13950 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 15, 1995 / Proposed Rules

1The Board field offices are listed under U.S.

Government in the telephone directories of the

following cities: Anchorage, AK, Atlanta, GA, West

Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, Arlington, TX, Gardena

(Los Angeles), CA, Miami, FL, Parsippany, NJ

(metropolitan New York, NY), Seattle, WA, and

Washington, DC.

2Forms are available from the Board field offices

(see footnote 1), from Board headquarters in

Washington, DC, and from the Federal Aviation

Administration Flight Standards District Offices.

government on behalf of another unit of

government pursuant to a cost

reimbursement agreement, if the unit of

government on whose behalf the

operation is conducted certifies to the

Administrator of the Federal Aviation

Administration that the operation was

necessary to respond to a significant and

imminent threat to life or property

(including natural resources) and that

no service by a private operator was

reasonably available to meet the threat.

* * * * *

6. Section 830.5 is proposed to be

amended by revising the introductory

text to read as follows:

§ 830.5 Immediate notification.

The operator of any civil aircraft, or

any public aircraft not operated by the

Armed Forces or an intelligence agency

of the United States, or any foreign

aircraft shall immediately, and by the

most expeditious means available,

notify the nearest National

Transportation Safety Board (Board)

field office 1 when:

* * * * *

7. Section 830.15 is proposed to be

amended by revising paragraph (a) to

read as follows:

§ 830.15 Reports and statements to be

filed.

(a) Reports. The operator of a civil,

public (as specified in § 830.5), or

foreign aircraft shall file a report on

Board Form 6120.1⁄2 (OMB No. 3147–

0001) 2 within 10 days after an accident,

or after 7 days if an overdue aircraft is

still missing. A report on an incident for

which immediate notification is

required by § 830.5(a) shall be filed only

as requested by an authorized

representative of the Board.

* * * * *

Subpart E [Removed]

8. Subpart E of part 830 is proposed

to be removed.

PART 831—ACCIDENT/INCIDENT

INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES

9. The authority citation for part 831

is proposed to be revised to read as

follows:

Authority: Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as

amended (49 U.S.C. 40101 et seq.), and the

Independent Safety Board Act of 1974, as

amended (49 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).

10. Section 831.2 is proposed to be

amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) to

read as follows:

§ 831.2 Responsibility of Board.

(a) Aviation. (1) The Board is

responsible for the organization,

conduct and control of all accident

investigations within the United States,

its territories and possessions, where the

accident involves civil aircraft and

certain public aircraft (as specified in

§ 830.5 of this chapter), including an

accident investigation involving civil or

public aircraft on the one hand and an

Armed Forces or intelligence agency

aircraft on the other hand. It is also

responsible for investigating accidents

that occur outside the United States,

and which involve civil aircraft and

certain public aircraft, when the

accident is not in the territory of another

state (i.e., in international waters).

* * * * *

11. Section 831.9 is proposed to be

amended to revise paragraph (b) to read

as follows:

§ 831.9 Authority of Board

Representatives.

* * * * *

(b) Aviation. Any employee of the

Board, upon presenting appropriate

credentials, is authorized to examine

and test to the extent necessary any civil

or public aircraft, aircraft engine,

propeller, appliance, or property aboard

such aircraft involved in an accident in

air commerce.

* * * * *

Issued in Washington, D.C. on this 8th day

of March, 1995.

Jim Hall,

Chairman.

[FR Doc. 95–6216 Filed 3–14–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7533–01–P

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 Preble’s Meadow

Jumping Mouse as Threatened or

Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition

finding.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) announces a 90-day

finding for a petition to list the Preble’s

meadow jumping mouse (Zapus

hudsonius preblei) under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended. The Service finds that there is

substantial information to indicate that

listing the species may be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this

document was approved on February

27, 1994. To be considered in the 12-

month finding for this petition,

information and comments should be

submitted to the Service by May 15,

1995.

ADDRESSES: Information, questions, or

comments concerning this petition

finding may be sent to the Field

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 730 Simms Street, Room 290,

Golden, Colorado 80401. The petition,

finding, supporting data, and comments

are available for public inspection by

appointment during normal business

hours at the above office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

LeRoy W. Carlson (see ADDRESSES) (303/

231–5280).

