61764 Federal Register / Vol. 44. No. 209 / Friday, October 26, 1979 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT Of THE i~TEf310R a petition to list these species under g(2)(2) and IO(~) of the Act. These section 4(c)(2) of the Act. and of his comments are summarized in the June Fish and Wildlife Service intention thereby to review the status of 24, 1977. Federal Register final rule (43 the plant taxa named within as well as FR 17909-17916) on plant prohibitlons 50CFRPart17 any habitat which might be determined and permit provisions. No comments to be critical. dealing specifically with Pediocactus Determination That Pediocactus On June 16.1976. the Service brudyi were received during these Bradyi is an Endangered Species published a proposed rulemaking in the official comment periods. The Governor AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal Register (41 FR 24523-24572) to of Arizona was also notified of the Interior. determine approximately I.700 vascular proposed action. On lulv 11. 1979, the Service held a ACTION: Final rule. plant species to be Endangered species I ” pursuant to section 4 of the Act. This list second public hearing in Phoenix. SUMMARY: The Service determines of 1.700 plant taxa was assembled on Arizona. and again solicited comments Pediocactus brad!? L. Benson [Brady the basis of comments and data on five Arizona cacti. During this period pincushion cactus). a native plant of received by the Smithsonian Institution the Bureau of Reclamation voiced Arizona. to be an Endangered species. and the Service in response to House concern that there was a lack of data to Removal of plants by private collectors Document No. 94-51 and the above support the listing of these five cacti and and commercial suppliers constitutes mentioned Federal Register publication. a lack of detailed information on their the major threat to this cactus. Highway Ped/ococtus bradyi was included in Critical Habitats. However. extensive and powerline maintenance and both July 1. 1975. notice of review and data supporting the listing of these taxa construction, off-road vehicle use, and the June 16.1976, proposal. A public is available from either the Service’s grazing also threaten this species. This hearing on the June 16.1976. proposal regional office in Albuquerque, NM or action will extend the protection was held on July 22.1976, in El Segundo. the Washington. D.C. Office of provided by the Endangered Species Act California. A second public hearing was Endangered Species. It has been of 1973. as amended. to this plant. held on July 11. 1979. in Phoenix, determined that designating Critical DATE: This rulemaking becomes Arizona for five Arizona cacti proposed Habitat is imprudent due to the effective on November 26.1979. as Endangered. including Pediococtus increased pressure this would cause due FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: bradyi. to over-collecting. Conservationists. Mr. John L. Spinks. Chief. Office of In the June 24, 1977. Federal Register, botanists, the Bureau of Land Endangered Species. Fish and Wildlife The Service published a final Management. and the Arizona Service. US. Department of the Interior. rulemaking (42 FR 32373-32381), codified Commission of Agriculture and Washington. D.C. 20240 (703/235-2771). at 50 CFR detailing the regulations to Horticulture all indicated their protect Endangered and Threatened concurrence with and/or their strong SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: plant species. The rules establish support for the proposal to determine Background prohibitions and a permit procedure to Pediococtus brudyi to be an Endangered Pediocactus bradyi (Brady pincushion grant exceptions to the prohibitions species. cactus) occurs in one Arizona county. under certain circumstances. The Cepartment has determined that Conclusion - The range of this species is very small this listing does not meet the criteria for After a thorough review and (only 20 kmz). This species is restricted significance in the Department consideration of all the information to a specific soil, and occurs in desert Regulations implementing Executive available, the Director has determined scrub communities. Pedi4cocb~s bradyi Order 12044 (43 CFR Part 14) or require that Pediocactus brudyi L. Benson is a small seimglobose cactus which the preparation of a regulatory analysis. (Brady pin cushion cactus; synonyms: reaches two inches in diameter and two Tourney4 bmdyi (Benson) W. H. Earle) and one-half inches in height. The Summary of Comments and is in danger of becoming extinct flowers are straw yellow, and the fruits Recommendations throughout all or a significant portion of turn brown at maturity. The continued Hundreds of comments on the general its range due to one or more of the existence of this cactus is in danger, and proposal of June 16, 1976. were received factors described in Section 4(a) of the this rule will extend to it the protection from individuals. conservation Act. provided by the Endangered Species Act organizations. botanical groups, and These factors and their