[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 12, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16847]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 12, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of Finding
on a Petition to Emergency List the Rocky Mountain Capshell as an
Endangered Species Throughout Its Range
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 12-Month Petition Finding.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 12-
month finding for a petition to amend the List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife and Plants. The Service finds that listing the
Rocky Mountain capshell (Acroloxus coloradensis) as endangered is not
warranted.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was approved on July 5,
1994.
ADDRESSES: Questions or comments concerning this finding should be sent
to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 730 Simms Street, Suite 290, Golden,
Colorado 80401. The petition, finding, and supporting data are
available for public inspection by appointment during normal business
hours at the above office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:LeRoy W. Carlson, Field Supervisor, at
the above address or telephone (303) 231-5280.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that for any petition to
revise the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants that
contains substantial scientific and commercial information a finding be
made within 12 months of the date of receipt of the petition on whether
the petitioned action is (i) not warranted, (ii) warranted, or (iii)
warranted but precluded by other efforts to revise the lists, and
expeditious progress is being made in listing and delisting species.
Notice of the finding is to be published promptly in the Federal
Register. This notice meets the latter requirement for the 12-month
finding made earlier for the petition discussed below. Information
contained in this notice is a summary of the information in the 12-
month finding, which is the Service's decision document.
A petition dated September 30, 1992, was received from the
Biodiversity Legal Foundation and Dr. Shi-Kuei Wu of the University of
Colorado on October 5, 1992. The petitioners requested the Service to
emergency list the Rocky Mountain capshell (Acroloxus coloradensis) as
endangered and to designate critical habitat concurrently with the
listing. The petitioners submitted biological, distributional,
historical, and other information and scientific references in support
of the petition. The notice of a 90-day finding was published in the
Federal Register on May 14, 1993 (58 FR 28543), indicating that the
petitioners provided substantial information to warrant the requested
action. Concurrent with publishing the notice, the Service initiated a
status review.
When the 90-day finding was completed, the Rocky Mountain capshell
was thought to be restricted to only two populations in the United
States and five in Canada. In the United States, one population existed
at Peterson Lake, Boulder County, Colorado, and the other at Glacier
National Park in Montana. In Canada, the Rocky Mountain capshell was
known to occur in three lakes in Quebec and two ponds in Ontario. The
species was presumed extirpated from two lakes in Jasper National Park,
Alberta (Clarke 1992a).
During the summer of 1993, an extensive survey effort in Colorado
increased the number of known Rocky Mountain capshell populations in
Colorado from one to five, with four of these populations apparently in
``good health'' and occurring on National Park Service or U.S. Forest
Service lands (Pioneer Environmental Services 1993, Riebesell and
Kovalak 1993). The fifth population is located on privately owned land
and appears to be the only Colorado population that is in peril.
A status survey conducted at Lost Lake, Montana in September 1992
found that Rocky Mountain capshell population to be stable. This
population is estimated to contain between 20,000 and 40,000
individuals, based on the number of snails found per square meter and
the amount of available habitat (A.H. Clark, Ecosearch Inc., in litt.,
1992).
New information provided by Jasper National Park personnel in
Canada indicates at least one Rocky Mountain capshell population still
exists within the Park and there is the likelihood a second population
(N. Manners, Jasper National Park, in litt., 1993). A few specimens
were also found under a bridge in another area outside the Park in 1991
(Paul and Clifford, 1991). Thus, Alberta appears to harbor at least
two, and possibly three, Rocky Mountain capshell populations.
A previously unreported Rocky Mountain capshell population appears
to occur at Purden Lake, British Columbia (Clarke 1992b). However, the
Service has been unable to obtain any information on its population
status. The three populations previously reported to occur in Quebec
and the two in Ontario apparently still exist, but the status of each
population is not known.
With the discovery of 4 new populations in Colorado, 1 in Alberta,
and 1 in British Columbia, and the possibility of 1 or 2 populations
still existing in Jasper National Park, the number of reported Rocky
Mountain capshell populations has increased from 7 to at least 14 in
less than 1 year.
Summary of Factors Affecting the Species
The following information is a summary and discussion of the five
factors or 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
the Rocky Mountain capshell.
A. The Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailment
of Its Habitat or Range
The Peterson Lake, Colorado, population may be nearly extirpated
and a survey in June found only three live specimens and one empty
shell after 12 hours of intensive searching (Clarke 1992a). Subsequent
surveys found a few more individuals, some were at deeper depths than
found previously (Pioneer Environmental Services 1993; G. Hopkins,
Pioneer Environmental Services, in litt., 1993).
