[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 227 (Monday, November 26, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70410-70411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28629]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0095; FXES11130900000-134-FF09E30000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Initiation of
Status Review and 5-Year Review of the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of initiation of status review and 5-year review.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), under the
authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act),
announce the initiation of a status review of the Preble's meadow
jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) (Preble's) throughout its
range. We conduct status reviews to determine whether a species should
be listed as endangered or threatened under the Act. Following this
status review, we will issue a 12-month finding on two petitions to
delist Preble's. Because a status review also is required for the 5-
year review of listed species under section 4(c)(2)(A) of the Act, we
are electing to prepare these reviews simultaneously. At the conclusion
of these simultaneous reviews, we will issue the 12-month finding on
the petitions, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act, and make
the requisite determination under section 4(c)(2)(B) of the Act based
on the results of the 5-year review. Through this notice, we encourage
all interested parties to provide us information regarding the
Preble's. We also announce the availability of new information relevant
to our consideration of the status of the Preble's.
DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct these reviews, we request
that we receive comments and information no later than December 26,
2012. The deadline for submitting an electronic comment using the
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) is 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time on this date. After December 26, 2012, you must submit
information using the U.S. mail or hand-delivery option provided in the
ADDRESSES section below. Please note that we may not be able to address
or incorporate information that we receive after the above requested
date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Search for Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0095 and then follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2012-0095; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS
2042-PDM; 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 Request for Information
section below for more details).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Linner, Field Supervisor,
Colorado Ecological Services Office; mailing address P.O. Box 25486,
DFC (MS 65412), Denver, CO 80225; telephone (303) 236-4773; office
location: 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 670, Lakewood, CO 80228. If you
use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Previous Federal Actions
For a detailed description of Federal actions concerning the
Preble's, please refer to the May 13, 1998, listing under the Act (63
FR 26517); the July 10, 2008, final rule amending the listing
determination for the Preble's (73 FR 39790); and our August 5, 2011,
reinstatement of listing protections for the Preble's (76 FR 47490).
On December 23, 2003, we received two nearly identical petitions,
one from the State of Wyoming's Office of the Governor and the second
from Coloradans for Water Conservation and Development, seeking to
remove the Preble's from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife (Freudenthal 2003; Sonnenberg 2003). The petitions maintained
that Preble's should be delisted based on the taxonomic revision
suggested by Ramey et al. (2003) and new distribution, abundance, and
trends data that suggested the subspecies was no longer endangered or
threatened (Freudenthal 2003, p. 1; Sonnenberg 2003, p. 1).
On July 10, 2008, we published a final rule amending the listing
for the Preble's by removing protections for the Preble's in Wyoming
(73 FR 39790). In that rule, we determined that the Preble's was not
threatened throughout all of its range, but the portion of its range
located in Colorado represented a ``significant portion of the range''
(SPR) where the Preble's should retain its threatened status.
On June 23, 2009, a petition for review of the 2008 amendment to
the listing was filed in the United States District Court for the
District of Colorado. The petitioners challenged, among other things,
our interpretation of SPR as applied to the Preble's decision. The
Service filed a motion for voluntary remand and vacatur of the 2008
Preble's amended listing decision. On July 7, 2011, the United States
District Court for the District of Colorado granted this motion and
ordered the 2008 amended listing decision vacated and remanded as of
August 6, 2011 (Center for Native Ecosystems, et al. v. Salazar, et
al., 09-cv-01463-AP-JLK, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72664). On August 5,
2011, the Service issued a final rule complying with the court order
and reinstating the regulatory protections under the Act for the
Preble's in Wyoming, effective August 6, 2011 (76 FR 47490).
The court also ordered that by June 1, 2013, the Service must
complete its status review of the Preble's and publish a 12-month
finding in the Federal Register for the petitions submitted by the
State of Wyoming and Coloradans
[[Page 70411]]
for Water Conservation and Development to delist the Preble's.
On December 9, 2011, we published a notice of our draft policy (76
FR 76987) to establish a joint interpretation and application of SPR
with the National Marine Fisheries Service that reflects a permissible
reading of the law and its legislative history, and minimizes
undesirable policy outcomes, while fulfilling the conservation purposes
of the Act. To date, our draft policy on SPR has not been finalized.
Background
The Preble's is recognized as 1 of 12 subspecies of meadow jumping
mouse (Zapus hudsonius), a species that ranges from the Pacific Coast
of Alaska to the Atlantic Coast and from the northern limit of forests
south to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Georgia (Hafner et al. 1981, p. 501;
Hall 1981, p. 843; Krutzsch 1954, pp. 420-421). Meadow jumping mice are
small rodents with long tails, large hind feet, and long hind legs.
