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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 5, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Range/Distribution The historical range of the three species is restricted to unglaciated and non-volcanized forested areas within the lower McCloud River, Pit River, Sacramento River, and Squaw Creek watersheds in Shasta County, California, with Samwel salamander extending slightly further west. The absence of glaciation and volcanic activity has maintained the limestone and other rock outcrops and subsurface characteristics of the area occupied by the three species. Although current survey efforts have identified the distribution of the three species within their respective ranges, the exact distribution and abundance of the three species within the larger range of suitable geologic habitat around and near Shasta Lake is unknown, as surveys in such areas are difficult to obtain given the physical restrictions of accessing the terrain and difficulty of detecting individuals. The current range of the three species is similar to their historical range with likely some loss due to the construction of Shasta Dam and subsequent inundation from Shasta Lake in the 1950s.
Evaluation of Status We have carefully assessed the best scientific and commercial information available regarding the past, present, and future threats to the Samwel salamander, Shasta salamander, and Wintu salamander, and we evaluated all relevant factors under the five listing factors, including any regulatory mechanisms and conservation measures addressing these threats and the cumulative impact of these threats. Our analysis identified the threats from habitat loss, degradation, and modification due to vegetation management and wildfire Factor A and the effects of increased temperature and reduced moisture from climate change Factor E as the main threats currently facing the three species. We also identified the additional threat of the proposed action of raising Shasta Dam and the subsequent removal and inundation of habitat for the three species Factor E.
Existing conservation measures for the species and their habitats include State and Federal protections and conservation measures. The Shasta salamander was listed by the State of California as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act CESA before it was split into three separate species. The State has not officially recognized the split; however, the State listing provides measures to protect and conserve all three species.

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For example, any road construction or maintenance actions associated with timber harvest plans or other roadways managed by Caltrans, the counties, or other private landowners undergo environmental compliance review with the State under CESA and the California Environmental Quality Act, to ensure that impacts to species listed as threatened by the State are mitigated.
The three species are also managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as sensitive species and currently receive protection through conservation measures and best management practices under the Northwest Forest Plans Survey and Manage program and Sensitive Species programs. These measures reduce or eliminate impacts to rock outcrops, limestone areas, and known salamander occurrence sites during road construction and maintenance activities as well as any vegetation management actions.
After review of the threats identified above and cumulative effects facing the species, as well as existing conservation measures, we conclude that habitat loss or disturbance from various threats e.g., vegetation management activities, wildfire, climatic changes within the range of the Samwel, Shasta, and Wintu salamanders have likely impacted individuals of each species. However, the magnitude and extent of these impacts up to the present time have not impacted the resiliency, representation, or redundancy for each species or resulted in a decline in the overall distribution or general demographic condition of any of the three species such that they are in danger of extinction now throughout all of their ranges.
In determining potential future threats facing the three species, we evaluated various climate change projections using downscaled data for interior northern California, which includes the ranges of the three species. Our timeframe for review looked out approximately 15, 30, and 50 years based on the threat information identified below and climate change data. This was our timeframe for our threats analysis of future conditions for the three species to determine if they were likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future i.e., if they meet the Acts definition of threatened species throughout all of their ranges.
In our analysis of potential future conditions, we analyzed the future conditions related to vegetation management, future wildfire conditions, and projected climate change effects such as variability of precipitation events and timing, increased
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temperatures, reduced snowpack, and prolonged drought. We also identified the additional threat of the proposed action of raising Shasta Dam and the subsequent removal and inundation of habitat for the three species.
We anticipate that vegetation management activities and wildfire will have a similar degree of impact into the future as they do currently, and that they will not result in impacts to the three species at a level such that they would meet the Acts definition of threatened species. Although the potential raising of Shasta Dam would affect individuals and inundate or remove additional habitat for the three species, the extent of the potential loss of known detection sites and habitat areas that can support individuals is very limited relative to the overall number of detection sites and remaining available suitable habitat in each species range.
We expect that existing regulatory mechanisms and conservation measures will continue to help ameliorate or reduce impacts of threats to the species and will protect Shasta Complex salamanders and their habitats now and into the foreseeable future 50 years such that their resiliency, representation, and redundancy will support their ability to sustain populations in the wild over time.
We also reviewed whether there were any significant portions of the three species ranges that may meet the definition of endangered or threatened.
In our analysis, we did not find any portion of the Samwel, Shasta, or Wintu salamanders ranges where the threats identified above are currently acting on the three species at a biologically meaningful scale such that the species may be endangered, or are likely to act on the species into the future such that they may be threatened. Therefore, no portion of the three species ranges can provide a basis for determining that any one of the three species is in danger of extinction now or likely to become so in the foreseeable future in a significant portion of its range.
Finding Our review of the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the Samwel salamander, Shasta salamander, and Wintu salamander do not meet the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species in accordance with sections 36
and 320 of the Act. Therefore, we find that listing the Samwel salamander, Shasta salamander, and Wintu salamander as endangered or threatened species under the Act is not warranted at this time. A detailed discussion of the
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