[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49855-49856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-23945]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for the Utah Pediocactus: 
San Rafael Cactus (Pediocactus despainii) and Winkler Cactus 
(Pediocactus winkleri) for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the 
availability for public review of a draft recovery plan for the Utah 
Pediocactus: San Rafael Cactus (Pediocactus despainii) and Winkler 
Cactus (Pediocactus winkleri). The two cacti occur in Emery and Wayne 
Counties, Utah. The Service solicits review and comment from the public 
on this draft recovery plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or 
before November 27, 1995, to ensure they receive consideration by the 
Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft recovery plan may obtain 
a copy by contacting the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Lincoln Plaza, Suite 404, 145 East 1300 South, Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84115. Written comments and materials regarding this plan should 
be sent to the Field Supervisor at the Salt Lake City address given 
above. Comments and materials received are available on request for 
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John L. England, Botanist (see ADDRESSES above), at telephone 801/524-
5001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point 
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is 
a primary goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) 
endangered species program. To help guide the recovery effort, the 
Service is working to prepare recovery plans for most of the listed 
species native to the United States. Recovery plans describe actions 
considered necessary for conservation of the species, establish 
criteria for recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and 
estimate time and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.
    The Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.), requires the development of recovery plans for listed 
species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a 
particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988, 
requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and 
comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will 
consider all information presented during a public comment period prior 
to approval of each new or revised recovery plan. The Service and other 
Federal agencies also will take these comments into account in the 
course of implementing approved recovery plans.
    The San Rafael cactus is a small, leafless, stem succulent, with 
yellowish to peach color flowers 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.6 to 1.0 in) long and 
1.8 to 2.5 cm (0.7 to 1.0 in) in diameter. The San Rafael cactus is 
restricted to the San Rafael Swell of central Emery County, Utah, and 
is known from three populations with a total number of individuals 
estimated to be about 20,000.
    The Winkler cactus is a small, leafless, stem cactus with peach to 
pink flowers borne on the upper end of the tubercles near the apex of 
the stem. The flowers are 1.7 to 2.2 cm (0.7 to 0.9 in) long and 1.7 to 
3.0 cm (0.7 to 1.2 in) in diameter. The Winkler cactus is restricted to 
Wayne and Emery Counties, Utah, and is known from six populations with 
a total number of individuals estimated to be about 5,000.
    The San Rafael cactus was listed as an endangered species under the 
authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), on 
September 16, 1987 (52 FR 34917). The Winkler cactus was proposed for 
listing as an endangered species under the authority of the Act on 
October 6, 1993 (58 FR 52062). The final rule listing the Winkler 
cactus has been held up in the recent moratorium on listing actions. 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) expects to publish the 
final rule once the moratorium is lifted. For that reason, and because 
the Service is also preparing multispecies recovery plans and recovery 
plans that address candidate species where appropriate, the Winkler 
cactus is included in this recovery plan.
    These species were listed due to being highly desirable specimen 
plants for cactus collections, their limited habitat and small 
population size, and to current and potential threats from off-road 
vehicle use, trampling by both 

[[Page 49856]]
humans and domestic livestock, and by mineral resource exploration and 
development. The goal of the recovery plan is to maintain viable 
populations of the species at their known sites to ensure the species 
survival, and to guide recovery efforts to facilitate downlisting of 
the species.
    Recovery efforts will focus on protecting the species' population 
and habitat from habitat destroying activities and preventing 
collections from natural populations through the sections 7 and 9 
prohibitions of the Act for plan species. Biological and ecological 
research of the species' biology and their relationships and 
interactions with their environment is necessary to guide future 
management of the species' population and habitat to ensure their 
continued survival and the preservation of the species' ecosystem. 
Additional recovery efforts will focus on inventory of potential 
habitat and minimum viable population studies of their known 
populations.

Public Comments Solicited

    The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan 
described above. All comments received by the date specified in the 
DATES section above will be considered prior to approval of the 
recovery plan.

    Authority: The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the 
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: September 21, 1995.
Elliot N. Sutta,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-23945 Filed 9-26-95; 8:45 am]
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