[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57640-57642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28882]


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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 List the Junaluska Salamander as Endangered With Critical 
Habitat

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.


[[Page 57641]]


ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding and initiation of status 
review.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 90-day 
finding for a petition to list the Junaluska salamander (Eurycea 
junaluska) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). 
The Service finds that the petition presents substantial information 
indicating that listing this species may be warranted. A status review 
is initiated.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on October 8, 
1998. To be considered in the 12-month finding for this petition, 
information and comments should be submitted to the Service by December 
28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Data, information, comments, or questions concerning this 
petition should be sent to the State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Asheville Field Office, 160 Zillicoa Street, Asheville, North 
Carolina 28801. 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. J. Allen Ratzlaff (see 
``ADDRESSES'' section), telephone 828/258-3939, Ext. 229; facsimile 
828/258-5330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the Service make a 
finding as to 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 finding is made. To the maximum extent practicable, the finding 
shall be made within 90 days following receipt of the petition and 
promptly published in the Federal Register. Following a positive 
finding, section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires the Service to promptly 
commence a status review of the species.
    The processing of this petition conforms with the Service's final 
listing priority guidance for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, published in 
the Federal Register on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502). The guidance calls 
for giving highest priority to handling emergency situations (Tier 1); 
second highest priority to resolving the listing status of outstanding 
proposed listings, resolving the conservation status of candidate 
species, processing administrative findings on petitions, and 
processing a limited number of delistings and reclassifications (Tier 
2); and third priority to processing proposed and final designations of 
critical habitat (Tier 3). The processing of this petition falls under 
Tier 2.
    The Service has made a 90-day finding on a petition to list the 
Junaluska salamander (Eurycea junaluska). The petition, dated March 30, 
1998, was submitted by Mr. Ray Vaughan on behalf of Appalachian Voices 
and the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and was received by the Service 
on March 31, 1998. It requests the Service to list the Junaluska 
salamander as endangered and designate critical habitat under 16 U.S.C. 
Sec. 1533(a)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act. The petition 
identifies timber harvesting, nonnative trout, exposure to acid-bearing 
rock, siltation, genetic drift, the inadequacy of current laws, and 
naturally occurring events as immediate threats to the species' 
continued existence.
    The petitioners submitted claims that the Junaluska salamander is 
imperiled because, ``despite decades of searching, only six or seven 
populations have been found'' and ``even within those populations, 
adult individuals are extremely rare.'' Further elaborating on this 
point, the petitioners quote one source as stating, ``Trends of 
existing populations are not known; however, the rarity of existing 
populations suggests that most populations have suffered long-term 
declines.'' Some of the demographic problems associated with small 
population size are also cited as threats. The petitioners also 
identify ``stocked trout, timber harvesting, `exposure to acid-bearing 
Anakeesta rock formations during road construction,' and other 
disturbances that dump silt into their stream habitat'' as threats to 
the species. The petitioners also claim that existing laws are 
inadequate to protect the species, specifically the U.S. Forest 
Service's (USFS) National Forest Management Act.
    The Service concurs with the petitioners that this is a rare 
species, currently known from only six populations. However, rarity in 
itself is not a listing criterion (see section 4 of the Act). The 
petitioners assert that the rarity of adults is indicative of low 
recruitment into the population, citing one researcher as collecting 
only 50 adults in 10 years of field work. This may be true, but others 
have collected as many as 18 adults in a single night (W. Gutzke, 
University of Memphis, personal communication, 1998). The rarity of 
collected adults is possibly more a function of sampling.
    One of the main reasons the petitioners cite for the need to list 
the Junaluska salamander is ``clearcuts and sediment from timber sales 
and road building operations of the U.S. Forest Service'' 
(specifically, a salvage sale in the Snowbird Creek drainage in Graham 
County, North Carolina). The circumstances regarding the proposed USFS 
salvage operation on Snowbird Creek have changed since the petition was 
written, and the mitigation efforts implemented to minimize impacts to 
the species, specifically sedimentation, may now nullify this sale as 
an example of the potential threats to the species and its habitat.
    The Service recognizes the potential threat from the exposure of 
acid-bearing rock in watersheds that harbor the Junaluska salamander. 
Construction of the Cherohala Skyway from Robbinsville, North Carolina, 
to Tellico Plains, Tennessee, resulted in exposure of acid-bearing rock 
(Anakeesta) in the Santeetlah Creek drainage as well as portions of the 
Tellico River system in Tennessee. Acid-producing materials (usually 
rock containing pyritic sulfur in excess of 0.5 percent, with little or 
no alkaline materials) produce acidic leachate upon weathering. The 
acidic leachate may result in downstream pH values of 4.5. 
Excavation for road construction facilitates weathering by exposing 
additional rock surface area. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 
has published guidelines for handling situations with acid-producing 
materials (FHWA 1989). However, it is not clear what effect some of the 
mitigation measures for handling acidic rock may ultimately have on 
aquatic life.
    The Service agrees that the other threats listed by the petitioners 
(genetic drift, nonnative trout, and naturally occurring events [at 
least for individual populations]), along with several other factors 
(including nonpoint source pollution from other than USFS activities 
and competition with other salamander species) could potentially 
threaten this species.
    The Service has reviewed the petition, its accompanying literature, 
and other literature and information in the Service's files. On the 
basis of the best scientific and commercial information available, the 
Service finds that the petition presents substantial information 
indicating that listing the Junaluska salamander may be warranted. The 
Service believes the petitioners have presented adequate information 
about the status, distribution, and abundance of the

