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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 29, 2021 / Proposed Rules
mechanisms regarding water quality and groundwater management Factor D, introduced species Factor E, and climate change Factor E, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Long Valley speckled dace Rhinichthys osculus ssp. as an endangered subspecies of speckled dace R. osculus may be warranted. We will fully evaluate all potential threats during our status review, pursuant to the Acts requirement to review the best scientific and commercial information available when making our 12-month finding.
The basis for our finding on this petition, and other information regarding our review of the petition, can be found as an appendix at http
www.regulations.gov under Docket No.
FWSR8ES20210065 under the Supporting Documents section.
Evaluation of a Petition To List Siuslaw Hairy-Necked Tiger Beetle Species and Range
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Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle Cicindela hirticollis siuslawensis;
Coos, Curry, Douglas, and Lane County, Oregon; and Grays Harbor and Pacific County, Washington.
To support the claim that the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle Cicindela hirticollis siuslawensis Graves 1988 is a valid subspecies and therefore eligible for protection under the Act, the petition described below cites to two sources: the Integrated Taxonomic Information System ITIS 2020, p. 1
and Pearson et al. 2015, p. 79. ITIS
considers Cicindela hirticollis siuslawensis to be a valid subspecies.
However, Pearson et al. 2015 calls the validity of the subspecies into question and recommends further study. For this finding, the fact that ITIS 2020
recognizes Cicindela hirticollis siuslawensis as a valid taxon, and to our knowledge no further study has invalidated its taxonomic status as a subspecies, leads us to conclude that there is substantial information that the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle may be a valid listable entity under the Act.
However, we will conduct a complete review of the best available scientific information on taxonomy at the time of our status review, pursuant to the Acts requirements.
Petition History On November 12, 2020, we received a petition dated November 9, 2020, from the CBD and Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation requesting that the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle Cicindela hirticollis
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siuslawensis be listed as an endangered or threatened species and critical habitat be designated for this species under the Act. The petition clearly identified itself as such and included the requisite identification information for the petitioner, required at 50 CFR 424.14c.
This finding addresses the petition.
Finding We reviewed the petition, sources cited in the petition, and other readily available information. Based on our review of the petition and readily available information regarding offhighway vehicle OHV use Factor A, breaching and dredge spoil deposition Factor A, invasive species Factor A, bulldozing and sand deposition Factor A, regulatory mechanisms regarding OHV use and controlling recreational use Factor D, human disturbance Factor E, sea level rise and flooding Factor E, and coastal erosion Factor E, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle as an endangered or threatened species may be warranted. The petitioners also presented information suggesting that habitat destruction or fragmentation as a result of development and inbreeding depression may be threats to the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle. We will fully evaluate all potential threats during our status review, pursuant to the Acts requirement to review the best available scientific information when making our 12-month finding.
The basis for our finding on this petition, and other information regarding our review of the petition, can be found as an appendix at http
www.regulations.gov under Docket No.
FWSR1ES20210066 under the Supporting Documents section.
Evaluation of a Petition To List the Tucson Shovel-Nosed Snake Species and Range Tucson shovel-nosed snake Chionactis annulata klauberi.
Historical rangeThe range of the western shovel-nosed snake Chionactis occipitalis, which includes the Tucson shovel-nosed snake subspecies, extended from southern Nevada and southern California, across southwestern Arizona and into Mexico.
The Tucson shovel-nosed snake has been recognized as a subspecies of the western shovel-nosed snake since 1941, but its range was not defined. Klauber 1951 described locations of the Tucson shovel-nosed snake subspecies in eastern Pima and Pinal Counties, Arizona, from Tucson northwest to
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Picacho and then north to Florence Junction. These locations were primarily based on morphological color patterns of the subspecies. He also described intergradation areas where populations of two distinct subspecies are connected that have the characteristics of both with another western shovel-nosed snake subspecies in Maricopa County and western portions of Pinal and Pima Counties from Casa Grande West to Gila Bend, north to Aguila, and South to Ajo, Arizona.
Current rangeIn our 2014 species status assessment SSA of the Tucson shovel-nosed snake, we determined the current range of the Tucson shovelnosed snake to encompass 7,783,875
acres 3,150,022 hectares within Pima, Pinal, Maricopa, Yavapai, Yuma, and La Paz Counties in central and western Arizona Wood et al. 2014; Service 2014b, p. 14. Because the Tucson shovel-nosed snake exhibits many different color patterns throughout its range, we relied on genetic data to define the subspecies range Service 2014b, pp. 1314.
The petitioner disagrees with our determination of current range in our 2014 SSA and subsequent 12-month finding that listing the species was not warranted 79 FR 56730; September 23, 2014. The petitioner believes that the current range of the Tucson shovelnosed snake includes western Pima, Pinal, and Maricopa Counties in central Arizona, based on a different interpretation of the taxonomic revision described in Wood et al. 2014, entire than our interpretation. The petitioner limits the current range of the subspecies to include snakes that share genetic characteristics with C. a.
klauberi and also have the same color pattern as the Tucson shovel-nosed snake. The petitioners definition of the current range relies on color pattern to limit the range of the subspecies, whereas our definition relies solely on the genetics of the subspecies.
The western shovel-nosed snake is a highly variable species with regard to color patterns throughout its range.
Although some western shovel-nosed snakes may look like a particular subspecies, genetic analyses commonly indicate a snake is actually a different subspecies than its color pattern suggests. Similar to the western shovelnosed snake species as a whole, finding snakes that are phenotypically diverse but genetically similar is the norm for several valleys in the Tucson shovelnosed snakes historical range in Arizona. Therefore, we concluded in our 2014 SSA that the species current range includes an additional 4,943,728

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