ETWP; Determination of Endangered Status for Three Plants and Threatened Status for Five Plants From Vernal Pools in the Central Valley of California

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) determines endangered status pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) for three plants, Orcuttia pilosa (hairy Orcutt grass), Orcuttia viscida (Sacramento Orcutt grass), and Tuctoria greenei (Greene's tuctoria); and threatened status for five plants, Castilleja campestris ssp. succulenta (fleshy owl's-clover), Chamaesyce hooveri (Hoover's spurge), Neostapfia colusana (Colusa grass), Orcuttia inaequalis (San Joaquin Valley Orcutt grass), and Orcuttia tenuis (slender Orcutt grass). Between publication of the proposed and final rules for these species, the Service determined that Orcuttia inaequalis, which was originally proposed as endangered, should be listed as threatened due to lesser immediacy and magnitude of threats to its existence. These species grow in the basins and margins of vernal pools of the Central Valley of California. Habitat loss and degradation due to urbanization, agricultural land conversion, livestock grazing, off-highway vehicle use, a flood control project, a highway project, altered hydrology, landfill projects, and competition from weedy nonnative plants imperil the continued existence of these species. This rule implements Federal protection and recovery provisions afforded by the Act for these eight plants.