[[Page 57642]]

Junaluska salamander and that they have addressed most of the potential 
threats to the species in North Carolina. However, the Service is in 
need of additional information to adequately assess the status of the 
species in Tennessee, to locate additional populations, and to identify 
those factors that may affect its persistence. Prior to receiving the 
subject petition, the Service had some knowledge of the status of the 
Junaluska salamander, principally in North Carolina. Consequently, the 
Service had initiated a status survey for the Tennessee portion of the 
species' range. In addition, the USFS is working with the Service and 
several other agencies and organizations to begin a multi-agency 
conservation agreement to minimize or eliminate the threats to the 
species in North Carolina.
    The petitioners also requested that critical habitat be designated 
for the Junaluska salamander. If after completion of the status review 
the Service determines that the petition to list the Junaluska 
salamander as endangered is warranted, the issue of designating 
critical habitat would be addressed in the subsequent proposed rule.

References Cited

Bruce, R. C. 1982. Egg laying, larval periods, and metamorphosis of 
Eurycea bislineata and E. junaluska at Santeetlah Creek, North 
Carolina. Copeia 1982(4):755-762.
Bruce, R. C., and T. J. Ryan. 1995. Distribution and population 
status of the salamander, Eurycea junaluska. U.S. Forest Service 
Challenge Cost Share Report. No. 11-287. 84 pp.
Federal Highway Administration. 1989. Guidelines for handling 
excavated acid-producing materials. FHWA/DF/89001, March 1989.
Mittleman, M. B. 1949. American Caudata VI: the races of Eurycea 
bislineata. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 62:89-96.
Ryan, T. J. 1998. Larval life history and abundance of a rare 
salamander, Eurycea junaluska. J. of Herpetology 32(1):10-17.
Sever, D. M. 1979. Male secondary sexual characters of the Eurycea 
bislineata (Amphibia, Urodela, Plethodontidae) complex in the 
Southern Appalachian Mountains. J. Herpetology 13:245-253.
________. 1983. Observations on the distribution and reproduction of 
the salamander Eurycea junaluska in Tennessee. J. Tenn. Acad. Sci. 
58:48-50.
Sever, D. M., H. A. Dundee, and C. D. Sullivan. 1976. A new Eurycea 
(Amphibia: Plethodontidae) from southwestern North Carolina. 
Herpetologica 32:26-29.
    Author: The primary author of this document is Mr. J. Allen 
Ratzlaff (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

    Dated: October 8, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-28882 Filed 10-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P