Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: 90-Day Finding and Commencement of Status Review for a Petition to List the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly as Endangered

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: 90-Day Finding and

Commencement of Status Review for a Petition to List the Sacramento

Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly as Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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

SUMMARY: We, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a

90-day finding for a petition to list the Sacramento Mountains

checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti) as an endangered

species and designate critical habitat pursuant to the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find the petition provides

substantial scientific and commercial information to indicate that

listing of this animal may be warranted. Therefore, we are initiating a

status review to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To

ensure that the review is comprehensive, we are soliciting information

and data regarding this action.

DATES: The finding in this document was made on December 7, 1999. To be

considered in the status review and subsequent 12-month finding for the

petition, your information and comments must be received by February

25, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You may submit data, information, comments, or questions

relevant to this finding to the Field Supervisor, U. S. Fish and

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

The petition finding, supporting data, and comments are available for

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

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Hein, Endangered Species

Biologist (see ADDRESSESS section) (telephone 505/346-2525, extension

135).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires

that we make a finding on whether a petition to list, delist, or

reclassify a species presents substantial scientific or commercial

information demonstrating that the petitioned action may be warranted.

We base the finding on all the information available to us at the time

the finding is made. To the maximum extent practicable, we make the

finding within 90-days of receipt of the petition, and promptly publish

notice of the finding in the Federal Register. If we find that

substantial information was presented, we must promptly commence a

status review of the species.

The processing of this petition conforms with our Listing Priority

Guidance published in the Federal Register on October 22, 1999 (64

FR57114). The guidance clarifies the order in which we will process

rulemakings. Highest priority is processing emergency listing rules for

any species determined to face a significant and imminent risk to its

well being (Priority 1). Second priority (Priority 2) is processing

final determinations on proposed additions to the lists of endangered

and threatened wildlife and plants. Third priority is processing new

proposals to add species to the lists. The processing of administrative

petition findings (petitions filed under section 4 of the Act) is the

fourth priority. The processing of critical habitat determinations

(prudency and determinability decisions) and proposed or final

designations of critical habitat will no longer be subject to

prioritization under Listing Priority Guidance. The processing of this

90-day petition finding is a Priority 4 action and is being completed

in accordance with the current Listing Priority Guidance.

[[Page 72301]]

We made a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Sacramento

Mountains checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia [=chalcedona]

cloudcrofti) as endangered with critical habitat. Mr. Kieran Suckling

of the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona,

submitted the petition, dated November 1998, which we received on

January 28, 1999.

The petitioner requested that we emergency list the Sacramento

Mountains checkerspot butterfly as endangered. The petitioner stated

that the animal merits listing because of its restricted range, adverse

impacts resulting from a proposed U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service)

land transfer, improvements to a Forest Service campground,

construction of homes and other structures, aggressive non-native weeds

that may be affecting the larval foodplants and adult nectar sources,

global climate change, and livestock overgrazing. The petitioner

requested emergency listing due to the perceived immediate threats to

the species' continued existence from a proposed land transfer between

the Forest Service and the Village of Cloudcroft in the Sacramento

Mountains in Otero County, New Mexico.

Emergency listing is not a petitionable action under the Act.

However, our above-mentioned listing priority guidance requires that

petitions to list species be screened for the need to emergency list

them. Emergency listing is allowed under the Act whenever immediate

protection is needed to address a significant risk to the species' well

being. Based on currently available information, we determined that

emergency listing is not needed for the Sacramento Mountains

checkerspot butterfly. The Forest Service modified its proposed land

transfer to the Village of Cloudcroft so that the parcels containing

the highest number of known butterflies are no longer under

consideration. In addition, overcollection of butterflies, a threat not

cited by the petitioner, but an activity of which we have extensive

knowledge, has been prohibited in portions of the Lincoln National

Forest, except under permit, for a period of one year. Therefore, we

have determined that the species is not in imminent risk of extinction.

