[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 136 (Monday, July 17, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36380-36382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17386]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding
for a Petition To List the Say's Spiketail Dragonfly as Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 12-month petition finding.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 12-month
finding for a petition to list the Say's spiketail dragonfly
(Cordulegaster sayi) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. After review of all available scientific and commercial
information, the Service finds that listing this species is not
warranted.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on June 20,
1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments or questions concerning this petition should be
sent to the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6620
Southpoint Drive South, Suite 310, Jacksonville, Florida 32216. 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: Dr. Michael M. Bentzien, Assistant
Field Supervisor, at the above address (904/232-2580).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that, for any petition to
revise the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants that
contains substantial scientific or commercial information, the Service
make a finding within 12 months of the date of receipt of the petition
on whether the petitioned action is (a) not warranted, (b) warranted,
or (c) warranted but precluded from immediate proposal by other pending
proposals of higher priority. Section 4(b)(3)(C) of the Act requires
that petitions for which the requested action is found to be warranted
but precluded should be treated as though resubmitted on the date of
such finding, i.e., requiring a subsequent finding to be made within 12
months. Such 12-month findings shall be published promptly in the
Federal Register.
On February 15, 1994, the Service received a petition dated January
13, 1994, from Ms. Nancy Fraser Williams on behalf of the Rock Creek
Owners' Association, Gainesville, Florida, to list the Say's spiketail
dragonfly (Cordulegaster sayi) as endangered. A 90-day finding was made
by the Service that the petition presented substantial information
indicating that the requested action may be warranted. The 90-day
finding was announced in the Federal Register on October 26, 1994 (59
FR 53776). The finding also announced the Service's formal review of
the species' status and solicited information and public comment
regarding population trends, biological vulnerability, and threats to
this species. Comments and information received by December 27, 1994,
were considered in the 12-month finding.
On the basis of the best available scientific and commercial
information, the Service finds that listing the Say's spiketail
dragonfly is not warranted at the present time.
The earliest description of this dragonfly was made by Selys (1854)
from a British Museum specimen taken in Georgia. Westfall (1953)
reported three males collected at Lake City in 1896 and 1897 as the
first specimens from Florida. Westfall and Johnson (unpublished)
attributed additional state records to misidentifications with
congeneric species. Their review demonstrated that the only known
specimens of Cordulegaster sayi in existence were collected from eight
specific historic sites in either Georgia or Florida. The current range
includes central Georgia to northern and western Florida. Rock Creek is
the best described and most productive of the eight historic sites.
Sites on public land include Gordonia-Altamaha State Park in Georgia;
Gold Head Branch and Torreya State Parks, San Felasco Hammock State
Preserve, and Blackwater River State Forest in Florida. Besides Rock
Creek, private land sites include Lake City, Columbia County, and Camp
Crystal Lake, Clay County, Florida. Approximately a dozen specimens
have been collected from these other sites. The most recent collections
were made in 1994 from Blackwater River State Forest. Kroetzer and
Kroetzer (unpublished) collected a specimen from Conecuh National
Forest in Alabama in 1994 which has characteristics of both
Cordulegaster sayi and its congener C. bilineata.
Say's spiketail dragonfly is associated with trickling hillside
seepages in deciduous forests (Dunkle 1989). Adults have been collected
from late February through late April in open areas within about a half
mile of seepage breeding sites (Westfall and Mauffray 1994). Westfall
(pers. comm. 1994) collected larvae of various instars from seepage
pools and beneath wet leaves within and on the border of the seepage
streamlets. Larval collections indicate that the species has a multi-
year life cycle (Westfall and Mauffray 1994, Mauffray in litt. 1994).
Two seepages modified by development of the Rock Creek subdivision
are the only known adverse habitat changes at this site (Mauffray in
litt. 1994). Despite these modifications, Mauffray (Westfall and
Mauffray 1994) discovered a sizable population in 1992. The collection
of larvae from flooded seeps in 1993 (Westfall and Mauffray 1994)
following two successive flood events did not support Mauffray's belief
(in litt. 1994) that unflooded seeps are needed as dragonfly refugia
for population survival. An observed increase in adult numbers from
1993 to 1994 would also not have been predicted following two
consecutive annual floods. The observed fluctuations in adult numbers
before and after surrounding land development may therefore be more a
function of asynchronous emergence due to the species' presumed multi-
year life cycle rather than an adverse response to flooding. Concerns
for seepage damage by cattle (Daigle in litt. 1985) and pedestrians and
vehicles (V. Compton, Blackwater Forestry Resource Administrator, pers.
comm. 1994) in Blackwater River State Forest are the only other known
instances rangewide of possible habitat impacts. Despite these
observations, two adults were collected in 1994 in the vicinity of the
historic collection site (J. Daigle, Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, pers. comm., 1994)
Between 1970 and 1994, Mauffray (in litt. 1994) conservatively
estimated that collecting had removed over 140 adult specimens from
Rock Creek. This level
[[Page 36381]]
of collecting was related to the sites's uniqueness and accessibility.
Despite this collecting pressure, the population persisted. The
species' short flight season, variable emergence, lack of collection
pressure on larvae, and increased conservation awareness probably
mitigated serious collecting impacts.
