[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 27, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28963-28964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13969]


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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 Stone Mountain Fairy Shrimp as Endangered 
and Designate Critical Habitat

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 Stone Mountain fairy shrimp 
(Branchinella lithaca) under the Endangered Species Act, as amended. 
After review of all available scientific and commercial information, 
the Service finds that listing this species is not warranted. The 
Service will continue to monitor the status of this species and its 
habitat.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on May 11, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Questions, comments, or information concerning this petition 
should be sent to the 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: Mr. John F. Milio (904/232-2580, ext. 
112) (see ADDRESSES section).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that, for any petition to 
list, delist, or reclassify a species that contains substantial 
scientific and commercial information, the Service make a finding 
within 12 months 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. Such 12-month findings are to be published promptly in the 
Federal Register.
    The processing of this petition conforms with the Service's listing 
priority guidance published in the Federal Register on December 5, 1996 
(61 FR 64475), and extended on October 23, 1997, for fiscal year 1998 
(62 FR 55268). Administrative findings for listing petitions that are 
not assigned to tier 1 (emergency listing actions) are processed as a 
tier 3 priority. The processing of this petition falls under tier 3. At 
this time, the Southeast Region has no pending tier 1 actions and has 
completed its pending tier 2 actions (resolving the status of 
outstanding proposed listings).
    On March 31, 1995, the Service received a petition from Mr. Larry 
Winslett, President of the ``Friends of Georgia,'' Lithonia, Georgia. 
The petition, dated March 29, 1995, requested the Service to emergency 
list the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp, Branchinella lithaca, as 
endangered and designate critical habitat. The petitioner believed that 
previous and ongoing impacts to vernal (temporary) pool habitat at 
Stone Mountain, the shrimp's only known location, and potential 
physical and chemical effects from a then impending renovation project 
at the mountain's summit, threatened the survival of the species. The 
Service, in the 90-day finding, determined that the petition presented 
substantial information indicating that listing the species may be 
warranted. The finding concluded that an emergency listing action was 
not appropriate, and noted the Service would consider critical habitat 
designation if it found at 12 months that listing was warranted. A 
notice announcing the 90-day finding and initiation of a status review 
of the species was published in the Federal Register on July 22, 1997 
(62 FR 39210).
    The Service has reviewed the petition, the literature cited in the 
petition, other available literature and information, and consulted 
with species experts and other researchers familiar with vernal pool 
habitats. On the basis of the best scientific and commercial 
information available, the Service finds the petition is not warranted 
at this time. The status review documented habitat modifications such 
as disturbance of vernal pool sediments and physical debris entering 
pools at and near the mountain summit from recreational and 
construction activities, and facility operations. Solid wastes and 
liquid discharges may also directly impact the fairy shrimp. These 
modifications did not appear to occur at all pools or to an equal 
extent at affected pools. Due to this variability, lack of current and 
historic information on specific distribution and abundance of B. 
lithaca, and lack of historic data on the habitat, the Service is not 
able to confirm that these modifications, as well as other manmade or 
natural factors, threaten the continued existence of the Stone Mountain 
fairy shrimp.
    The status review also did not reveal any threats to the species 
from disease or predation, or overutilization for commercial, 
recreational, scientific, or educational purposes. The Service does not 
believe that existing regulatory mechanisms are inadequate. Because of 
likely habitat overlap between the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp and two 
federally-listed plants, the black-spored quillwort (Isoetes 
melanospora) and little amphianthus (Amphianthus pusillus) at Stone 
Mountain, the Federal and State regulations that protect and conserve 
those plants and their vernal pools are also benefitting B. lithaca. In 
addition, special legislation passed in 1997 by the Georgia General 
Assembly promotes the continuation of protection and conservation for 
the designated natural district at State-owned Stone Mountain Park, as 
outlined in its current Master Plan (Alice Richards, Stone Mountain 
Memorial Association, in litt. 1998). Since Stone Mountain and its 
vernal pools all occur within the park's natural district, the Service 
believes that this legislation provides further protection for the 
Stone Mountain fairy shrimp and its habitat.
    Casual surveys to locate B. lithica at Stone Mountain earlier this 
decade were unsuccessful. The last documented collection of the species 
was in 1951. At the 90-day finding the Service felt that a regular 
survey involving collection of water and sediment samples at various 
sites was needed to accurately determine the species' status. This 
survey was conducted in 1997 and also failed to find evidence of the 
species' continued existence at Stone Mountain, which may mean the 
species is extinct. Despite this latest failure (A. Richards, in litt. 
1997, pers. comm. 1998, Denton Belk, The World Conservation Union, in 
litt. 1998), the erratic occurrence of some anostracans (Donald 1983) 
led Belk (in litt. 1998) to believe the species may still exist at 
Stone Mountain. There is also some potential that the species may exist 
at locations other than Stone Mountain (L. Winslett, Friends of 
Georgia, in litt. 1996). Within the Georgia Piedmont physiographic area 
there are other rock outcrops whose

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invertebrate fauna has been little studied (J. Spooner, University of 
South Carolina, in litt. 1997), although quarrying and other human 
activities have destroyed or modified a number of these sites (L. 
Winslett, Friends of Georgia, in litt. 1996). The Service supports 
continued monitoring and protection of all temporary pools on Stone 
Mountain, and encourages systematic surveys of vernal pools at other 
rock outcrops, particularly those where the two federally-listed 
plants, black-spored quillwort and little amphianthus, are known to 
occur. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA), manager of the 
natural district and all vernal pools within Stone Mountain Park, has 
fenced some habitat in response to a recovery plan recommendation for 
the listed plants (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993). The Friends of 
Georgia, Inc., with technical assistance from the Service, has prepared 
a conservation agreement that it hopes to finalize this year with the 
SMMA. The agreement stresses continued surveying for B. lithaca; 
additional site specific protection, conservation, and recovery 
actions; and public education.
    The Service will continue to seek new information on the biology, 
ecology, distribution, and habitat of the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp, 
as well as threats to its continued survival. If additional data become 
available in the future to indicate that the species is extant, the 
Service will reassess the need for listing, including the need to 
emergency list.

References Cited

    Donald, D.B. 1983. Erratic occurrence of anostracans in a temporary 
pond: colonization and extinction or adaptation to variations in annual 
weather? Can. J. Zool. 61:1492-1498.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993. Recovery plan for three 
granite outcrop plant species. Jackson, Mississippi. 41 pp.

Author

    The primary author of this document is Mr. John F. Milio, 
Jacksonville Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

    Dated: May 11, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-13969 Filed 5-26-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P