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[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 2, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67341-67343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27514]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2010-0055; MO-92210-0-0008-B2]

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on 
a Petition To List the Bay Springs Salamander as Endangered

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day 
finding on a petition to list the Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon 
ainsworthi) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended. Based on our review, we find the petition does not present 
substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted at 
this time. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response 
to this petition. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new 
information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats 
to, the Bay Springs salamander or its habitat at any time.

DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on November 2, 
2010.

ADDRESSES: This finding is available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket Number FWS-R4-ES-2010-0055. Supporting 
documentation we used in preparing this finding is available for public 
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, MS Field Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, 
Jackson, Mississippi 39213. Please submit any new information, 
materials, comments, or questions concerning this finding to the above 
street address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Ricks, Field Supervisor, 
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES), by telephone (601-321-1122), 
or by facsimile (601-965-4340). If you use a telecommunications device 
for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service 
(FIRS) at 800-877-8339.

[[Page 67342]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that we make a finding 
on whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents 
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the 
petitioned action may be warranted. We base this finding on information 
provided in the petition, supporting information submitted with the 
petition, and information otherwise readily available in our files. The 
Act requires, to the maximum extent practicable, we are to make this 
finding within 90 days of our receipt of the petition, and publish our 
notice of the finding promptly in the Federal Register.
    Our standard for substantial scientific or commercial information 
within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90-day 
petition finding is ``that amount of information that would lead a 
reasonable person to believe that the measure proposed in the petition 
may be warranted'' (50 CFR 424.14(b)). If we find that substantial 
scientific or commercial information was presented, the Act requires 
that we promptly review the status of the species (status review), 
which is subsequently summarized in our 12-month finding.

Petition History

    On February 6, 2006, we received a petition, dated February 2, 
2006, from Mr. Jeremy Nichols, Denver, Colorado, requesting that the 
Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) be listed as endangered 
under the Act. The petition clearly identified itself as such and 
included the requisite identification information for the petitioner, 
as required at 50 CFR 424.14(a). In a March 3, 2006, letter to 
petitioner, we stated that we did not have sufficient funds to respond 
to the petition at that time due to a significant number of court 
orders and judicially approved settlement agreements for other listing-
related actions, which had consumed nearly all of our listing and 
critical habitat funding for fiscal year 2006. On May 1, 2007, we 
notified Mr. Nichols, by letter, that funding had become available to 
complete this 90-day finding. This finding addresses the petition.

Species Information

    The Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) was described as 
a species by Lazell (1998) from two badly preserved specimens believed 
to be collected in a single springhead in 1964 near the town of Bay 
Springs in Jasper County, Mississippi (Lazell 1998, p. 967; MNHP 1999, 
p. 3). The Bay Springs salamander was differentiated from other members 
of the Plethodon genus, or woodland salamanders, in its very slender 
body shape, low costal (side) groove count, and small legs. Because the 
features of the more derived groups within the genus are present, 
Lazell (2005, p. 787) speculated that the Bay Springs salamander is 
distinct and may be close to the ancestral stock of the genus. Based on 
these unique features, Lazell (1998) recommended the Bay Springs 
salamander be recognized as a distinct species, Plethodon ainsworthi.
    The petition did not provide any definitive information on life 
history, distribution or habitat of this species, and such information 
does not exist in Service files. The original type locality of the only 
two specimens collected for this species is described as a 2-hectare 
(4.9-acre) mixed mesic woodland area (Lazell 1998, pp. 969-970). Lazell 
noted after a 1991 visit that this site and nearby Six Springs were 
both intact and in good ecological condition, although much of the 
surrounding area had been severely altered (Lazell 2005, pp. 787-788). 
However, this type locality, listed only as ``2 Mi S. of Bay Springs'' 
with the notes ``In springhead litter. Clear hot day 11 a.m.'' (Lazell 
1998, p. 967), has been questioned. Lazell (1998, pp. 967, 969; 2005, 
p. 787) refers to the collection location as ``presumed.'' Mississippi 
Natural Heritage Program (MNHP 1999, p. 2) described the site after a 
1997 survey as ``springhead on Ainsworth property matches distance from 
Bay Springs given on collection label, but it is not certain that 
Ainsworth property is indeed the collection site.'' Additionally, the 
petition stated, ``it is unclear whether this habitat represents the 
species' true habitat, or the habitat that existed when the salamander 
was last collected in 1964, or an altered habitat.''
    Despite the question of the original collection site, numerous 
surveys using visual searching and coverboard techniques were conducted 
at the presumed type locality and at three other possible sites, 
including Six Springs, by multiple researchers beginning in 1991 
(Lazell 1998, p. 970; 2005, p. 787; MNHP 1999). These searches revealed 
several salamander species, including others in the genus Plethodon, 
and although a night hunt in 1995 produced a glimpse of a possible Bay 
Springs salamander, subsequent searches in 1995 and 1997 produced no 
further evidence of the species (Lazell 2005, p. 787).
    Therefore, despite numerous searches of the presumed type locality, 
no extant populations of the Bay Springs salamander have been located 
(Lazell 1998, p. 967, p. 970; 2005, p. 787). In addition to the failure 
to find the species during multiple search efforts, other information 
provided in the petition and in Service files indicates the species is 
extinct. The petition states several times that the species is ``on the 
brink of extinction'' or ``already extinct'' (pp. 2, 4, 5). 
Furthermore, the species is considered Historical by the Mississippi 
Natural Heritage Program (MNHP 1999), listed as extinct by the 
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN 2004), and is 
assigned the global rank GH (possibly extinct) by NatureServe 
(NatureServe 2002). Based on this information, we conclude the species 
is extinct.
    The petition presented information for three of the five listing 
factors (Factors A, D, and E) in section 4 of the Act in an effort to 
identify threats that may be leading or have lead to the decline of the 
Bay Springs salamander. However, these factors are pertinent only in 
cases where the organism being proposed for listing is present and thus 
capable of being affected by any threats. Because the information in 
our files indicates that the Bay Springs salamander is extinct, it does 
not meet the definition of endangered species or a threatened species 
under the Act (sections 3(6) and 3(20) of the Act, respectively). 
Therefore, an analysis of the five threat factors is not appropriate.

Finding

    In summary, we reviewed the information presented in the petition 
and evaluated that information in relation to information readily 
available in our files. On the basis of our evaluation of this 
information under section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act, we conclude that the 
petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial 
information indicating that listing the Bay Springs salamander under 
the Act as endangered may be warranted at this time. This finding is 
based on information that indicates the species is extinct and, 
therefore, does not meet the definition of either an endangered species 
or a threatened species under the Act.
    Although we will not review the status of the species at this time, 
we encourage interested parties to continue to submit to us any new 
information regarding the Bay Springs salamander. If you wish to 
provide information regarding the Bay Springs salamander, you may 
submit your information or materials to the Field Supervisor, 
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES), at any time.

[[Page 67343]]

References Cited

    A complete list of references cited is available on the Internet at 
http://www.regulations.gov and upon request from the Mississippi Field 
Office (see ADDRESSES).

Authors

    The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the 
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: October 15, 2010.
Gary D. Frazer,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-27514 Filed 11-1-10; 8:45 am]
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