U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Reproposes Critical Habitat for Central California Coastal Plant

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today announced it has proposed 38,447 acres of critical habitat for La Graciosa thistle in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The federally-endangered native California plant grows in coastal dunes and wetland areas.

The proposal is 2,643 acres smaller than a 2004 critical habitat rule that later was sent back to the Service by a lawsuit. Todays announcement opens a 45-day public comment period on the new proposal, which is timed to meet a court deadline of July 27, 2009, for a final determination. About 48 percent of the proposed critical habitat occurs on private lands. The remaining acreage is on federal, state, and county lands.