[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9278]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 18, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Petition
Finding for the California Tiger Salamander
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of petition finding.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 12-month
finding on a petition to list the California tiger salamander
(Ambystoma californiense) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act). The petition has been found to be warranted but
precluded by pending listing actions on higher priority species. The
Service continues to seek data and comments from the public on the
status and threats to this animal.
DATES: The finding reported in this document was made on April 12,
1994. Comments and information may be submitted until further notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments and materials concerning this petition may be sent
to the Field Supervisor, Sacramento Field Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2800 Cottage Way, Room E-1803, Sacramento, California
95825-1846. The petition, finding, supporting data, comments, and
materials received will be available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Sorensen, Sacramento Field
Office (see ADDRESSES section) at 916/978-4866.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that for any petition to
revise the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants that
presents substantial scientific and commercial information a finding be
made within 12 months of the date 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 to list, delist, or reclassify species. Such 12-month
findings are to be published promptly in the Federal Register. If the
finding is warranted but precluded, the Service shall, within 12 months
of such finding, again make one of the three findings described above
with regard to the petition.
The California tiger salamander was designated as a category 2
candidate for listing in the November 21, 1991, Animal Notice of Review
(56 FR 58804). A category 2 candidate is a species for which data in
the Service's possession indicate listing is possibly appropriate, but
for which substantial information on biological vulnerability and
threats is not currently available to support proposals for listing. In
a petition dated February 20, 1992, and received on February 26, 1992,
Dr. H. Bradley Shaffer of the University of California, Davis,
requested the Service list the California tiger salamander as an
endangered species. The petition cited numerous threats to the species,
including habitat loss and fragmentation, predation by introduced
species, and other anthropogenic factors. The Service announced its 90-
day petition finding in the Federal Register on November 19, 1992 (57
FR 54545), which concluded that the petition presented substantial
information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.
The Service has carefully assessed the best scientific and
commercial information available regarding the present and future
threats facing the California tiger salamander. Most of the remaining
range of the California tiger salamander is imminently threatened by
urban development, conversion of natural habitat to agriculture,
introduction of exotic predatory animals, and/or other anthropogenic
factors (e.g., rodent control programs, vehicular-related mortality).
However, several populations inhabiting refuges, parks, and other
public lands are threatened only by exotic predators and stochastic
events that may, in time, result in local extirpation. Moreover, tiger
salamander localities in portions of the Diablo Range, inner Coast
Ranges, and Sierra Nevada foothills are not significantly threatened at
the present time. Coupled with the species' wide-ranging distribution
(i.e., infrequently scattered population localities over 250 miles in
24 California counties) and relatively large number of remaining
breeding localities, the species will not face extinction if recovery
is temporarily postponed. Therefore, the Service concludes that the
threats facing the species are moderate.
The Service concludes as a result of its status review that
sufficient information is currently available to support a proposed
rule to classify the species as endangered or threatened. According to
Service policy announced in the Federal Register on May 12, 1993 (58 FR
28034), such species are placed in category 1 and assigned a listing
priority number. Guidelines for assigning proper listing priorities
were published in the Federal Register on September 21, 1983 (48 FR
43098). Consequently, given the moderate yet imminent threats facing
the California tiger salamander throughout its range, the Service
hereby assigns the California tiger salamander a listing priority
number of 8.
For the current fiscal year that began on October 1, 1993, the
Service in central and northern California is making expeditious
progress to propose and list at least 49 high priority taxa (38 species
in eight listing packages with a listing priority of 2, 9 species in
four listing packages with a listing priority of 3, and 2 species in a
listing package with a listing priority of 6). In light of these
ongoing listing efforts involving plants and animals that are
imminently and highly threatened, the Service finds the petition to be
warranted but precluded by pending listing actions on higher priority
species.
Author
The primary author of this document is Peter C. Sorensen (see
ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).
Dated: April 12, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-9278 Filed 4-15-94; 8:45 am]
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