[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9119-9120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4512]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Services, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) provides notice that 
the public

[[Page 9120]]

comment period on the proposed list or the Pecos pupfish (Cyprinodon 
pecosensis) as an endangered species is reopened. The Service, in 
cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico 
Divison of State Parks, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Bureau 
of Land Management, has formulated a Conservation Agreement that may 
provide significant new information concerning the threats to the 
survival of the species. The comment period was reopened from December 
28, 1998, to January 27, 1999, to allow all interested parties to 
submit comments on the proposal and the draft Conservation Agreement. 
Comments were received on the last day of the public comment period 
from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico that would add 
a signatory entity to the agreement, the New Mexico Department of 
Agriculture. Reopening the public comment period will allow sufficient 
time for all entities involved with the Conservation Agreement to sign 
the document.

DATES: The comment period for this proposal and the Conversation 
Agreement will be reopened February 24, 1999 and will close on March 
26, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and materials should be sent to the Field 
Supervisor. New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna NE, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. Comments and materials received will be 
available for public inspection during normal business hours, by 
appointment, at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Fowler-Propst, Field Supervisor, New Mexico Ecological 
Services Field Office, at the above address (505) 346-2525.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Pecos pupfish was proposed for listing as an endangered species 
on January 30, 1998 (63 FR 4608). A public hearing on the proposal was 
held in Carlisbad, New Mexico on April 9, 1998. During the extended 
public comment period (January 30 to November 20, 1998) we contacted 
state and Federal land and resource management agencies in New Mexico 
and Texas to determine if adequate protections could be implemented 
through a Conservation Agreement. The Conservation Agreement was made 
available for public review from December 28, 1998, to January 27, 
1999. This comment period did not allow sufficient time for the 
signatory entities to fully execute the document.
    The Conservation Agreement sets forth the commitments of state and 
Federal agencies to control nonnative competing species and to protect 
and manage the Pecos pupfish and its habitat to ensure its survival and 
promote its conservation. The Agreement addresses the significant 
threats to the species arising from its small, isolated populations and 
from the potential for hybridization with the sheepshead minnow 
(Cyprinodon variegatus). The signatory agencies to the Agreement have 
made commitments protect known extant populations of pure Pecos 
pupfish, expand the distribution of the species within its native range 
by establishing new population, and to prohibit the use of sheepshead 
minnow through revision of baitfish regulations in New Mexico and 
Texas. If these commitments are adequate in removing the identified 
threats to the Pecos pupfish, listing of the species may not be 
required.

Author

    The primary author of this document is Jennifer Fowler-Propst, New 
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1532 et seq.).

    Dated: February 18, 1999.
Nancy M. Kaufman,
Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 99-4512 Filed 2-23-99; 8:45 am]
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