Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearings on Proposed Threatened Status for the Plant Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos Sunflower)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AE

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of

Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearings on Proposed Threatened

Status for the Plant Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos Sunflower)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearings and reopening of

comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

that three public hearings will be held on the proposed determination

of threatened status for Helianthus paradoxus (Pecos sunflower). This

plant is dependent on desert wetlands in New Mexico and western Texas.

DATES: Public hearings will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 8,

1998, in Fort Stockton, Texas; July 9, 1998, in Roswell, New Mexico;

and July 13, 1998, in Grants, New Mexico. The comment period, which

originally closed on June 1, 1998, is reopened and now closes on August

13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held at the large Community Hall

in James Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway)

in Fort Stockton, Texas; the Roswell Public Library, 301 North

Pennsylvania Avenue, in Roswell, New Mexico; and the City Hall Council

Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue, in Grants, New Mexico. Written

comments and materials should be sent to the Field Supervisor, New

Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 2105 Osuna Road, NE., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113, facsimile

505/346-2542. Comments and materials received will be available for

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

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlie McDonald, Endangered Species

Botanist, at the above address or telephone 505/346-2525, ext. 112;

facsimile 505/346-2542.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Pecos sunflower is a wetland plant that grows in permanently

saturated soils. Areas that maintain these conditions are mostly desert

wetlands (cienegas) associated with springs, but they may also include

stream margins and the margins of impoundments. When Pecos sunflowers

are associated with impoundments, the impoundments typically have

replaced natural cienega habitats. Pecos sunflower is presently known

from 25 sites that occur in 5 general areas. These areas are Pecos and

Reeves counties, Texas, in the vicinity of Fort Stockton and Balmorhea;

Chaves County, New Mexico, from Dexter to just north of Roswell;

Guadalupe County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Santa Rosa; Valencia

County, New Mexico, along the lower part of the Rio San Jose; and

Cibola County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Grants. Threats to Pecos

sunflower include drying of wetlands from groundwater depletion;

alteration of wetlands (e.g. wetland fills, draining, impoundment

construction); competition with nonnative plant species, particularly

saltcedar; excessive livestock grazing; mowing; and highway

maintenance.

On April 1, 1998, the Service published a proposed rule to list the

Pecos sunflower as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973

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

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

days of the publication of a proposed rule in the Federal Register.

Public hearing requests were received within the allotted time period

from the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau; New Mexico County Farm

and Livestock Bureaus in Colfax, Cibola-McKinley, and Santa Fe

counties; Production Credit Association of New Mexico; Texas and

Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; and Davis Mountains Trans-

Pecos Heritage Association.

The Service has scheduled hearings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Fort

Stockton, Texas, on July 8, 1998, at the large Community Hall in James

Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway); in

Roswell, New Mexico, on July 9, 1998, at the Roswell Public Library,

301 North Pennsylvania Avenue; and in Grants, New Mexico, on July 13,

1998, at the City Hall Council Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue.

Anyone wishing to make an oral statement for the record is encouraged

to provide a written copy of their statement to be presented 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 these

hearings or

[[Page 32636]]

mailed to the Service. Legal notices announcing the dates, times, and

locations of the hearings are being published in newspapers

concurrently with this Federal Register notice.

The comment period on the proposal originally closed on June 1,

1998. In order to accommodate the hearing, the Service also reopens the

public comment period. Written comments may now be submitted to the

Service until August 13, 1998, to the office listed in the ADDRESSES

section.

Author: The primary author of this notice is Charlie McDonald, New

Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: June 5, 1998.

Renne Lohoefener,

Acting Regional Director, Region 2.

[FR Doc. 98-15786 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P