Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for Short-Tailed Snake

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the short-tailed snake (Lampropeltis extenuata), a snake species from peninsular Florida, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the short-tailed snake. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the short-tailed snake as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species.