Threatened Status for the Northern Mexican Gartersnake and Narrow-Headed Gartersnake; Final Rule

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) and the narrow-headed gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus), native species from Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. We also finalize a rule under authority of section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the northern Mexican gartersnake. Both species are listed as threatened throughout their range, which, for the northern Mexican gartersnake, also includes the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Hidalgo, Jalisco, San Luis Potos[iacute], Aguascalientes, Tlaxacala, Puebla, M[eacute]xico, Veracruz, and Quer[eacute]taro. The effect of this regulation will be to add these species to the lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.