15280 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 56 / Thursday, March 23, 1995 / Proposed Rules

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Notice of Finding on a

Petition to Emergency List the

Amargosa Toad (Bufo nelsoni) as

Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition

finding and initiation of status review.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) announces a 90-day

finding on a petition to list the

Amargosa toad (Bufo nelsoni) under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (Act). The petition was found

to present substantial information

indicating the requested action may be

warranted. The Service therefore

initiates a status review and will

prepare a 12 month finding at a later

date.

DATES: The finding announced in this

document was made on March 17, 1995.

Comments and information concerning

this petition finding must be submitted

within 30 days of the publication of the

finding in the Federal Register to be

considered in the 12-month finding for

this petition.

ADDRESSES: Data, information,

comments, or questions concerning this

finding should be sent to the Field

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 4600 Kietzke Lane, Building C

Room 125, Reno, Nevada 89502. The

petition, finding, and supporting data

are available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business

hours at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sheryl Barrett, Fish and Wildlife

Biologist, see ADDRESSES section above

or telephone 702–784–5227.

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 indicating 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 the

finding is to be published promptly in

the Federal Register. This finding is to

be based on information contained in

the petition and otherwise available to

the Service at the time the finding is

made. If the finding is that substantial

information was presented, the Service

also is required to review the status of

the species involved if one has not

already been initiated under the

Service’s internal candidate assessment

process.

On September 21, 1994, the Service

received a petition dated September 19,

1994, from Mr. D.C. ‘‘Jasper’’ Carlton,

Director of the Biodiversity Legal

Foundation, to emergency list the

Amargosa toad (Bufo nelsoni) as

endangered under the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

The petitioner states that the

Amargosa toad qualifies for emergency

listing as endangered under the Act due

to present and threatened destruction,

modification, or curtailment of habitat

or range; overuse of habitat for

commercial, recreational, scientific, or

educational purposes; other natural or

man-made factors affecting its

continued existence; severely restricted

range; and inadequacy of existing

regulatory mechanisms. The Amargosa

toad is endemic to the Oasis Valley, Nye

County, Nevada, in an approximately 9-

mile stretch of the Amargosa River and

nearby springs from Springdale to the

Narrows south of Beatty. The petition

noted that Hoff (1994) asserts that offroad vehicles, water diversions, grazing,

and non-native predators have caused

this species to decline from the

thousands reported in 1958 to only 30

adult and juvenile toads observed in

1994 in Oasis Valley.

The Service included the Amargosa

toad as a category 2 species in the

August 2, 1977, Animal Notice of

Review (42 FR 39121). It was

subsequently categorized as a category 1

species in the December 30, 1982,

Notice of Review (47 FR 58454) and

again as a category 2 species in the

September 18, 1985, Notice of Review

(50 FR 37960). On November 14, 1994,

the Service changed its classification

back to category 1, with a listing priority

of 2 (59 FR 58982). Assignment of the

Amargosa toad to category 1 means that

this is a taxa for which the Service has

on file sufficient information on

biological vulnerability and threats to

support a proposal to list the taxa as an

endangered or threatened species.

The Service finds that substantial

information has been presented

indicating that listing of the Amargosa

toad may be warranted. However,

emergency listing is not warranted at

this time because an immediate threat of

extinction does not exist. Several

actions (e.g., fencing and removing

introduced crayfish from Lower Indian

springs, and removing catfish from

Harlan/Keel Spring, etc.) aimed at

conserving this species are ongoing.

This decision is based on scientific and

commercial information contained in

the petition, provided as attachments to

the petition, and otherwise available to

the Service. The Service requests any

additional data, comments, and

suggestions from the public, other

concerned governmental agencies, the

scientific community, industry, or any

other interested parties concerning the

status of the Amargosa toad. Of

particular interest is information on the

Amargosa toad regarding—(1) The

existence and status of additional

populations, (2) environmental factors

determining its distribution, (3) life

history information, and (4) existing

conservation efforts.

References Cited

A complete list of all references cited

herein is available upon request from

the Reno Field Office (see ADDRESSES

section).

Authors

The primary authors of this document

are Dr. Patricia G. Zenone and Sheryl L.

Barrett of the Reno Field Office (see

ADDRESSES above).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 as amended

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

Dated: March 17, 1995.

Mollie H. Beattie,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95–7204 Filed 3–22–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018–AC48

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants; Reopening of Comment

Period on Proposed Rule to Reclassify

the Bald Eagle From Endangered to

Threatened

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of

comment period.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) is reopening the

comment period on the bald eagle

reclassification proposal for thirty days.

On July 12, 1994, the Service proposed

reclassifying the bald eagles of the lower

48 States as threatened, except those

already listed as threatened and those of

the Southwestern Recovery Region and

Mexico. The bald eagles of the

Southwestern Recovery Region were

proposed to remain listed as