Comment Period for Proposal to Designate Critical Habitat Reopened
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is today reopening the comment period for the proposal to designate critical habitat for the Topeka shiner, an endangered Midwestern minnow, to reconsider whether certain lands in Missouri and on the Fort Riley Military Installation in Kansas should be excluded from critical habitat consideration. The Service is also proposing 20 additional stream miles in South Dakota.
A draft environmental assessment and draft economic analysis of the potential impacts of designating critical habitat for the Topeka shiner are also available for public comment. To give the public an opportunity to comment on these documents as well as the critical habitat proposal, the Service is reopening the public comment period until April 15, 2004.
An economic report analyzing the potential impacts of designating critical habitat is required whenever critical habitat is proposed. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service may exclude areas from a critical habitat designation if the benefits of excluding them are greater than the benefits of including them, unless the exclusion would result in the extinction of the protected species.
The economic analysis estimates the cost of the proposed critical habitat designation for private landowners, and federal, state, and local agencies to be $52.19 million over the next 10 years. The cost estimate includes probable consultations, project modifications, the development of biological assessments and environmental impact reports, and technical assistance and administrative tasks.
On August 21, 2002, the Service published a proposal to designate a total of 2,340 miles of stream as critical habitat for the Topeka shiner in the States of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. We also proposed to exclude from critical habitat designation Topeka shiner habitat in the State of Missouri and on the Fort Riley Military Installation.
Critical habitats are those areas believed to be essential to the conservation of a listed species and that may require special management considerations or protection. Because the State of Missouri and Fort Riley already have management plans that provide for the conservation of Topeka shiner, those lands were excluded from the Topeka shiner critical habitat proposal. However, a recent court opinion disagreeing with the Service
