Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Endangered Status for Three Wetland Species in Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AD11

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of

Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Endangered

Status for Three Wetland Species in Southern Arizona and Northern

Sonora

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and notice of public

hearing.

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

a public hearing will be held and the comment period reopened on the

proposed rule to list two plants, Canelo Hills ladies'-tresses

(Spiranthes delitescens) and Huachuca water umbel (Lilaeopsis

schaffneriana spp. recurva), and one amphibian, the Sonora tiger

salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi) as endangered. The hearing

and the reopening of the comment period will allow all interested

parties to submit oral or written comments on the proposal.

DATES: The public hearing will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on July

13, 1995, in Patagonia, Arizona. The comment period for this proposal

will be reopened on June 24, 1995 and will close on July 24, 1995.

Comments must be received by the closing date. Any comments that are

received after the closing date may not be considered in the final

decision on the proposal.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room at

Patagonia Union High School, on the west-side of State Highway 82 in

Patagonia, Arizona. Written comments should be sent to the State

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2321 W. Royal Palm Road,

Suite 103, Phoenix, Arizona 85021-4951. Comments and materials received

will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal

business hours at the above Service address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey A. Humphrey, at the above

address, or phone at (602) 640-2720.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Canelo Hills ladies'-tresses, Huachuca water umbel, and the Sonora

tiger salamander occur in a limited number of wetland habitats in

southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. They are threatened by

one or more of the following--collecting, disease, predation,

competition with nonnative species, catastrophic floods, drought, and

degradation and destruction of habitat resulting from livestock

overgrazing, water diversions, dredging, and groundwater pumping. All

three taxa are also threatened with stochastic extirpations or

extinction due to small numbers of populations or individuals. A

proposed rule to list these species as endangered was published in the

Federal Register (60 FR 16836) on April 3, 1995.

Pursuant to 50 CFR 424.16(c)(2), the Service may extend or reopen a

comment period upon finding that there is good cause to do so. Full

participation of the affected public in the species listing process,

allowing the Service to consider the best scientific and commercial

data available in making a final determination on the proposed action,

is deemed as sufficient cause.

Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.),

requires that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45

days of the publication of a proposed rule. In response to two such

requests, the Service will hold a public hearing on the date and at the

address described above.

Anyone wishing to make an oral statement for the record is

encouraged to provide a written copy of their statement and present it

to the Service at the start of the hearing. In the event there is a

large attendance, the time allotted for oral statements may have to be

limited. Oral and written statements receive equal consideration. There

are no limits to the length of written comments presented at the

hearings or mailed to the Service. Legal notices announcing the dates,

times, and locations of the hearings will be published in newspapers

concurrently with the Federal Register notice.

The comment period on the proposal originally closed on June 2,

1995. In order to accommodate the hearing, the Service reopens the

public comment period. Written comments may now be submitted until July

24, 1995, to the Service office in the ADDRESSES section.

[[Page 32484]]

Author

The primary author of this notice is Jeffrey A. Humphrey (see

ADDRESSES).

Authority

The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973

(16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).

Notice: Proposed rule for three wetland species in Southern

Arizona and Northern Sonora; reopening of comment period and notice

of public hearings.

Dated: June 16, 1995.

Nancy M. Kaufman,

Regional Director, Region 2, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95-15284 Filed 6-21-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P