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is a small member of

the brush-footed butterfly family (Nymphalidae). The adults have a

wingspan of approximately 3 centimeters (1 inch) and they are checkered

with dark brown, red, orange, white, and black spots and lines. The

taxon was described in 1980 based on 162 adult specimens collected in

the vicinity of the Village of Cloudcroft in Otero County, New Mexico

(Ferris and Holland 1980); it is only know from this area. The

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly inhabits non-forested

openings within the mixed-conifer forest (Lower Canadian Zone) at an

elevation between 2,450 and 2,750 meters (8,000 and 9,000 feet) in the

vicinity of Cloudcroft. The adult butterfly is often found in

association with the larval foodplant, New Mexico penstemon (Penstemon

neomexicanus), and adult nectar sources such as sneezeweed (Helium

hoopesii).

The Forest Service is evaluating a request from the Village of

Cloudcroft for a transfer of land pursuant to the Townsite Act. The

proposed land transfer originally included three parcels in which a

number of Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterflies have been

observed by biologists. The Village of Cloudcroft and the Forest

Service agreed to eliminate these three parcels from the current land

transfer request (Jose Martinez, Lincoln National Forest Supervisor, in

litt., 1999). A decision on the other five parcels is being withheld by

the Forest Service until we have made the 90-day finding on the

petition for this species (Jose Martinez, pers. comm., 1999).

Sacramento Mountain checkerspot butterflies have been observed on three

of the five parcels that are currently being considered for the land

transfer (Forest Service 1999a, 1999b). However, the Forest Service

provided information that the vast majority of the habitat in the

parcels being considered for exchange is forested and not suitable for

the butterfly. We will attempt to gather more information on the amount

of actual habitat proposed for exchange, and its importance to the

butterfly, during the status review.

The New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department (NMSHTD)

is proposing to improve portions of an approximately 3.38-kilometer (2-

mile)-long stretch of State Highway 130 between the Village of

Cloudcroft and the intersection of SH 130 and Sunspot Road (Metric

Corporation 1996; Steve Reed, NMSHTD, pers. comm., 1999). The project

consists of widening the road and shoulders, constructing retaining

walls, adding drainage ditches and culverts, and reconstructing a

curve. The curve is located adjacent to a campground, where larvae and

adult Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterflies were located in 1998

(Forest Service 1999a, 1999b). This site would be eliminated by the

proposed reconstruction of SH 130. However, since this species occupies

open, non-forested areas, it is unknown whether this project will

ultimately reduce or increase the amount of butterfly habitat.

A campground located near Cloudcroft contains one of the greatest

known concentrations of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly.

Reconstruction activities in the campground are proposed for the year

2003, including replacement of existing bathroom facilities, traffic

control barriers, picnic tables, and campfire pits (Jose Martinez in

litt., 1999). The potential adverse impacts to the Sacramento Mountains

checkerspot butterfly are not known as the proposal remains in a

preliminary stage. The Forest Service has stated that it intends to

work closely with us in addressing public safety and health issues at

the campground in a manner that protects and improves management of the

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly (Mark Crites, Biologist,

Sacramento Ranger District, pers comm., 1999; Don DeLorenzo, Wildlife,

Fish, Rare Plants, and Forestry Staff Officer, Lincoln National Forest,

pers. comm., 1999).

Roadside maintenance was cited by the petitioner as a threat to the

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly. The NMSHTD uses mowing,

rather than chemical agents, to control vegetation in the right-of-way

(Steve Reed, pers. comm., 1999). The effect on the animal from mowing

is unclear at this time.

The petitioner stated that overgrazing by livestock is causing

adverse impacts that are affecting the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot

butterfly. This activity could result in trampling of the early stages,

reduction or elimination of the larval foodplant or adult nectar

sources, and degradation of natural habitat. Grazing currently occurs

in an allotment (Forest Service 1999a), where butterflies have been

observed. The effect of grazing by both wildlife and domestic livestock

is not well documented. We are aware of instances where livestock

grazing appeared to significantly degrade habitat used by other

checkerspot butterflies. Conversely, some areas currently used by the

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot have been grazed by wildlife and

domestic livestock for a number of years. We intend to further assess

this subject during the status review.

The construction of homes and associated infrastructure in the

habitat of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly could

directly affect the species or result in indirect effects, such as the

introduction of nonnative plants and animals, loss of

[[Page 72302]]

movement corridors, or habitat fragmentation. There are a number of

private inholdings within areas containing apparently suitable habitat

for the species (Don DeLorenzo, pers. comm., 1999). We are unaware of

any surveys conducted on private lands in the area, and available

information on the amount of existing habitat and potential for

development is insufficient to confidently predict the extent of this

threat.

