[Federal Register: October 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 207)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 55525-55526]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28oc09-30]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[FWS-R2-ES-2009-0030]
[92210-1111-FY08-B2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on
a Petition to List the Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates [=Rana]
pipiens) in the Western United States as Threatened
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of a 90-day petition finding; reopening of the
information solicitation period.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
reopening of the public information solicitation period on our July 1,
2009, initiation of status review and 90-day finding on a petition to
list the western U.S. population of the northern leopard frog
(Lithobates [=Rana] pipiens) as threatened under the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This action will provide all interested
[[Page 55526]]
parties with an additional opportunity to submit information and
materials on the status of the northern leopard frog. Information
previously submitted need not be resubmitted as it has already been
incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the
12-month finding.
DATES: We are reopening the public information solicitation period. To
allow us adequate time to consider and incorporate submitted
information into our review, we request that we receive information on
or before November 27, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R2-ES-2009-0030; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive,
Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
We will post all information received on http://
www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the ``Information Solicited''
section below and in our original notice (74 FR 31389) for more
details).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven L. Spangle, Field Supervisor,
by U.S. mail at Arizona Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2321 West Royal Palm Drive, Suite 103, Phoenix, AZ
85021; telephone 602-242-0210; facsimile 602-242-2513. Information
submitted after November 27, 2009 should be submitted to this address.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Solicited
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, published a 90-day finding
on a petition to list the northern leopard frog as threatened in the
Federal Register on July 1, 2009 (74 FR 31389). We are continuing to
solicit information during this reopened information solicitation
period on the status of the northern leopard frog. We request
information from the public, other concerned governmental agencies,
Native American Tribes, the scientific community, industry, or any
other interested parties concerning the status of the northern leopard
frog. We are seeking information regarding:
(1) the historical and current status and distribution of the
northern leopard frog, its biology and ecology, and ongoing
conservation measures for the species and its habitat, and threats to
the species and its habitat;
(2) information relevant to the factors that are the basis for
making a listing determination for a species under section 4(a) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.), which are:
(a) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of the species' habitat or range;
(b) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or
educational purposes;
(c) disease or predation;
(d) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
(e) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence and threats to the species or its habitat; and
(3) its taxonomy (particularly genetics of the western U.S.
population and of the convergence zone of the eastern and western
haplotypes in Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada).
If you submitted information previously on the status of this
species please do not resubmit it. This information has been
incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the
preparation of the 12-month finding. We will consider information
received from all interested parties.
You may submit your information and materials concerning the 90-day
finding by any of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. Be aware
that if you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov your
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will
be posted on the Web site. If your submission is made via hardcopy that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will
also post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
Please include sufficient information with your comments to allow us to
verify any scientific or commercial information you include.
Information and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing the 90-day finding for the northern
leopard frog, will be available for public inspection on http://
www.regulations.gov, or by appointment during normal business hours, at
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Ecological Services Office
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Background
On July 1, 2009, we published a 90-day finding on a petition to
list the western U.S. population of the northern leopard frog as
threatened (74 FR 31389). In that 90-day finding, we found that the
petition presented substantial scientific or commercial information
indicating that listing the western U.S. population of the northern
leopard frog may be warranted. We also initiated a status review to
determine if listing the species is warranted, and announced a 60-day
public information solicitation period on the petition finding and
status review, which ended on August 31, 2009.
We received multiple requests for an extension of the information
solicitation period in order to allow agencies, tribes, and other
interested persons the opportunity to provide additional information
for our consideration during this status review. The broad geographical
distribution of the western U.S. population of the northern leopard
frog complicated the timely notification of interested parties.
Collection of information from across the full range of the petitioned
northern leopard frog population will be important for the status
review and 12-month finding on the northern leopard frog.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 20, 2009
Daniel M. Ashe,
Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-25883 Filed 10-27-09; 8:45 am]
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