to

October 31, 1994. This notice extends the comment period until December

1, 1994, as a result of a court order made on September 30, 1994.

DATES: Comments and materials must be received by December 1, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the subject data are available from the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Field Office, 2730 Loker Avenue West,

Carlsbad, California 92008. Comments and materials concerning these

data should be submitted to the above address. The data, public

comments, and other materials received will be available for public

inspection during normal business hours at the above address .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gail Kobetich, Field Supervisor, at the address listed above (telephone

619/431-9440, facsimile 619/431-9624).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On March 30, 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)

published a final rule in the Federal Register determining the coastal

California gnatcatcher to be a threatened species (58 FR 16741). In its

decision to the list the gnatcatcher, the Service relied, in part, on

taxonomic studies conducted by Dr. Jonathan Atwood of the Manomet Bird

Observatory, Manomet, Massachusetts. As is the standard practice in the

scientific community, the Service did not request, nor was it offered,

the data collected and used by Dr. Atwood in reaching his conclusions.

Instead, the Service depended upon the conclusions published by Dr.

Atwood in a peer-reviewed scientific article on the subspecific

taxonomy of the California gnatcatcher (Atwood 1991).

In response to a suit filed by the Endangered Species Committee of

the Building Industry Association of Southern California and the other

plaintiffs, the United States District Court of the District of

Columbia vacated the listing of the coastal California gnatcatcher

because the Service did not make available Atwood's data for public

review and comment. In response to the court decision, Dr. Atwood

released his data to the Service, which the agency made available to

the public for review and comment on June 2, 1994 (59 FR 28508). On

June 16, 1994, the court reinstated threatened status for the coastal

California gnatcatcher until the Secretary of the Interior determines

in a finding whether the listing should be revised or revoked in light

of his review of the subject data and public comments received during

the comment period. As a result of the court order of July 27, 1994,

the Secretary must publish this finding in the Federal Register by

December 31, 1994.

On July 1, 1994, the plaintiffs requested a 100-day extension in

the comment period. Because the Secretary had no objection to a 30-day

extension, both parties agreed to an extension in the comment period to

August 31, 1994, which the Service published in the Federal Register on

July 28, 1994 (59 FR 38426). On July 27, 1994, the court ordered the

comment period extended to October 31, 1994. The Service published this

extension in the Federal Register on August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44125).

In order that the plaintiffs may depose Dr. Atwood regarding his

studies of the gnatcatcher, the court ordered on September 30, 1994,

that the comment period be extended again to December 1, 1994. In

addition, the court ordered that the Secretary publish the finding

whether the listing should be revised or revoked in the Federal

Register by February 1, 1995.

References Cited

Atwood, J.L. 1991. Subspecies limits and geographic patterns of

morphological variation in California gnatcatchers (Polioptila

californica). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of

Sciences 90:118-133.

Authority

The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

Dated: October 18, 1994.

Thomas Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 94-26374 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]

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