Total length of an adult is approximately 7 to 10 inches (187 to 255
millimeters), with the tail of 4 to 6 inches (108 to 155 millimeters)
comprising about 60 percent of that length (Krutzsch 1954, p. 420;
Armstrong et al. 2011, p. 189).
The Preble's is found along the foothills in southeastern Wyoming
southward along the eastern edge of the Front Range of Colorado to
Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado (Hall 1981, p. 844; Clark
and Stromberg 1987, pp. 184-188; Armstrong et al. 2011, p. 189;
Clippenger 2002, pp. 14-15, 20). Typical habitat for the Preble's is
comprised of well-developed riparian vegetation with adjacent,
relatively undisturbed grassland communities and a nearby water source
(Bakeman 1997, pp. 22-31). Preble's are typically captured in areas
with multi-storied cover with an understory of grasses or forbs or a
mixture thereof (Bakeman 1997, pp. 22-31; Schorr 2001, pp. 23-24). The
shrub canopy is often willow (Salix spp.), although other shrub species
may occur (Shenk and Eussen 1998, p. 9-11). Trainor et al. (2007, pp.
471-472) found that high-use areas for the Preble's tended to be close
to creeks and were positively associated with the percentage of shrubs,
grasses, and woody debris. Hydrologic regimes that support Preble's'
habitat range from large perennial rivers, such as the South Platte
River, to small drainages only 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 meters) in width.
Meadow jumping mice are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular (active
during twilight), but also may be active during the day. The Preble's
uses uplands at least as far out as 330 feet (100 meters) beyond the
100-year floodplain (Shenk and Sivert 1999, p. 11; Ryon 1999, p. 12;
Schorr 2001, p. 14; Trainor et al. 2012). While Preble's dispersal
capabilities are thought to be limited, in one instance a Preble's was
documented moving as far as 0.7 mile (1.1 kilometers) in 24 hours (Ryon
1999, p. 12). The Preble's typically enters hibernation in September or
October and emerges the following May (Whitaker 1963, p. 5; Meaney et
al. 2003, p. 621).
For additional information on the biology of this subspecies, see
the May 13, 1998, final rule to list the Preble's as threatened (63 FR
26517) and the October 8, 2009, proposal to revise critical habitat for
the Preble's in Colorado (74 FR 52066).
Request for Information
To ensure our determination is based on the best available
scientific and commercial information, we request information on the
Preble's from governmental agencies, Native American Tribes, the
scientific community, industry, and any other interested parties. We
are seeking any new information including:
(1) Data from any systematic surveys for the Preble's, as well as
any studies that may show distribution, status, population size, or
population trends;
(2) Information concerning the taxonomic status of the Preble's;
(3) Quantitative information regarding the life history, ecology,
and habitat use of the Preble's;
(4) Information on the current and foreseeable threats faced by the
Preble's in all or a significant portion of its range in relation to
the five listing factors (as defined in section 4(a)(1) of the
Endangered Species Act, as amended [16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.]);
(5) Information regarding the effects of current and foreseeable
land management on the status of the Preble's;
(6) Specific information on the potential effects of climate change
on the Preble's and its habitat;
(7) Information demonstrating what, for the Preble's, might
constitute an SPR in light of our December 9, 2011, draft policy on SPR
(76 FR 76987); and
(8) Information regarding contact and interaction among Preble's
populations or other information relevant to a distinct population
segment analysis (see 61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996).
You may submit information concerning the status review or the 5-
year review by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. 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 you submit a hardcopy that includes personal
identifying information, you may request at the top of your document
that we withhold this personal identifying information from public
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We
will post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
Information and supporting documentation we receive and use in
preparing a 12-month finding and 5-year review 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,
Colorado Ecological Services Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
New Information Available for Review
Pertinent information received, developed, or analyzed since our
July 10, 2008, final rule amending the listing determination for the
Preble's (73 FR 39790) is available for review on the Service's Web
site http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/preble/, or by
contacting the Field Supervisor, Colorado Ecological Services Office
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). This information includes both
scientific publications and selected unpublished reports. Compilations
of data, correspondence, and other information are also available on
the Service's Web site. See the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2012-0095) for additional
information we receive during the comment period opened by this
document.
References Cited
A complete list of all the references is available on the Internet
at http://www.regulations.gov and upon request from the Field
Supervisor, Colorado Ecological Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Authors
The primary authors of this notice are staff members of the
Colorado Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: November 15, 2012.
G. Mendel Stewart,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-28629 Filed 11-23-12; 8:45 am]
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