Threatened Species Status for Mount Rainier White-Tailed Ptarmigan With a Section 4(d) Rule

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura rainierensis), a bird subspecies in Washington, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the subspecies is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Mount Rainier white- tailed ptarmigan 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 subspecies to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species. We have determined that designation of critical habitat for this subspecies is not prudent.