There likely is high interest by some collectors in the Sacramento

Mountains checkerspot butterfly due to its extremely restricted

distribution and apparent low numbers. High prices for prized species

can provide an incentive for illegal take and trade. Listing in itself

increases the publicity and interest in a species' rarity, and thus may

directly increase the value and demand for specimens. Specimens of

other subspecies of the anicia checkerspot butterfly have been offered

for sale (Capps 1991; Entomological Clearing House 1986; Kral 1987,

1989).

Collecting from small colonies or repeated handling and marking,

particularly of females and in years of low abundance, could seriously

damage the populations through loss of individuals and genetic

variability (Gall 1984b; Murphy 1988; Singer and Wedlake 1981). Since

the known populations of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly

occur in a public campground, along public roadways, or in other areas

readily accessible to the public, the species is easily collected, and

the limited numbers and distribution of this species make it attractive

to collectors and vulnerable to overcollection.

The Forest Service issued a one-year closure order for the

collection of any butterflies without a permit on the Smokey Bear and

Sacramento Districts of the Lincoln National Forest due to the threat

of overcollection (Jose Martinez, in litt., 1999). This closure order

may offer protection from butterfly collecting; however, some butterfly

collectors are known to have intentionally violated a similar closure

order in the Uncomphagre National Forest in Colorado in order to

collect the endangered Uncomphagre fritillary butterfly (Boloria

acrocnema) (U. S. Department of Justice 1993).

A significant long-term threat to the Sacramento Mountains

checkerspot butterfly may be the change in community structure due to

invasive exotic plants, and attempts to control them. According to the

Forest Service (1999a), a 1993 survey found that approximately 737

hectares (1,822 acres) in the vicinity of Cloudcroft had infestations

of noxious weeds. Infestations occurring in non-forested openings and

on road rights-of-way expanded and the densities of weeds increased

where they have not been treated. These invasive foreign species may

out-compete and reduce or eliminate the larvae food plant and adult

nectar plants, resulting in adverse effects on the animal. Efforts to

control the exotic plants with herbicides may pose a threat to the

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly.

Periodic droughts, such as those that occurred in recent years in

New Mexico, may adversely affect the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot

butterfly. Drought is known to cause a decrease in the size of the

populations of some butterfly species (C. Nagano, pers. obs., 1999). In

addition to killing larvae by dessication, drought conditions may--(1)

cause the early senescence or death of the larvae food plant prior to

the completion of larval development; or (2) lower the nutritional

quality of the host plant (e.g., water content). Drought also may

reduce the quantity and quality of adult nectar sources. Conversely,

the species has evolved in an environment subject to extended droughts.

It is unknown whether human-caused habitat changes have increased the

species' susceptibility to droughts.

We reviewed the petition, the literature cited in the petition,

other literature, and information in our files. Based on the best

scientific information available, we find the petition presents

substantial information that listing this species may be warranted.

Therefore, with the completion of this 90-day finding, we will conduct

a status review of the species and subsequently make a finding as to

whether the petitioned action is warranted pursuant to section

4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

We solicit information regarding occurrence and distribution of the

species, threats to its continued existence, and any additional data or

scientific information from the public, scientific community, Tribal,

local, State, and Federal governments, and other interested parties

concerning the status of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot

butterfly. Of particular interest is information regarding:

(1) Additional historical and current population data which may

assist in determining range and long-term population trends;

(2) Pertinent information on biology and life history;

(3) Additional information about habitat requirements; and,

(4) Information on immediate and future threats to the Sacramento

Mountains checkerspot butterfly, and the areas inhabited by the

species.

After consideration of additional information received during the

comment period (see DATES section of this notice), we will prepare a

12-month finding as to whether listing of the species is warranted.

References Cited

You may request a complete list of all references we cited, as well

as others, from the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see

ADDRESSES section).

Author: Chris Nagano (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered

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

Dated: December 7, 1999.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 99-33481 Filed 12-23-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P