Critical habitat refers to specific geographic areas that are essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and that may require special management considerations. These areas do not necessarily have to be occupied by the species at the time of designation. A critical habitat designation does not set up a preserve or refuge and only applies to situations where Federal funding, authorization or permits are involved. It has no impact on private landowners taking actions on their land that do not involve Federal funding, authorization, or permits.
The Service listed the Arkansas River shiner as a threatened species in 1998. A species is designated as threatened when it is likely to become endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range. At the time, the Service determined that it was not prudent to designate critical habitat for the species. Todays proposal is the result of a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity which filed a lawsuit against the Service to require designation of critical habitat.
If this proposed rule is finalized, Federal agencies proposing actions that may affect the areas designated as critical habitat will be required to consult with the Service on the effects of the proposed action. For most areas in the proposal, these actions already require consultation under other provisions of the Act that require Federal agencies to consult with the Service whenever an action they take might jeopardize a threatened or endangered species.
"By definition, the designation of critical habitat is limited in its impact," said Nancy Kaufman, the Services regional director for the Southwest Region. "As a threatened species, the Arkansas River shiner is already protected wherever it occurs within the Arkansas River Drainage Basin. The critical habitat designation will contribute to their conservation by helping Federal agencies determine when they must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before taking a proposed action that might adversely modify critical habitat.
The Service is proposing to designate 300 feet on either side of the rivers because a relatively intact riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian zone are necessary for the long-term survival of the shiner, allowing for natural flooding patterns, channel adjustments, nutrient input, buffering from sediment and pollutants, and protected side channels and backwater habitats for larvae and juvenile fish.
The Act requires that critical habitat proposals be based upon the best scientific and commercial data available, taking into consideration the economic impact, and any other relevant impact, of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. The Service can exclude areas from critical habitat designation if it determines that the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of including the areas as critical habitat, provided the exclusion will not result in the extinction of the species.
"The Service will only designate critical habitat for the Arkansas Shiner after receiving the input of local residents and other interested parties and fully considering the economic impacts," Kaufman said.
The Arkansas River Basin population of the Arkansas River shiner was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act on November 23, 1998. An introduced, non-native population of Arkansas River shiner, which became established in the Pecos River of New Mexico in 1978, was not affected by this listing. The Arkansas River shiner is a small (maximum length of two inches), silvery minnow with a small, dorsally flattened head and a rounded snout. The species once inhabited wide, sandy-bottomed rivers and streams throughout the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Today, the fish is found primarily in scattered reaches of the Canadian River in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Threats to the shiner include habitat loss from construction of water impoundments, reduction of stream flows caused by water diversions or groundwater withdrawals, declines in water quality, and possible inadvertent collection of shiners by the commercial bait fish industry. Competition from the Red River shiner, an introduced species, also threatens the Arkansas River shiner.
The Service published the proposed rule in todays Federal Register. The proposed rule and Draft Environmental Assessment for this critical habitat designation are available on the Services website at http://ifw2es.fws.gov/oklahoma. Copies can also be requested by writing to Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 222 South Houston, Suite A, Tulsa, Oklahoma 741 The draft economic analysis will be available during the public comment period. The Service will announce its availability in local newspapers and in the Federal Register.
Comments on the proposed rule should be submitted to the above address by August 29, 2000. Public hearings will be held in Amarillo, Texas on August 7, 2000; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on August 9, 2000; and Pratt, Kansas on August 11, 2000. All hearings will start promptly at 3:00 p.m (CST).
Written comments receive equal consideration with oral statements presented at the hearings. The first part of the hearings will focus on recovery of the species and stakeholder involvement in the recovery process. This section will conclude around 2:45 p.m. After a short break, the formal component of the public hearing will commence at 3:00 p.m. and continue until all parties have had a chance to provide comment.
Service biologists are in the process of drafting a recovery plan for the species which will then be available for public review and comment.
"We hope to involve as many stakeholders as possible in the development of this plan," said Jerry Brabander, supervisor of the Services Ecological Services office in Tulsa. "Water conservation efforts will likely be an important component of the plan."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
