[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26202]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 25, 1994]


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

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AB66

 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of 
Comment Period on Proposed Threatened Status for the Goliath Frog

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a reopening 
of the comment period on the proposed rule to list the goliath frog 
(Conraua goliath) as threatened through to November 1, 1994, in order 
to allow additional time for receipt of comments from affected 
countries.

DATES: Comments from all interested parties must be received by 
November 1, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments, information, and questions should be submitted to 
the Chief, Office of Scientific Authority; Mail Stop: 725, Arlington 
Square, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington, D.C. 20240. Fax 
number (703) 358-2276. Express and messenger delivered mail should be 
addressed to the Office of Scientific Authority; Room 750, 4401 North 
Fairfax Drive; Arlington, Virginia 22203. Comments and other 
information received will be available for public inspection, by 
appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at the 
Arlington, Virginia, address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Charles W. Dane, Office of 
Scientific Authority, at the above address, or by phone at (703) 358-
1708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Following the receipt and review of a petition dated April 9, 1991, 
to add the goliath frog to the List of Endangered and Threatened 
Wildlife, the Service proposed in a September 12, 1991, Federal 
Register notice (56 FR 46397) to list the goliath frog as threatened. 
The information received in response to the request for comments 
contained in the proposed rule, as well as the comments received at the 
March 2-13, 1992, meeting of the Parties to the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 
(CITES), left questions as to whether listing under the Act is 
warranted. Consequently, a final decision has yet to be announced, and 
the comment period was reopened on July 19, 1994 (59 FR 36737) to close 
on October 17, 1994.
    Additional information was requested from the CITES Management 
Authorities of the range countries, i.e., Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, 
and Gabon, before September 10, 1994. However, the official contact 
with those countries through the U.S. Embassies in those countries was 
completed at a later date. Therefore, in order to provide adequate 
opportunity to receive additional information those countries were 
informed that their comments would be accepted until November 1, 1994.

Public Comments Solicited

    The Service intends that any final decision on the proposed rule 
will accurately reflect the status of the species and will be based on 
the best available scientific and commercial information. Therefore, 
comments and suggestions concerning any aspect of this proposed rule 
are hereby solicited from the public, concerned governmental agencies, 
the scientific community, industry, private interests, and other 
parties. Information is sought on the listing criteria described in the 
Act:
    (1) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or 
curtailment of this species' habitat or its range;
    (2) Any overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, 
or educational purposes;
    (3) Disease factors or natural predation that may threaten this 
species;
    (4) Any inadequacies of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
    (5) Other natural or manmade factors affecting this species' 
continued existence.
    The Service is particularly interested in the following 
information:
    (1) Information on habitat requirements, distribution of that 
habitat, and threats to that habitat, as well as documentation of past 
or future habitat losses and threats to that habitat throughout the 
range of the goliath frog; and in particular quantification of the loss 
of rainforest in the species' range, and information on the 
displacement or extirpation of the species when rainforest along river 
habitat of the species is opened for cultivation.
    (2) Information as to any known population estimates or surveys of 
this species;
    (3) Further information on local utilization of this species;
    (4) Any information on the reproductive biology of this species, 
especially as it may relate to its ability to sustain harvest;
    (5) Information as to the extent of commercial trade in this 
species, especially information on international trade other than 
imports into the United States; and
    (6) Information as to current ability to transport and maintain and 
reproduce this species in captivity.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: October 14, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-26202 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M