Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 75 / Wednesday, April 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules 19567

comment periods in each of the three

proceedings, as well as a fourth filing

encompassing all the proceedings. On

March 16, 1995, LIN Television

Corporation, on behalf of several

licensees, filed a request for a 60-day

extension of time to respond to the TV

Ownership Further Notice. On March

23, 1995, Communications Corporation

of America, Pappas Stations Partnership

and Fant Broadcasting Company of

Nebraska, Inc., filed a joint motion for

a 60-day extension of time to file

comments in response to the Attribution

Notice. A March 31, 1995, filing by

American Women in Radio and

Television (AWRT) seeks a 90-day

extension of the comment dates for the

Minority/Female Ownership Notice.

The Minority Media and

Telecommunications Council (MMTC)

on April 3, 1995, filed a motion for a 90-

day extension in all three proceedings.

Petitioners primarily contend that

additional time is necessary to

satisfactorily complete the economic

and statistical analyses sought by the

Commission.

3. As set forth in Section 1.46 of the

Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.46, it

is our policy that extensions of time for

filing comments in rulemaking

proceedings shall not be routinely

granted. We note that in all three

proceedings, the Commission

established a longer-than-usual initial

comment period to provide interested

parties sufficient opportunity to collect

and analyze the type of data sought.

Taking into consideration the

circumstances outlined by petitioners,

however, we believe that a 30-day

extension of time to file comments and

reply comments is warranted and

should facilitate the development of a

full and complete record on the issues

raised in the three proceedings.

4. Accordingly, it is ordered that the

Request for Extension of Time in MM

Docket Nos. 91–221 and 87–8 filed by

LIN Television Corporation; the Motion

for Extension of Time in MM Docket

Nos. 94–150, 92–51 and 87–154 filed by

Communications Corporation of

America, Pappas Stations Partnership

and Fant Broadcasting Company of

Nebraska, Inc.; the Request for

Extension of Time filed by American

Women in Radio and Television in MM

Docket Nos. 94–149 and 91–140; and

the Motion for Extension of Time filed

by the Minority Media and

Telecommunications Council in all

three of the above-referenced

proceedings ARE GRANTED to the

extent detailed above and are otherwise

DENIED.

6. It is further ordered that the time

for filing comments in the three abovecaptioned proceedings is Extended to

May 17, 1995, and the time for filing

reply comments is Extended to June 19,

1995.

7. This action is taken pursuant to

authority found in Sections 4(i) and

303(r) of the Communications Act of

1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i)

and 303(r), and Sections 0.204(b), 0.283

and 1.45 of the Commission’s Rules, 47

C.F.R. §§ 0.204(b), 0.283 and 1.45.

Federal Communications Commission.

Renee Licht,

Acting Chief, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 95–9573 Filed 4–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M

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 as Endangered or

Threatened the Contiguous United

States Population of the North

American Wolverine

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 add the

contiguous United States population of

the North American wolverine (Gulo

gulo luscus) to the List of Threatened

and Endangered Species. The Service

finds the petition did not present

substantial information indicating that

listing the wolverine in the contiguous

United States may be warranted.

DATES: The finding announced in this

document was made on March 31, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Data, information,

comments, or questions concerning this

petition should be submitted to the

Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 100 North Park Avenue, Suite

320, Helena, Montana 59601. The

petition, finding, and additional

information are available for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kemper McMaster, Field Supervisor

(see ADDRESSES section) (telephone 406/

449–5225).

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 act may be

warranted. This finding is to be based

on all information available to the

Service at the time the finding is made.

To the maximum extent practicable, this

finding is to be made within 90 days of

the date the petition was received, and

a notice regarding the finding is to be

published promptly in the Federal

Register. This notice meets the latter

requirement for the petition discussed

below.

The Service has made a 90-day

finding on a petition to list the North

American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus)

in the contiguous United States. The

petition, dated August 3, 1994, was

submitted by the Biodiversity Legal

Foundation, Boulder, Colorado, and the

Predator Project, Bozeman, Montana,

and was received by the Service on

August 8, 1994. The petitioners

requested that wolverine populations

across their entire known historic range

in the 48 contiguous United States be

listed as threatened or endangered.

The wolverine has a holarctic

distribution. Historically, in North

America, wolverines occurred in the

boreal forests throughout Alaska and

Canada with the southern protion of the

range extending into the contiguous

United States (Has 1987). The

petitioners provided information (e.g.,

Wilson 1982; Hash 1987) suggesting that

wolverines historically occupied an

extensive range in the contiguous

United States, including Arizona,

California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana,

Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota,

Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New

Hampshire, New Mexico, New York,

North Dakota, Oregon, Ohio,

Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah,

Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and

Wyoming; and that it has been

extirpated from all but 10 of these

States.

In making a finding as to whether a

petition presents substantial commercial

or scientific information indicating that

the petitioned action may be warranted,

the Service must consider whether the

petition contains detailed narrative

justification for the petitioned measure,

describing past and present numbers

and distribution of the species.

Information regarding the status of the

species over all or a significant portion
19568 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 75 / Wednesday, April 19, 1995 / Proposed Rules

of its range also is examined. Moreover,

the Service must determine if the

information presented in the petition

and available in its files definitely

documents threats under the following

five listing factors: (1) Destruction,

modification, or curtailment of habitat

or range; (2) overutilization for

commercial, recreational, scientific, or

educational purposes; (3) disease or

predation; (4) inadequacy of existing

regulatory mechanisms; and (5) other

man-made or natural factors affecting its

continued existence.

For most States, particularly those

east of the Rocky Mountains, the

petitioners only cited historic reports of

wolverines to support their delineation

of wolverine distribution in the

contiguous United States. The petition

provided no information to confirm the

accuracy of these historic reports. The

petition presented no empirical data to

assist the Service in assessing the

historic or present population status of

wolverines in those States where it

possibly occurs or throughout the

historic range suggested by the

petitioners. Additionally, the petition

contained little documentation of

threats to the wolverine over all or a

significant portion of its contiguous

United States range. No substantiating

data was provided to demonstrate that

the asserted threats had resulted in a

significant decline in wolverine

numbers.

The Service reviewed the petition and

the included information, as well as

other information available in the

Service’s files. The Service has

concluded that neither the petition nor

the information available in the

Service’s files contained substantial

information to indicate that listing of

the wolverine as threatened or

endangered in the contiguous United

States may be warranted.

The Service will continue to accept

information on Gulo gulo luscus and

Gulo gulo lutenus through the status

review initiated in the September 18,

1985, Animal Notice of Review (50 FR

37958). Both subspecies will remain as

category 2 candidates in the States

shown in the November 15, 1994,

Animal Notice of Review (59 FR 58982).

References Cited

Hash, H.S. 1987. Wolverine. In M. Novak,

J.A. Baker, M.E. Obbard, and B. Malloch

(eds.) Wild furbearer management and

conservation in North America. Ontario

Trappers Assoc., North Bay. pp. 575–

584.

Wilson, D.E. 1982. Wolverine. in J.A.

Chapman and G.A. Feldhamer (eds.)

Wild mammals of North America. Johns

Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD. pp.

644–652.

The Service’s 90-day finding contains

more detailed information regarding the

above decision. A copy may be obtained

from the Field Supervisor (see

ADDRESSES section).

Author

This document was prepared by Lori

H. Nordstrom (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this action is the

Endangered Species Act, as amended

(16 U.S.C. 1531–1544).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened species,

Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, and

Transportation.

Dated: March 31, 1995.

Mollie H. Beattie,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95–9642 Filed 4–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M