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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 31, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
representation Smith et al. 2018, p.
306. The SSA provides decision-makers with a scientifically rigorous characterization of a species status and the likelihood that the species will sustain populations over time, along with key uncertainties in that characterization. The Bartrams stonecrop SSA provides the best scientific information available to guide a determination of whether or not Bartrams stonecrop is in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future.
Notwithstanding our use of resiliency, redundancy, and representation as scientific concepts helpful in assessing and describing a species viability and extinction risk, we adhere to all requirements of the Act in making our listing determinations. This includes applying the Acts definitions of an endangered species and a threatened species, as well as an assessment of the 5 listing factors see Regulatory Framework, below.
3 Comment: Three commenters suggested the Services discussion of its proposed 4d rule for Bartrams stonecrop conflicts with the Act and erroneously extends the take prohibition for fish and wildlife to a plant species.
Response: The Act and its implementing regulations set forth a series of general prohibitions and exceptions that apply to endangered plants. The prohibitions of section 9a2 of the Act, codified at 50 CFR
17.61, make it illegal for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to: Import or export; remove and reduce to possession from areas under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or destroy on any such area;
remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any State or in the course of any violation of a State criminal trespass law; deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a commercial activity; or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce an endangered plant. Certain exceptions apply to employees of the Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, other Federal land management agencies, and State conservation agencies.
The final 4d rule for Bartrams stonecrop provides for the conservation of the species by applying all of the prohibitions listed in section 9a2 of the Act and 50 CFR 17.61 that are applicable to an endangered plant, except as otherwise authorized or permitted at 50 CFR 17.61c2 and 3, 50 CFR 17.71b, and 50 CFR 17.72.

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In the December 6, 2019, proposed rule 84 FR 67060, p. 84 FR 67086, we also describe a range of activities that have potential to impact Bartrams stonecrop, including:
Unauthorized handling or collecting of the species;
Ground-disturbing activities where the species occurs;
Activities that would affect pollinators where the species occurs and in the surrounding area;
Activities that would promote highseverity wildfires where the species occurs;
Activities that would reduce shade, reduce proximity to water, and lower the water table such that the cooler, humid microenvironment is affected;
and Herbicide applications where the species occurs.
These activities are provided as examples of actions that may affect Bartrams stonecrop, and as such would be subject to section 7 consultation for projects with a Federal nexus, and are not intended to be a list of prohibitions under the final 4d rule for Bartrams stonecrop.
4 Comment: Several commenters stated that Service botanists have not visited sites with Bartrams stonecrop and that if more surveys are done, more plants will be found as Bartrams stonecrop is a small cactus with oneinch flowers that are hard to see. For example, the species has been discovered at 16 new locations since 2015.
Response: Bartrams stonecrop is a succulent with specific habitat requirements and is detectable in bloom and out of bloom by trained botanists.
All researchers involved with Bartrams stonecrop surveys, including the Service, the National Park Service NPS, the U.S. Forest Service USFS, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, as well as other academic and commercial entities, are experienced in both plant and habitat identification. Increased survey efforts since 2013 by such qualified individuals have led to newly discovered Bartrams stonecrop populations or groups. We are aware of 70 total elemental occurrences Arizona Game and Fish Department, Heritage Database Management System in the 50 extant U.S. Bartrams stonecrop populations. Of these, all but seven occurrences from five populations have been located or revisited since 2010 Service 2020a, tables 5.25.11.
Following extensive survey efforts in Arizona and Mexico, we are now aware of 872 new individuals from the United States and Mexico since the SSA report was initially written Service 2020a,
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entire. For example, between 2018 and 2020, numerous surveys for Bartrams stonecrop were conducted in the Rincon Mountains, and 13 additional Bartrams stonecrop populations were located Service 2020a, pp. 8990, including 1
population previously considered to be extirpated that contained one individual in 2019 Service 2020a, p. 15.
Similarly, recent surveys in the Santa Rita Mountains resulted in a newly discovered group of 55 individuals in Madera Canyon. We are also now aware of additional information from a private researchers surveys beginning in 2012.
We have incorporated this and all verified information regarding species occurrences in the revised SSA report version 2.0 and this final rule.
Although the newly discovered individuals contribute to the overall abundance of Bartrams stonecrop and may increase the resiliency of some populations, the threats to the species and the effect of those threats on the species remain such that the species is likely to become in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future. This additional information did not alter our conclusion that the species meets the Acts definition of a threatened species.
5 Comment: Four commenters felt that there is not enough evidence to conclude that Bartrams stonecrop populations are declining. Specifically, the Mule Mountains population has increased in size to 798 individuals and the statement in the proposed rule that there has been a contraction in size is outdated.
Response: The 2015 survey of the Mule Mountains Juniper Flat population noted 798 individuals. This information is included in the SSA report Service 2018, pp. 50, 71, 79, 80; Service 2020a, pp. 52, 72, 80, 81 and December 6, 2019, proposed rule 84 FR 67060.
Extensive efforts during the 2015 survey located a larger group of plants within the known population. The newly discovered group of 798 plants is located approximately 300 meters from a southernmost group removed in a scouring flood and subsequent drying of the habitat. Therefore, if the larger group of Bartrams stonecrop plants cooccurred with the smaller group, but was not observed, then the overall Juniper Flat population has contracted with the loss of the smaller group. No additional surveys or observed occurrences in the Mule Mountains have been reported to the Service since 2015.
The statement regarding a general state of population decline has been removed in this final rule as we acknowledge that populations fluctuate over time. However, we do not expect
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