Activities which might have caused the decline of the population in
Peterson Lake include road maintenance (salting/sanding and grading),
ski resort activities (water depletion and treated waste water
discharge into the lake), landscaping, mining, lake drawdowns, and dam
raising which resulted in the subsequent flooding of the enlarged lake
basin. Since the present management of Eldora Mountain Resort took over
operation of the ski area in 1991, the water quality of the lake has
improved. Present information indicates that the species may again be
increasing due to an improvement in the water quality of the lake.
Future surveys will be necessary to verify this.
Aside from the population at Peterson Lake, none of the other 13
remaining populations are thought to be significantly impacted by the
present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of
habitat.
B. Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational, Scientific, or
Educational Purposes
Some of the lakes inhabited by the Rocky Mountain capshell receive
fishing, camping, and swimming activities, but this factor is not
thought to be a threat to the continued existence of the Rocky Mountain
capshell.
C. Disease or Predation
The introduction of trout may have been one of the factors that
contributed to the decline of the Rocky Mountain capshell in Peterson
Lake. Aside from this population, disease or predation is presently not
a threat to any of the other 13 Rocky Mountain capshell populations.
D. The Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms
The Service believes that the four newly discovered populations in
Colorado are safe from human impacts since they occur on National Park
Service and U.S. Forest Service lands.
The population in Glacier National Park is protected by Park
Service regulations. With the exception of the one or two populations
within Jasper National Park, the Canadian populations apparently do not
have any regulatory protection. The lack of regulatory mechanisms is
not known to be a threat at this time, but could change at some point
in the future.
E. Other Natural or Manmade Factors Affecting Its Continued Existence
At Peterson Lake, severe drought coupled with the winter water
drawdown form the lake by Eldora Ski Resort, has on occasion lowered
the water level dramatically. These events have exposed the Rocky
Mountain capshell to dehydration and freezing conditions. In 1979, the
existing access road adjacent to Peterson Lake was paved. This
expedited runoff, thus increased the natural sedimentation process plus
adding an influx of possible salt and sand contaminants into the lake.
When the 90-day finding was made, the Service believed that the two
populations in Jasper National Park had been extirpated due to the
lakes they inhabited being poisoned. However, new information has shown
that neither lake was poisoned.
The Rocky Mountain capshell population in Peterson Lake may be
threatened by natural or manmade factors, but none of the other 13
known populations are thought to be threatened by any of these factors.
Finding
Emergency listing is allowed under the Act whenever immediate
protection is needed to prevent extirpation of a species. For an
invertebrate species, endangerment must be considered throughout the
range of the species rather than for a single population.
Considering information previously discussed in this notice, only
the Peterson Lake population of the 14 known Rocky Mountain capshell
populations is thought to be subject to possible endangerment or
extinction in the foreseeable future. Also, in less than one year's
time, the number of reported populations increased from 7 to 14. Since
little is known about the biology, ecology, and distribution of the
Rocky Mountain capshell, and since recently discovered populations in
Colorado, Alberta, and British Columbia point to a wider geographical
distribution than previously thought, the Service believes that
additional populations exist in suitable habitat in the United States
and in Canada.
After reviewing the petition, accompanying documentation,
references cited therein, and research findings, the Service concludes
that the petition requesting that the Rocky Mountain capshell be listed
as an endangered species on an emergency basis throughout its range is
not warranted. The petitioners also requested that critical habitat be
designated. In the future, if a warranted finding is made for the
species, then designation of critical habitat would be addressed in the
subsequent proposed rule. After arriving at the not warranted finding,
the Service changed the species' candidate status from category 2 to
category 3C.
The Service's 12-month finding contains more detailed information
regarding the above decisions. A copy may be obtained from the
Service's Golden office (see ADDRESSES above).
References Cited
Clark, A.H. 1992a. Third progress report of status survey of
selected invertebrates of Utah. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Contract 14-16-0006-91. Ecosearch, Inc., Portland, Texas. 6 pp.
Clark, A.H. 1992b. Fourth progress report of status survey of
selected invertebrates of Utah. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Contract 14-16-0006-91. Ecosearch, Inc., Portland, Texas. 2 pp.
Paul, A.J., and H.F. Clifford. 1991. Acroloxus coloradensis
(Henderson), a rare North American freshwater limpet. The Nautilus
105(4): 173-174.
Pioneer Environmental Services, Inc. 1993. Results of survey for
the Rocky Mountain capshell snail in Colorado alpine lakes. Prepared
for Eldora Enterprises Limited Liability Company, Lake Eldora
Corporation, and Colorado Division of Wildlife. 12 pp. plus
appendix.
Riebesell, J.F., and W.P. Kovalak. 1993. Finch Lake sampling
summary. Report to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park,
Colorado. 8 pp.
Author
This notice was prepared by 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. 1531-1544).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Dated: July 5, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-16847 Filed 7-11-94; 8:45 am]
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