[Federal Register: November 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 222)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 65020-65023]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18no03-24]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AT52

 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of 
Critical Habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce 
that, based on the October 10, 2003, decision in Center for Biological 
Diversity v. Norton, Civ. 01-409 TUC DCB (D. Ariz.), we are once again 
soliciting comment on our July 21, 2000, proposed rule (hereinafter 
referred to as the July 2000 proposal) to designate critical habitat 
for the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) (65 FR 45336). 
We issued a final rule to the July 2000 proposal on February 1, 2001 
(66 FR 8530). The final rule did not include some Forest Service and 
tribal lands that had been proposed for designation as critical habitat 
in the July 2000 proposal. This final rule is still in effect while we 
reconsider the proposed rule and issuance of a new final rule. Comments 
previously submitted on the July 2000 proposal need not be resubmitted 
because we will incorporate them into the public record as part of this 
reopening of the comment period and will fully consider them in 
development of a new final rule.
    The Mexican spotted owl (owl) inhabits canyon and montane forest 
habitats across a range that extends from southern Utah and Colorado, 
through Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, to the mountains of 
central Mexico. The July 2000 proposal included