[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 120 (Thursday, June 22, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32483-32484]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15284]



=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AD11


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of 
Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Endangered 
Status for Three Wetland Species in Southern Arizona and Northern 
Sonora

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period and notice of public 
hearing.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) gives notice that 
a public hearing will be held and the comment period reopened on the 
proposed rule to list two plants, Canelo Hills ladies'-tresses 
(Spiranthes delitescens) and Huachuca water umbel (Lilaeopsis 
schaffneriana spp. recurva), and one amphibian, the Sonora tiger 
salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi) as endangered. The hearing 
and the reopening of the comment period will allow all interested 
parties to submit oral or written comments on the proposal.

DATES: The public hearing will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on July 
13, 1995, in Patagonia, Arizona. The comment period for this proposal 
will be reopened on June 24, 1995 and will close on July 24, 1995. 
Comments must be received by the closing date. Any comments that are 
received after the closing date may not be considered in the final 
decision on the proposal.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room at 
Patagonia Union High School, on the west-side of State Highway 82 in 
Patagonia, Arizona. Written comments should be sent to the State 
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2321 W. Royal Palm Road, 
Suite 103, Phoenix, Arizona 85021-4951. Comments and materials received 
will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal 
business hours at the above Service address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey A. Humphrey, at the above 
address, or phone at (602) 640-2720.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Canelo Hills ladies'-tresses, Huachuca water umbel, and the Sonora 
tiger salamander occur in a limited number of wetland habitats in 
southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. They are threatened by 
one or more of the following--collecting, disease, predation, 
competition with nonnative species, catastrophic floods, drought, and 
degradation and destruction of habitat resulting from livestock 
overgrazing, water diversions, dredging, and groundwater pumping. All 
three taxa are also threatened with stochastic extirpations or 
extinction due to small numbers of populations or individuals. A 
proposed rule to list these species as endangered was published in the 
Federal Register (60 FR 16836) on April 3, 1995.
    Pursuant to 50 CFR 424.16(c)(2), the Service may extend or reopen a 
comment period upon finding that there is good cause to do so. Full 
participation of the affected public in the species listing process, 
allowing the Service to consider the best scientific and commercial 
data available in making a final determination on the proposed action, 
is deemed as sufficient cause.
    Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 
requires that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45 
days of the publication of a proposed rule. In response to two such 
requests, the Service will hold a public hearing on the date and at the 
address described above.
    Anyone wishing to make an oral statement for the record is 
encouraged to provide a written copy of their statement and present it 
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 the 
hearings or mailed to the Service. Legal notices announcing the dates, 
times, and locations of the hearings will be published in newspapers 
concurrently with the Federal Register notice.
    The comment period on the proposal originally closed on June 2, 
1995. In order to accommodate the hearing, the Service reopens the 
public comment period. Written comments may now be submitted until July 
24, 1995, to the Service office in the ADDRESSES section. 
[[Page 32484]] 

Author

    The primary author of this notice is Jeffrey A. Humphrey (see 
ADDRESSES).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).

    Notice: Proposed rule for three wetland species in Southern 
Arizona and Northern Sonora; reopening of comment period and notice 
of public hearings.

    Dated: June 16, 1995.
Nancy M. Kaufman,
Regional Director, Region 2, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 95-15284 Filed 6-21-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P