For the third time in less than a decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is undertaking designation of critical habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl, which can be found in the mountains and canyons of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
The Service designated critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl in 1995 and again in 2001. 4.6 million acres were included in the second final designation (Feb. 2001, Federal Register, 66 FR 8530.) Both designations were successfully challenged in court. The Service was ordered by a Federal District Court in January 2003 to redo the critical habitat designation.
This proposal includes public and tribal lands in four states: 4,965,686 acres in Arizona; 569,125 acres in Colorado; 4,630,281 acres in New Mexico; and 3,322,452 acres in Utah. A public comment period will be open until December 18. A final rule is scheduled for August, 2004.
There are 7.5 million acres of U.S. Forest Service lands and 1.2 million acres of tribal lands in Arizona and New Mexico that could be included in the critical habitat designation. The Service
