[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 32 (Thursday, February 15, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5971-5972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3410]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding for 
a Petition To De-List the Maryland Darter (Etheostoma sellare)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces a 90-day finding 
for a petition to remove the Maryland darter from the list of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants due to extinction. The 
Service finds that the petition does not present substantial scientific 
or commercial information indicating that delisting of this species may 
be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on February 7, 
1996.

ADDRESSES: Submit data, information, comments or questions concerning 
this petition to Field Supervisor, Chesapeake Bay Field Office, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, 177 Admiral Cochrane Drive, Annapolis, 
Maryland 21401. The petition finding and supporting data are available 
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at 
the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andy Moser at the above address (telephone 410 573-4537).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the Service make a 
finding on whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species 
presents substantial scientific or commercial information to 
demonstrate that the petitioned action may be warranted. This finding 
is to be based on all information available to the Service at the time 
the petition is submitted. To the maximum extent practicable, this 
finding is to be made within 90 days of receipt of the petition, and 
the finding is to be published in the Federal Register.
    The Service has made a 90-day finding on a petition to delist the 
Maryland darter. The petition, dated July 6, 1995, was submitted to the 
Service by the Maryland Farm Bureau, Inc., of Randallstown, Maryland 
and was received by the Service on July 14, 1995. The petitioners 
contend that the species was last seen in Deer Creek (in Harford 
County, Maryland) more than 15 years ago and is now absent from Deer 
Creek, the only location where it had been found in recent decades.
    The Service has carefully reviewed the petition and all other 
information currently available in the Service's files. On the basis of 
the best scientific and commercial data available, the Service finds 
the petition does not present substantial information that delisting 
this species may be warranted. This finding is based on the inadequacy 
of existing data to support the contention that the Maryland darter is 
extinct.
    The following is a summary of the information available on the 
species' status. The species was originally described from two 
specimens taken from Swan Creek in Harford County, Maryland, in 1912 
(Radcliffe and Welsh 1913). Over the next 50 years many efforts were 
made to collect this darter in this and nearby streams (USFWS 1985). 
All attempts failed until 1962, when a specimen was found in Gashey's 
Run, a tributary to Swan Creek. Although the species has not been 
documented in Gashey's Run since 1965, the species was subsequently 
found in 1965 at a single site in Deer Creek in Harford County, 
Maryland. It was first found at this site in 1965 and has since been 
observed there irregularly, but on numerous occasions, through 1988 by 
individuals using seines or snorkels. During this period the majority 
of sampling/observation efforts resulted in negative results. The last 
documented observation, seven years ago, was reported by Raesley 
(1991). Since 1988, despite fairly extensive efforts, no Maryland 
darters have been observed at the Deer Creek site; nor has the species 
been observed elsewhere.
    In the past, there have been long gaps in the species being 
observed and collected in Maryland. This hiatus in reporting does not 
provide definitive evidence of the species' extinction in the wild. As 
pointed out by Etnier (1994), it is not uncommon for rare species to be 
absent from samples at a given location for long periods of time and 
then to reappear in samples taken subsequently in the same location. A 
recent example of this occurred with another darter, the stripeback 
darter (Percina nottogramma), in Maryland. The stripeback darter had 
been considered extirpated in Maryland because it had not been observed 
in Maryland streams for 51 years. However, it was rediscovered in 
Maryland in 1995 (Raesley, Frostburg State Univ., pers. comm.).
    While the failure to find the Maryland darter in Deer Creek for the 
last seven 

[[Page 5972]]
years provides evidence that the species has declined in Deer Creek and 
may be extirpated (at least temporarily) there, it does not provide 
sufficient evidence to declare the species extinct.
    The species may continue to survive in the Susquehanna River 
adjacent to Deer Creek. To date, this area has not been extensively 
searched because of the very difficult sampling conditions there. Until 
this area has been adequately searched, we cannot rule out the survival 
of the Maryland darter there. Therefore, the Service finds that the 
information currently available to the Service is insufficient to 
support delisting of the Maryland darter.

References Cited

Etnier, D.A. 1994. Our Southeastern Fishes--What have we lost and 
what are we likely to lose. Proc. Southeastern Fisheries Council.
Radcliffe, L. and W.W. Welsh. 1913. Description of a new darter from 
Maryland. Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish 32:29-32.
Raesley, R.L. 1991. Population status of the endangered Maryland 
Darter (Etheostoma sellare) in Deer Creek Unpubl. Rpt. submitted to 
Maryland Natural Heritage Program. 28 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1985. Maryland Darter Recovery Plan, 
1st revision. Newton Corner, MA. 38 pp.

Author

    The primary author of this document is Andy Moser of the 
Service's Chesapeake Bay Field Office (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

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

    Dated: February 7, 1996.
John G. Rogers,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 96-3410 Filed 2-14-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M