[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 220 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63659-63661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30540]
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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 Agave Eggersiana and Solanum Conocarpum as
Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding and initiation of status
review.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces a 90-day
finding for a petition to list two plants, Agave eggersiana and Solanum
conocarpum (marron bacora), under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
as amended. The Service finds that the petition presents substantial
information indicating that listing these species may be warranted. A
status review is initiated.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on October 16,
1998. To be considered in the 12-month finding for this petition,
information and comments should be submitted to the Service by January
15, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Questions, comments, data, or information concerning this
petition should be sent to the Field Supervisor, Boqueron Field Office,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 491, Boqueron, Puerto Rico
00622. The petition finding, supporting data, and comments are
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business
hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Susan Silander (see ADDRESSES
section); telephone 787/851-7297, facsimile 787/851-7440.
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 action 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, the finding
shall be made within 90 days following receipt of the petition and
promptly published in the Federal Register. Following a positive
finding, section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act requires the Service to promptly
commence a status review of the species.
[[Page 63660]]
The Service published Listing Priority Guidance for Fiscal Years
1998 and 1999 on May 8, 1998 (63 FR 25502). The guidance clarifies the
order in which the Service will process rulemakings giving highest
priority (Tier 1) to processing emergency rules to add species to the
Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (Lists); second
priority (Tier 2) to processing final determinations on proposals to
add species to the Lists, processing new proposals to add species to
the Lists, processing administrative findings on petitions (to add
species to the Lists, delist species, or reclassify listed species),
and processing a limited number of proposed or final rules to delist or
reclassify species; and third priority (Tier 3) to processing proposed
or final rules designating critical habitat. Processing of this
petition finding is a Tier 2 action.
The Service has made a 90-day finding on a petition to list two
plants, Agave eggersiana and Solanum conocarpum as endangered. The
petition, dated November 20, 1996, was submitted by the Department of
Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife, of the
U.S. Virgin Islands.
Agave eggersiana, of the family Agavaceae (century plant family),
is known only from the island of St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Members of the genus Agave are robust perennial herbs with large
succulent or fibrous leaves with a stiff spine at the apex. The
inflorescence (mode of flower bearing) is paniculate, racemose or
spikelike, often from 5 to 7 meters (m) (16 to 23 feet (ft)) in height,
and the flowers are borne in umbellate (flat-topped inflorescence whose
rays arise from a common point) or cymose (a broad, more or less flat-
topped flower whose central flowers open first) clusters. Flowers are
large, with a funnelform or tubular yellow or green perianth. The fruit
is a many-seeded capsule with flattened black seeds. Agave eggersiana
is currently known from an apparently small number of wild and
cultivated plants on privately owned land in St. Croix, (D. Nellis,
pers. comm. 1997). It is known to be in cultivation in St. Croix and at
the Fairchild Botanical Garden in Florida. Habitat on the island of St.
Croix is under intense pressure for both residential and tourism
development (Acevedo-Rodriguez 1996, R. Boulon and B. Kojis, pers.
comm. 1996). Agave eggersiana was considered a category 2 candidate for
listing as endangered or threatened by the Service, as published in the
Notice of Review dated September 30, 1993 (58 FR 51144). At that time,
a category 2 species was one for which the Service had information that
proposing as endangered or threatened may be appropriate but for which
sufficient information was not currently available to support a
proposed rule. Designation of category 2 species was discontinued in
the February 28, 1996, Notice of Review (61 FR 7596).
Solanum conocarpum (marron bacora), of the family Solanaceae, is
known only from the island of St. John of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Solanum conocarpum is an unarmed shrub which may reach 3 m (9.8 ft) in
height. Leaves are from 3.5 to 7 centimeters (cm) (1.4 to 2.7 inches
(in)) long and 1.6 to 3 cm (.62 to 1.2 in) wide, oblong-elliptic or
oblanceolate (a leaf broader at the distal third than at the middle),
coriaceous (leathery texture), glabrous (not hairy), with a yellowish
midvein. The plant's young parts are densely covered with appressed
(flatly pressed), multicellular hairs. The flowers are usually paired
and in nearly sessile (not stalked) lateral or terminal cymes (flat-
topped flower cluster). The corolla (inner circle of floral envelopes)
is light violet, greenish at the center and about 2 cm (.78 in) wide.
The fruit, a berry, is ovoid-conical, 2 to 3 cm (.78 to 1.2 in) long,
and turns from green to yellow (Acevedo-Rodriguez 1996).
Solanum conocarpum is only known from a few old collections and
from two recent collections. Old collections and reports indicate that
the species may have occurred on St. Thomas and one herbarium specimen
from Virgin Gorda has been located; however, the identification is
questionable since the specimen has no flowers or fruit. Only two
plants are currently known to exist and both are located on the island
of St. John. One individual is found within the Virgin Islands National
Park (Park) and the other is located on privately owned land (Acevedo-
Rodriguez 1996, Woodbury and Weaver 1987, R. Boulon and B. Kojis, pers.
comm. 1996). Privately owned land on St. John is under intense pressure
for residential and tourism development. One individual is known from
the Park, and while the National Park Service is aware of its presence,
management practices such as trail and facility maintenance and
construction may affect the species. Both feral pigs and donkeys are
present in the Park and may adversely impact the vegetation.
Information provided by the Virgin Island Department of Planning and
Natural Resources indicates that the species may be functionally
dioecious (male and female flowers on different plants), thereby making
its rarity even more critical. Solanum conocarpum was among the plants
being considered as a category 1 candidate by the Service, as published
in the Notices of Review dated September 27, 1985 (50 FR 39526) and
February 21, 1990 (55 FR 6184). Category 1 candidates were species for
which the Service had substantial information supporting the
appropriateness of proposing to list them as endangered or threatened.
In the Notice of Review of September 30, 1993 (58 FR 51144), the
species was reclassified to category 2 due to a lack of available
information on the species distribution and abundance.
The Service has reviewed the petition, its accompanying
information, and other literature and information in our files. On the
basis of the best scientific and commercial information available, the
Service finds that the petition presents substantial information that
listing these two plant species may be warranted. The finding is based
on information which indicates that the species are restricted to very
few localities and subject to potential impacts from both residential
and tourism development. The Service is in need of additional
information on the species, including its distribution and abundance,
biology, the location of any additional populations, and current or
planned activities in the areas where the plants occur and there
possible impacts. Within nine months from the date the petition finding
is made, a finding will be made as to whether listing Agave eggersiana
and Solanum conocarpum is warranted, as required by section 4(b)(3)(B)
of the Act.
References Cited
Acevedo-Rodriguez, Pedro. 1996. Flora of St. John. The New York
Botanical Garden. Bronx, New York. 581 pp.
Center for Plant Conservation. 1992. Report on the Rare Plants of
Puerto Rico. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri.
Woodbury, R.O. and P.L. Weaver. 1987. The Vegetation of St. John and
Hassel Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service. 101 pp.
Author
The primary author of this document is Susan Silander, Boqueron
Field Office (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for the action is the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
[[Page 63661]]
Dated: October 16, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-30540 Filed 11-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P