[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32635-32636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15786]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AE


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of 
Comment Period and Notice of Public Hearings on Proposed Threatened 
Status for the Plant Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos Sunflower)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides notice 
that three public hearings will be held on the proposed determination 
of threatened status for Helianthus paradoxus (Pecos sunflower). This 
plant is dependent on desert wetlands in New Mexico and western Texas.

DATES: Public hearings will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 8, 
1998, in Fort Stockton, Texas; July 9, 1998, in Roswell, New Mexico; 
and July 13, 1998, in Grants, New Mexico. The comment period, which 
originally closed on June 1, 1998, is reopened and now closes on August 
13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held at the large Community Hall 
in James Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway) 
in Fort Stockton, Texas; the Roswell Public Library, 301 North 
Pennsylvania Avenue, in Roswell, New Mexico; and the City Hall Council 
Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue, in Grants, New Mexico. Written 
comments and materials should be sent to the Field Supervisor, New 
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 2105 Osuna Road, NE., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113, facsimile 
505/346-2542. Comments and materials received will be available for 
public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment, at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlie McDonald, Endangered Species 
Botanist, at the above address or telephone 505/346-2525, ext. 112; 
facsimile 505/346-2542.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Pecos sunflower is a wetland plant that grows in permanently 
saturated soils. Areas that maintain these conditions are mostly desert 
wetlands (cienegas) associated with springs, but they may also include 
stream margins and the margins of impoundments. When Pecos sunflowers 
are associated with impoundments, the impoundments typically have 
replaced natural cienega habitats. Pecos sunflower is presently known 
from 25 sites that occur in 5 general areas. These areas are Pecos and 
Reeves counties, Texas, in the vicinity of Fort Stockton and Balmorhea; 
Chaves County, New Mexico, from Dexter to just north of Roswell; 
Guadalupe County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Santa Rosa; Valencia 
County, New Mexico, along the lower part of the Rio San Jose; and 
Cibola County, New Mexico, in the vicinity of Grants. Threats to Pecos 
sunflower include drying of wetlands from groundwater depletion; 
alteration of wetlands (e.g. wetland fills, draining, impoundment 
construction); competition with nonnative plant species, particularly 
saltcedar; excessive livestock grazing; mowing; and highway 
maintenance.
    On April 1, 1998, the Service published a proposed rule to list the 
Pecos sunflower as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as amended (Act). Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the 
Act requires that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45 
days of the publication of a proposed rule in the Federal Register. 
Public hearing requests were received within the allotted time period 
from the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau; New Mexico County Farm 
and Livestock Bureaus in Colfax, Cibola-McKinley, and Santa Fe 
counties; Production Credit Association of New Mexico; Texas and 
Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; and Davis Mountains Trans-
Pecos Heritage Association.
    The Service has scheduled hearings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Fort 
Stockton, Texas, on July 8, 1998, at the large Community Hall in James 
Rooney Memorial Park on U.S. Highway 285 (Sanderson Highway); in 
Roswell, New Mexico, on July 9, 1998, at the Roswell Public Library, 
301 North Pennsylvania Avenue; and in Grants, New Mexico, on July 13, 
1998, at the City Hall Council Chambers, 600 West Santa Fe Avenue. 
Anyone wishing to make an oral statement for the record is encouraged 
to provide a written copy of their statement to be presented 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 these 
hearings or

[[Page 32636]]

mailed to the Service. Legal notices announcing the dates, times, and 
locations of the hearings are being published in newspapers 
concurrently with this Federal Register notice.
    The comment period on the proposal originally closed on June 1, 
1998. In order to accommodate the hearing, the Service also reopens the 
public comment period. Written comments may now be submitted to the 
Service until August 13, 1998, to the office listed in the ADDRESSES 
section.
    Author: The primary author of this notice is Charlie McDonald, New 
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

    Dated: June 5, 1998.
Renne Lohoefener,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 98-15786 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
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