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

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (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. To the maximum extent

practicable, this finding is to be made

within 90 days of the receipt of the

petition, and a notice regarding the

finding is to be published promptly in

the Federal Register. If the finding is

that substantial information was

presented, the Service also is required to

commence a review of the status of the

involved species if one has not already

been initiated by the Service. The

Service initiated a status review for

Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (Zapus

hudsonius preblei) when it categorized

the species as a category 2 candidate

species in the 1985 Animal Notice of

Review (50 FR 37958). This notice

meets the requirement for the 90-day

finding made earlier on the petition as

discussed below.

A petition dated August 9, 1994, was

received by the Service from the

Biodiversity Legal Foundation on

August 16, 1994. The petition requests

the Service to list Preble’s meadow

jumping mouse as endangered or

threatened throughout its range and to

designate critical habitat within a
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 15, 1995 / Proposed Rules 13951

reasonable amount of time following the

listing.

The petitioner submitted information

that Preble’s meadow jumping mouse

populations in Colorado and Wyoming

are imperiled by ongoing and increasing

urban, industrial, agricultural, ranching,

and recreational development; wetland

and riparian habitat destruction and/or

conversion; and inadequacy or lack of

governmental protection for the

subspecies and its habitats.

The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse

is a small rodent in the family

Zapodidae. The coloration and the skull

characteristics of the Preble’s meadow

jumping mouse were described by

Krutzsch (1954).

Krutzsch (1954), Quimby (1951), and

Armstrong (1972) concur that this

species dwells mostly in low

undergrowth consisting of grasses, forbs,

or both; in open wet meadows and

riparian corridors near forests

(coniferous and deciduous hardwoods);

or where tall shrubs and low trees

provide adequate cover. It prefers

lowlands with medium to high moisture

over dry uplands. However, current

research at Rocky Flats (M. Bakeman

and F. Harrington, pers. comm. 1994)

indicates that the dryer upland habitats

are preferred to construct their winter

hibernaculums whereas moist lowlands

are utilized during the spring and

summer months when the Preble’s

meadow jumping mouse is most active

and reproducing.

Local mammalogists believe that the

Preble’s meadow jumping mouse has

never been common, but the apparent

extirpation of this species from

previously occupied habitats in

Wyoming and Colorado and the

difficulties finding it in apparently

adequate habitats may be indicative of

a precipitous decline in populations of

the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (D.

Armstrong, University of Colorado, pers.

comm. 1992) throughout its range.

Current information indicates that

Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is

restricted to only two known

populations in Colorado and apparently

none in Wyoming. It is unclear if two

other populations in Colorado still exist.

Known populations in Colorado are

located at the Department of Energy’s

Rock Flats Plant in northern Jefferson

County and adjacent City of Boulder

Open Space land in southern Boulder

County. A specimen tentatively

identified as a Preble’s meadow jumping

mouse was captured in 1994 at the Air

Force Academy in El Paso County (C.

Pague, Colorado Natural Heritage

Program, pers. comm. 1994).

Listing Factors

The following are the five listing

criteria as set forth in section 4(a)(1) of

the Act and regulations (50 CFR Part

424) promulgated to implement the

listing provisions of the Act and their

applicability to the current status of

Preble’s meadow jumping mouse.

A. The present or threatened

destruction, modification, or

curtailment of its habitat or range. The

main cause for Preble’s meadow

jumping mouse’s decline is directly or

indirectly linked to habitat alteration.

The habitat alteration includes

widespread destruction and/or

modification of wet meadows and

riparian corridors and indirect

hydrological impacts by anthropogenic

structures, including—biking/hiking

trails; riprap and other bank

stabilization structures and activities;

road and bridge construction; urban,

industrial, commercial, agricultural, and

ranching development; and sand and

gravel mining operations. Gravel mining

operations continue to expand as

housing and road construction activities

increase, and these mines are located

within wetlands, wet meadows, and

riparian habitats.

The Front Range region in Colorado

has changed from a predominantly

prairie habitat intermixed with wet

meadows and intermittent streams and

gulches to a more agricultural and urban

setting with its associated housing,

recreational, commercial, and industrial

development. These developments have

brought about profound changes in the

hydrology of the streams along the Front

Range. With urbanization has come the

expansion of park areas and forestation.

