[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27954-27955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12919]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-day Finding for 
a Petition To List the Wood Turtle (Clemmys Insculpta) as Threatened

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 90-
day finding for a petition to list the wood turtle (Clemmys insculpta) 
as a threatened species throughout its historic range in the 
coterminous United States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended. The Service finds that the petition does not present 
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that 
listing this species may be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on May 16, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit data, information, comments or questions concerning 
this petition to the Field Supervisor, New England Field Office, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, 22 Bridge Street, Concord, New Hampshire 
03301. The petition finding, supporting data, and comments are 
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business 
hours at the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Amaral at the above address 
(603-225-1411); Paul Nickerson at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Regional Office, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035 
(telephone 413-253-8615); or Robert Adair, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Federal Building, Fort Snelling, Twin Cities, Minnesota, 55111 
(telephone 612-725-3500).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the Service make a 
finding on whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species 
presents substantial scientific or commercial information to 
demonstrate that the petitioned action may be warranted. This finding 
is to be based on all information available to the Service at the time. 
To the maximum extent practicable, this finding is to be made within 90 
days of receipt of the petition, and the finding is to be published 
promptly in the Federal Register.
    The Service has made a 90-day finding on a petition to list the 
wood turtle (Clemmys insculpta) as threatened and to determine critical 
habitat. The petition, dated December 27, 1994, was submitted to the 
Service by Restore The North Woods of Concord, Massachusetts, the 
Biodiversity Legal Foundation, and six individual co-petitioners and 
was received by the Service on December 29, 1994. In a letter dated 
January 10, 1995, Restore provided two additional documents to the 
petition record. This information was received by the Service on 
January 12, 1995. The petitioners contend that the species has 
undergone a precipitous decline throughout its range, that there are a 
number of threats to the species which will cause further declines, 
and, therefore, that urgent protective measures are necessary.
    The Service has carefully reviewed the petition, the literature 
cited in the petition, recent information submitted by State wildlife 
agencies and other knowledgeable individuals, and all other information 
currently available in the Service's files. On the basis of the best 
scientific and commercial information available, the Service finds the 
petition does not present substantial information that listing this 
species may be warranted. This finding is based on the inadequacy of 
existing data to support the contention that the wood turtle has 
undergone rangewide decline or that the threats identified in the 
petition are affecting wood turtle populations across all or a 
significant portion of its range to the extent that the species is 
likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future.
    The following is a summary of the information available on the 
species' current status. The wood turtle occurs in all of the States 
within its recent historic range (colonial settlement to present); 
appears to be well distributed within a number of those States, i.e., 
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, Maryland, Massachusetts and 
New York; and is considered as threatened or endangered by State 
wildlife agencies in only 5 of the 17 States in which it occurs.
    The petitioners stated that habitat loss and fragmentation, nest 
and hatchling predation, and collection for commercial markets, as well 
as other factors, have resulted in the wood turtle being ``biologically 
threatened in its native habitat in the United States'' (Restore et. 
al. 1994). However, information submitted by the petitioners and 
information otherwise available to the Service indicate that the status 
of the wood turtle is not sufficiently known for a significant portion 
of its range to determine the species' current, versus historic, 
distribution. Similarly, inadequate data was provided to determine 
whether the threats identified for specific study populations cited in 
the petition are likely to be causing rangewide declines in wood turtle 
populations.
    Wood turtles continue to be widespread in a number of States, with 
viable populations reported from rural areas. In other States, numerous 
wood turtle occurrence records are reported but population and 
distribution data are insufficient to substantiate the need for State 
listing as threatened or endangered. Thus, the wood turtle is not 
State-listed as threatened or endangered throughout the majority of its 
range in the United States (Northeast Nongame Technical Committee 
1994).
    The petitioners presented information on the international trade in 
turtles of the genus Clemmys, as well as the domestic trade in wood 
turtles. This species was added to Appendix II of the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna 
(CITES) on June 11, 1992. While addition to Appendix II does not 
prohibit all international trade in wood turtles, it does provide a 
means for strict regulation of trade in order to avoid use incompatible 
with the species' survival in the wild. The Service shares the concern 
of the petitioners that natural populations cannot sustain indefinitely 
the removal of adult, breeding-age turtles for the domestic commercial 
pet market. However, the Service finds that the petition fails to 
present substantial information indicating that the current commercial 
trade in wood turtles is so extensive that it threatens the species' 
existence across its range. The Service notes that with one exception, 
New Hampshire, all States within the range occupied by the wood turtle 
now have laws either prohibiting or severely restricting the collection 
of wood turtles from the wild for commercial trade. The State of New 
Hampshire is currently drafting rules that will limit the collection of 
wood turtles to educational and scientific purposes (James DiStefano, 
New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, in litt., 1995).
    The petition provides information that some wood turtle populations 
are subject to high levels of predation on eggs, hatchlings and adult 
turtles. Raccoon, skunk, opossum, and fox are [[Page 27955]] believed 
to be the primary predators of wood turtles and their nests. Predator 
populations are lower than they have been in recent years within the 
range of the wood turtle in the East (Krebs et al 1994). While predator 
populations may rebound at some point, wood turtles are currently under 
less predation pressure in several of the northeastern States.
    Irrespective of the finding on this petition, the Service concurs 
with the petitioners that many aspects of the life history and breeding 
ecology of this species, as well as its popularity with collectors, 
could make it vulnerable to over-exploitation and population declines.

References Cited

Krebs, J.W., T.W. Strine, J.S. Smith, C.E. Rupprecht, and J.E. 
Childs. 1994. Rabies surveillance in the United States during 1993. 
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. vol. 
205(12):1695-1709.
Northeast Nongame Technical Committee. 1994. Legal categories of 
rare species in the northeastern states. Unpubl. rep., 25 pp.
Restore: the North Woods, S. Garber, J. Burger, C. Ernst, J. 
Harding, S. Tuttle, J. Davis, and the Biodiversity Legal Foundation. 
1994. Petition for a rule to list the North American wood turtle 
(Clemmys insculpta) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act 
16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq. (1993) as amended. Unpubl. doc., 
Concord, MA. 42 pp. and appendices.

    Author. The primary author of this document is Michael Amaral of 
the Service's New England Field Office (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: May 16, 1995.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 95-12919 Filed 5-25-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P