Final Rule for Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of Topeka Shiner (Notropis topeka) in Northern Missouri

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), jointly with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Nature Conservancy, will reestablish the Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka), a federally endangered fish. We will reestablish the Topeka shiner under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and classify the reestablished population as a nonessential experimental population (NEP) within portions of the species' historical range in Adair, Gentry, Harrison, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth Counties, Missouri. This final rule provides a plan for establishing the NEP and provides for allowable legal incidental taking of the Topeka shiner within the defined NEP area. The best available data indicate that reintroduction of Topeka shiner to portions of the species' historical range in Adair, Gentry, Harrison, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth Counties, Missouri, is biologically feasible and will promote the conservation of the species.