Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Services, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides notice that

the public

[[Page 9120]]

comment period on the proposed list or the Pecos pupfish (Cyprinodon

pecosensis) as an endangered species is reopened. The Service, in

cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico

Divison of State Parks, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Bureau

of Land Management, has formulated a Conservation Agreement that may

provide significant new information concerning the threats to the

survival of the species. The comment period was reopened from December

28, 1998, to January 27, 1999, to allow all interested parties to

submit comments on the proposal and the draft Conservation Agreement.

Comments were received on the last day of the public comment period

from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico that would add

a signatory entity to the agreement, the New Mexico Department of

Agriculture. Reopening the public comment period will allow sufficient

time for all entities involved with the Conservation Agreement to sign

the document.

DATES: The comment period for this proposal and the Conversation

Agreement will be reopened February 24, 1999 and will close on March

26, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and materials should be sent to the Field

Supervisor. New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna NE,

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. Comments and materials received will be

available for public inspection during normal business hours, by

appointment, at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jennifer Fowler-Propst, Field Supervisor, New Mexico Ecological

Services Field Office, at the above address (505) 346-2525.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Pecos pupfish was proposed for listing as an endangered species

on January 30, 1998 (63 FR 4608). A public hearing on the proposal was

held in Carlisbad, New Mexico on April 9, 1998. During the extended

public comment period (January 30 to November 20, 1998) we contacted

state and Federal land and resource management agencies in New Mexico

and Texas to determine if adequate protections could be implemented

through a Conservation Agreement. The Conservation Agreement was made

available for public review from December 28, 1998, to January 27,

1999. This comment period did not allow sufficient time for the

signatory entities to fully execute the document.

The Conservation Agreement sets forth the commitments of state and

Federal agencies to control nonnative competing species and to protect

and manage the Pecos pupfish and its habitat to ensure its survival and

promote its conservation. The Agreement addresses the significant

threats to the species arising from its small, isolated populations and

from the potential for hybridization with the sheepshead minnow

(Cyprinodon variegatus). The signatory agencies to the Agreement have

made commitments protect known extant populations of pure Pecos

pupfish, expand the distribution of the species within its native range

by establishing new population, and to prohibit the use of sheepshead

minnow through revision of baitfish regulations in New Mexico and

Texas. If these commitments are adequate in removing the identified

threats to the Pecos pupfish, listing of the species may not be

required.

Author

The primary author of this document is Jennifer Fowler-Propst, New

Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16

U.S.C. 1532 et seq.).

Dated: February 18, 1999.

Nancy M. Kaufman,

Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 99-4512 Filed 2-23-99; 8:45 am]

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