Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of Comment Period on the Proposed Endangered Status of Keck's Checker- mallow

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of

Comment Period on the Proposed Endangered Status of Keck's Checker-

mallow

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), provides notice of

the reopening of the comment period for the proposed endangered status

for Keck's checker-mallow (Sidalcea keckii). The comment period has

been reopened in response to a request from the Bureau of Reclamation.

DATES: Comments from all interested parties must be received by October

5, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments, materials, data, and reports concerning

this proposal should be sent to the Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish

and Wildlife Office, 310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 130, Sacramento,

California 95821-6340. Comments and materials received will be

available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business

hours, at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Fuller or Jan Knight, at the

address above (telephone 916/979-2120; facsimile 916/979-2128).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The San Joaquin Valley of California is a large, north-south

oriented, alluvial valley that is mostly farmed or urbanized. The San

Joaquin Valley, from Stockton in the north to Bakersfield in the south,

is approximately 515 kilometers (km) (320 miles (mi)) long and 217 km

(135 mi) wide. Tulare County, one of ten counties in the San Joaquin

Valley, is located toward the southern end of the valley. A single

population of Sidalcea keckii occurs toward the southern end of the

valley, in south-central Tulare County.

Sidalcea keckii is a slender, hairy, erect annual herb belonging to

the mallow family (Malvaceae). The species grows 1.5 to 3.3 decimeters

(dm)(6 to 13 inches(in.)) tall. The lower leaf blades have 7 to 9

shallow lobes. The upper leaves have a tapered base with 2 to 5 notches

in the upper lobes. A few deep pink flowers, 10 to 20 millimeters (mm)

(0.4 to 0.8 in.) wide, appear in April through May. Seeds are smooth

and pink-tinted. Sidalcea keckii closely resembles four other annual

species of Sidalcea--S. calycosa, S. diploscyha, S. hartwegii, and S.

hirsuta. Sidalcea calycosa and S. diploscyha have ranges that overlap

with S. keckii. Sidalcea keckii can be variously separated from similar

species by the number and size of flowers, the arrangement of stamens,

the lengths of the bract and calyx, the presence of an aggregation of

linear stipules and bracts surrounding the flower at maturity, the size

and shape of the stem leaves, the density of hairs on the stems, and

the presence of a purplish spot on the flower (Hickman 1993).

Wiggins (1940) described Sidalcea keckii from specimens collected

in 1935 and 1938 near White River, Tulare County. Sidalcea keckii was

known historically from three populations occurring between 120 to 425

meters (m) (400 to 1,400 feet (ft)) in elevation, but it has not been

seen at two of these population sites for about 53 years. It was

considered to be extinct until 1992, when the third, and only extant,

population of S. keckii was discovered by consultants conducting a site

inventory as part of the environmental compliance prior to construction

of a subdivision (Woodward and Clyde Consultants, 1992). The population

of S.

[[Page 44418]]

keckii occurs on 20 to 40 percent slopes of red or white-colored clay

in sparsely-vegetated annual grasslands. The clays are thought to be

derived from serpentine (magnesian or ultramafic) soils. The population

covers an area measuring 30 m by 100 m (100 ft by 320 ft) and had a

total of only 60 plants in 1992. It occurs on a privately-owned, 280

hectare (ha) (700 acre (ac)) parcel of land that is currently used for

livestock grazing. Sidalcea keckii is threatened by urban development,

agricultural land conversion (particularly to citrus orchards), and

naturally occurring random events.

On July 28, 1997, the Service published a proposed rule to list

Sidalcea keckii as endangered. Although the original comment period was

to close on September 26, 1997, the comment period was extended until

November 10, 1997, to accommodate a request for a public hearing which

was held in Visalia, California, on October 21, 1997. In a memo dated

June 15, 1998, the Bureau of Reclamation requested that the comment

period be reopened to allow the Service to consider new information

regarding the distribution of S. keckii.

References Cited

Hickman, J.C. (editor) 1993. The Jepson Manual-higher plants of

California. University of California Press. Berkley, California.

1400 pp.

Wiggins, I. 1940. A new species of Sidalcea. Contributions to the

Dudley Herbarium 3:55-56.

Woodward and Clyde Consultants. 1992. Focused biological surveys for

eight target species in Tulare County. Unpublished report, Appendix

J-1.

Author. The primary author of this notice is Ken Fuller, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

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

Dated: August 10, 1998.

Michael J. Spear,

Manager, California and Nevada Operations Office.

[FR Doc. 98-22261 Filed 8-18-98; 8:45 am]

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