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[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 103 (Friday, May 29, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29367-29368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14233]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service
RIN 1018-AE83

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Public 
Hearings and Reopening of Comment Period on Proposed Reclassification 
From Endangered to Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From 
Guam, and Proposed Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearing and reopening of 
comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), provides notice of 
two public hearings on the proposed reclassification from endangered to 
threatened status for the Mariana fruit bat from Guam, and on proposed 
threatened status for the Mariana fruit bat from the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands. In addition, the Service has reopened the 
comment period. All parties are invited to submit comments on this 
proposal.

DATES: The comment period now closes on July 10, 1998. There will be 
two public hearings, one each on the islands of Saipan and Rota. The 
public hearing on Saipan will be held from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on 
Wednesday, June 24, 1998. The public hearing on Rota will be held from 
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 1998. Prior to each of the 
public hearings, the Service will be available from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. 
to provide information and to answer questions.

ADDRESSES: On Saipan, the public hearing will be held at the Pacific 
Gardenia Hotel, Chalan Kanoa Beach Road. On Rota, the public hearing 
will be held at the Rota Resort and Country Club. Written comments and 
materials concerning this proposal may be submitted at the hearings or 
sent directly to Mr. Brooks Harper, Field

[[Page 29368]]

Supervisor, Ecological Services, Pacific Islands Ecoregion, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-122 Box 50088, 
Honolulu, HI 96850. Comments and materials will be available for public 
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Worthington or Christa Russell 
at 808/541-3441 (see ADDRESSES section).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mariana fruit bat is a medium-sized fruit bat that is 
restricted to the Mariana archipelago, comprised of the Territory of 
Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), where 
it is known from all islands.
    The movement of bats among the Mariana Islands is an aspect of 
their biology that is critical to conservation. The 1984 Federal 
listing (49 FR 33881) of fruit bats resident on Guam was based on the 
assumption that these bats formed a separate population segment 
distinct from the bats found in the CNMI. Recently, biologists in the 
Mariana Islands have gathered evidence indicating that movement of bats 
among the Mariana Islands links these colonies as a single population. 
Thus, the Service believes that the Mariana fruit bats in the CNMI and 
Guam represent one population, but recognizes that the bats on Guam are 
not recovering and that survival of bats on Guam continues to be 
threatened by a variety of factors. However, when viewed in the context 
of representing a portion of the entire Mariana fruit bat population in 
the Mariana Islands, rather than as a distinct population as previously 
thought, reclassification from endangered to threatened is appropriate 
and biologically justified. Therefore, proposing to list the entire 
population of Pteropus mariannus mariannus as threatened throughout its 
range, including bats in both the CNMI and Guam, retains an appropriate 
level of protection for this bat on Guam while increasing overall 
protection to the Mariana fruit bat throughout the Mariana Islands.
    The fruit bats of Guam and the CNMI are threatened by degradation 
or loss of habitat through the development of forested areas, illegal 
hunting, the possible introduction of alien species such as the brown 
tree snake (Boiga irregularis) to the CNMI, and the potential impacts 
of typhoons that can disrupt small populations. Most of the known 
Mariana fruit bat roost sites in the Mariana Islands are on public 
land.
    On August 27, 1984, the Service listed the Guam population of 
Mariana fruit bats as endangered (49 FR 33881). Fruit bats found on 
Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan are currently identified as candidates for 
listing (62 FR 49401). On March 26, 1998, the Service published a rule 
proposing reclassification from endangered to threatened status for the 
Mariana fruit bat from Guam, and proposing threatened status for the 
Mariana fruit bat from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
(63 FR 14641-14650).
    Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires 
that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45 days of the 
publication of the proposed rule. Public hearing requests by the CNMI 
Governor, the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources, the CNMI 
Division of Fish and Wildlife, and CNMI Representatives Heinz S. 
Hofschneider and Diego T. Benavente, were received within the allotted 
time period. The Service has scheduled public hearings for Saipan and 
Rota. The public hearing on Saipan is on Wednesday, June 24, 1998, at 
the Pacific Gardenia Hotel from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. On Rota, the 
hearing will be on Thursday, June 25, 1998, at the Rota Resort and 
Country Club from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Public hearings are an 
opportunity for the public to provide oral comments for the official 
record, which does not allow for questions and responses to questions; 
therefore, prior to each public hearing, the Service will be available 
to provide information and answer questions from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30 
p.m.
    Oral and written comments will be accepted and treated equally. 
Parties wishing to make statements for the record should bring a copy 
of their statements to the hearings. Oral statements may be limited in 
length, if the number of parties present at the hearings necessitates 
such a limitation. There are no limits to the length of written 
comments or materials presented at the hearings or mailed to the 
Service. Written comments carry the same weight as oral comments. Legal 
notices announcing the date, time, and location of the hearings are 
being published in newspapers concurrently with this Federal Register 
notice.
    The comment period on the proposal was initially closed on May 26, 
1998. To accommodate the hearings, the public comment period is 
reopened upon publication of this notice. Written comments may now be 
submitted until July 10, 1998, to the Service office in the ADDRESSES 
section.

Author

    The primary author of this notice is David Worthington (see 
ADDRESSES section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
William F. Shake,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 98-14233 Filed 5-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
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