Neither the city of Gainesville, Florida, nor Alachua County have
local ordinances which mandate special local protection for the
dragonfly or the habitat at Rock Creek (M. Drummond, Alachua County
Environmental Protection Department, pers. comm.). Both Florida and
Georgia have statutes intended to provide special protection and
conservation measures for species designated according to specific
criteria within the respective state laws. Say's spiketail dragonfly
currently has no special designation in either state.
Agencies administering and managing parks and preserves in both
states prohibit the removal of non-exempt fauna and flora from lands
entrusted to them without prior written permission from the authorized
representative (B. Wert in litt. 1995, D. Bryan in litt. 1995). The
same requirement applies to the Florida state forest system (V.
Compton, pers. comm.).
The current status and condition of the Lake City collection site
is unknown since the collections were made nearly 100 years ago and
exact locations were not specified. The Camp Crystal Lake site consists
of open fields and three ravines administered respectively by the
Alachua County School Board and the city of Keystone Heights Airport
Authority. Both areas have controlled access. Leases provided to Camp
Crystal Lake and Keystone Heights Sportsmen's Club by the Airport
Authority which permit ravine access also prohibit property destruction
or alteration as well as the removal of any plants or animals other
than specified game animals without prior permission from the lessor
(G. Reid, Keystone Heights, Airport Authority, pers. comm., 1994). An
Airport Authority property manager patrols the areas three days a week.
Although existing regulatory mechanisms do not protect all Say's
spiketail habitat, available information indicates that some protection
is being afforded on public lands.
The Clean Water Act (section 404) is the primary federal law that
provides some protection of aquatic habitats determined by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to be jurisdictional wetlands. These laws
provide no protection against modification or development of upland
habitats adjacent to the seepage breeding sites.
Where habitat of this species occurs on other Federal lands,
including but not limited to the Forest Service, Park Service and
Department of Defense, each agency's standard natural resource and
wildlife protection guidance are implemented.
Mauffray (in litt. 1994) expressed concern for the Rock Creek
population's survival from other man-made and natural factors such as
insecticides, fertilizers from adjacent turf and landscape areas, fire,
and drought. The Service acknowledges that man-made drains traversing
the Rock Creek riparian corridor could serve as conduits for limited
point and non-point source pollution within breeding sites. Mosquito
spraying also may impact adult dragonflies and chemicals reaching
breeding sites from sheet flow of surface and subsurface waters
likewise may impact larvae. Information which substantiates these
impacts, however, was not found. The dragonfly's apparent semi-aquatic
larval stage should help it survive periods of low water. The Service
considers the probable impacts from fire low because of the habitat's
relative resistance to burning. The potential impact of agriculture and
silviculture on habitat rangewide is unknown.
The distance separating known collection sites suggests that gene
flow among populations of this habitat specialist was historically
restricted. The adults' presumed short flight range further restricts
potential exchange of genetic material. Although impacts to the Rock
Creek deme (local populations with little or no outbreeding) might
result in some loss of genetic diversity from the species genome, it
would have little or no significance to the genetic fitness of other
demes.
The Service believes that the floodwater retention project, if
implemented, would not result in the extirpation of the Rock Creek
population. An analysis of historic population fluctuations and
Westfall and Mauffray's 1993 Rock Creek study does not support their
contention that additional flooding would severely impact this
dragonfly. Other factors such as chemicals, fire, and drought were
assessed for cumulative impacts. Some impact might be expected if the
factors occurred close enough in time to affect multiple life stages or
generations. The Service's position is that the factors are either not
factually supported and/or that the probability for their close
temporal occurrence resulting in cumulative impacts is very low. The
petitioner's concern for imminent impact to the population from the
proposed project has been eliminated since Gainesville has placed the
project on hold for an estimated three to five years while it updates
its planimetric database (G. Pearson, City Engineer, Public Works
Department, pers. comm.).
Seven of the eight historic collection sites remain intact and six
receive some protection and management. Adults were recently collected
at one of these sites and suitable habitat also exists at other as yet
unsurveyed sites. The Service therefore concludes that the probability
of finding other reproducing populations rangewide is high. The Service
has funded a systematic survey of historic sites and other public lands
in portions of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The survey hopes to
better delineate the species' range and distribution. A single specimen
representing a new site has since been collected at Camp Blanding
National Guard Military Reservation in Clay County, Florida.
On the basis of the best available scientific and commercial
information, the Service finds that listing Say's spiketail dragonfly
as endangered is not warranted at the present time because the taxon
presently is not in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the
foreseeable future. The species will continue to be retained in
category 2 at least until the results of the current status survey have
been assessed. Category 2 candidates are those for which information
now in the possession of the Service indicates that proposing to list
as endangered or threatened is possibly appropriate, but for which
conclusive data on biological vulnerability and threat are not
currently available to support proposed rules. In addition, the status
of the proposed floodwater retention project will be monitored as will
the Rock Creek population. The condition of new and other existing
populations will be evaluated and pre-listing conservation actions
instituted, where feasible, to further protect and restore this species
and its habitat. The Service will continue to seek additional
information about population trends, biological vulnerability and
threats to this species. If additional information becomes available in
the future indicating that listing as endangered or threatened is
appropriate, the Service may reassess the listing priority for this
species.
References
A complete list of references used in the preparation of this
finding is available upon request from the Jacksonville Field Office
(see ADDRESSES section).
[[Page 36382]]
Author: The primary author of this document is Mr. John F. Milio
(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.).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Dated: June 20, 1995.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 95-17386 Filed 7-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P