Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Determination of Critical Habitat for the Coastal California Gnatcatcher; Final Rule

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). A total of approximately 207,890 hectares (513,650 acres) in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties, California are designated as critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher. Critical habitat identifies specific areas that are essential to the conservation of a listed species and, with respect to areas within the geographic range occupied by the species, that may require special management considerations or protection. The primary constituent elements for the coastal California gnatcatcher are those habitat components that are essential for the primary biological needs of foraging, nesting, rearing of young, intra-specific communication, roosting, dispersal, genetic exchange, or sheltering. All areas designated as critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher contain one or more of the primary constituent elements. We have not designated critical habitat on lands covered by an existing, legally operative, incidental take permit for the coastal California gnatcatcher under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. Subsection 4(b)(2) of the Act allows us to exclude from critical habitat designation areas where the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of designation, provided the exclusion will not result in the extinction of the species. We believe that the benefits of excluding HCPs from the critical habitat designation for the coastal California gnatcatcher will outweigh the benefits of including them. In areas where HCPs have not yet had permits issued, we have designated critical habitat for lands encompassing essential core populations of coastal California gnatcatchers and linkage areas that may require special management considerations or protections. Section 7 of the Act prohibits destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat by any activity funded, authorized, or carried out by any Federal agency. Section 4 of the Act requires us to consider economic and other impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. We solicited data and comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rule and economic analysis.