With park and open space development

has come the expansion of hiking and

biking trails along and crossing riparian

habitats that have caused further

fragmentation of this mouse’s habitats.

Grazing has been identified by some

researchers as one of the leading causes

for its decline (F. Harrington, pers.

comm. 1994), but there is little scientific

information to adequately show a

relationship between moderate grazing

and population declines of this mouse.

Reservoir impoundments could also

impact this mouse by inundating

individuals and/or its habitats.

B. Overutilization for commercial,

recreational, scientific, or educational

purposes. Preble’s meadow jumping

mouse has no known commercial or

recreational value. Scientific and

educational collecting was not

widespread over the past century.

Overutilization apparently did not

contribute to population declines of this

mouse population.

C. Disease or predation.

Knowledgeable mammalogists (D.

Armstrong, pers. comm. 1994; F.

Harrington, pers. comm. 1994) do not

believe that an epizootic disease caused

the demise of the subspecies.

Competition from nonnative rodents

(i.e., the Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus;

and house mouse, Mus Musculus) and

predation by domestic pets (dogs and

cats) might also be reasons for this

mouse’s disappearance. Both of these

nonnative rodents have been recently

trapped during small mammal surveys

from relatively undisturbed riparian

habitats.

D. The inadequacy of existing

regulatory mechanisms. Since 1990, the

Colorado Division of Wildlife (Division)

has classified Preble’s meadow jumping

mouse as a ‘‘nongame’’ subspecies and

a ‘‘species of special concern’’. This

designation protects the species by

denying permits for the take of the

species (J. Sheppard, Colorado Division

of Wildlife, pers. comm. 1994). In 1992,

the Wyoming Game and Fish

Department (Department) classified the

species Zapus hudsonius as a nongame

species under the Wyoming Game and

Fish Commission Chapter LII. This

designation protects the species from

take and requires a special permit for

the purposes of scientific collection.

However, this designation does not

protect the species from incidental

taking or from actions that may harm

the species in order to protect public

health. Furthermore, protection by both

States is limited to the mouse, itself, and

measures to protect the habitat are not

included.

E. Other natural or manmade factors

affecting its continued existence. The

introduction of nonnative grasses

associated with the recent urbanization

of Colorado’s Front Range may also have

contributed to the demise of Preble’s

jumping mouse by the replacement of

indigenous grasses which this species is

dependent upon. These introduced

grasses have less nutritional food value

(F. Harrington, pers. comm. 1994).

The use of pesticides and herbicides

have increased with the urbanization

and agricultural development of the

Front Range. These chemicals could be

contaminating this mouse’s food sources

and could cause direct poisoning of the

species, itself.

Finding

The Service has reviewed the petition

and accompanying documentation on

the status of Preble’s jumping mouse

and information concerning potential

threats to the species. On the basis of

the best scientific and commercial

information available, the Service
13952 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 15, 1995 / Proposed Rules

concludes that substantial information

exists to indicate that the requested

action may be warranted. The Service

believes that habitat destruction and

modification are the main cause for the

species decline.

The petitioner requested that the

critical habitat also be designated. If the

12-month finding determines that the

petitioned action to list Preble’s

jumping mouse is warranted, then the

Act requires that designation of critical

habitat be addressed in a subsequent

proposed rule.

The Service’s 90-day finding contains

more detailed information regarding the

above decisions. A copy can be obtained

from the Service’s Colorado Field Office

(see ADDRESSES above).

References Cited

Armstrong, D.M. 1972. Distribution of

mammals in Colorado. University of

Kansas, Museum of Natural History

Monograph 3:1–415.

Krutzsch, P.H. 1954. North American

jumping mice (genus Zapus). Univ.

Kansas Publ., Mus. Natural History

7:349–472.

Quimby, D.C. 1951. The life history and

ecology of the jumping mouse, Zapus

hudsonius. Ecological Monographs

21:61–95.

Whitaker, J.O. 1972. Zapus hudsonius.

Mammalian Species 11:1–7.

Author

The primary author of this document

is Jose ́ Bernardo Garza (See ADDRESSES

section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened Species,

Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, and

Transportation.

Dated: February 27, 1995.

Mollie H. Beattie,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95–6332 Filed 3–14–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M