application to of 1973 as amended. The following business and professional organizations. Pediocnctus brudyi are as follows: paragraphs summarize the actions Few of these comments were specific in (1) The presence uf threatened leading up to this final rule and the nature in that they did not address destruction, modification. or curtailment factors which cause this species to be individual plant species. Most comments of its habitat or range. Pediocactus Endangered. addressed the program or the concept of brudyi occurs only in one small area in The Secretary of the Smithsonian Endangered and Threatened plants and one Arizona county, restricted to one Institution. in response to Section 12 of their protection and regulation. These soil type. The area is adjacent to a major the Endangered Species Act of 1973. comments are summarized in the April highway and recreation area. Most of presented his report on plant species to 26, 1978, Federal Register publication the land on which these plants occur is Congress on January 9.1975. This report. which also determined 13 plant species federally administered by the Bureau of designated as House Document No. 94- to be Endangered or Threatened species Land Management and the National 51. contained lists of over 3.100 U.S. (43 FR 17909-17916). Some ofthese Park Service. The portion of the vascular plant taxa considered to be comments had addressed the general population lying adjacent to the Endangered. Threatened, or extinct. On problems of cacti conservation. highway has been disturbed through July 1.1975. the Director published a Additionally many comments on the maintenance and construction activities. notice in the Federal Register (40 FR cactus trade were received in response In some cases the plants appear to have 27823-27924) of his acceptance of the to the June 7.1976. proposed rule (41 FR recolonized roadside areas where report of the Smithsonian Institution as 22915) on prohibitions and permit disturbance occurred in the past. Power provisions for plants under Section lines pass through part of the area and Federal Register / Vol. 44, No. 209 / Friday, Octr?ber 26, 1979 / Rules and Regulations 61765

have disturbed a minimal amount of the reservation and through tribal resolution Endangered species regulations in species’ habitat. Any future work on the has the ability to restrict the taking of Title 50 of the Code of Federal ..- highway or power lines, especially any plants form their lands, as well. Regulations set forth a series of general shift in the present right of ways, should All native cacti are on Appendix II of prohibitions and exceptions which apply take into account the presence of this the convention on International Trade in to all Endangered species. The cacti. The portion of the range which is Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and regulations which pertain to Endangered on lands administered by the National Flora. However, this convention plant species are found at f 17.61-17.63 Park Service is unfenced and is regulates export of the taxon, but does (42 FR 32378-32381). receiving increasing disturbance from not regulate internal trade in the cactus, Section 9[a](2) of the Act, as illegal use of off-road vehicles. or habitat destruction. Except as noted implemented by $ 17.61 would apply. (21 Overutilization for commercial, in the preceding paragraph, no other With respect to any species of plant sporting. scientjfic, or educational Federal protective laws currently apply listed as Endangered, it is, in general, purposes. Collection is the major threat to this species. illegal for any person subject to the to this species. The proximity of the (5) Other natural or manmade factors jurisdiction of the United States to range to a major highway makes it affecting its continued existence. import or export such species; deliver, easily accessible to even casual Pediocactus bradyi is restricted to a receive, carry, transport or ship such colleclors. unlike more protected remote verv soecialized and localized soil tvne. species in interstate or foreign and inaccessible locations of some other ani iti total range is very geograph&lly commerce by any means and in the rare species. The species has been limited which tends to intensifv anv course of a commercial activity; or sell collected commercially and privately adverse modifications of the species or offer such species for sale in and is especially vulnerable during the habitat and depletion of populations due interstate or foreign commerce. Certain short flowering season in the spring to over-collecting. The total remaining exceptions apply to agents of the because of the ease with which the wild populations of the plant are Service and State conservation plants may be located when they are in estimated to contain only a few hundred agencies. flower. The seasonal nature of its individuals. Frost heaving is also a Section 10 of the Act and regulations vulnerability is accentuated by its factor limiting the success of the species. published in the Federal Register of June retracting to or just below the soil Soil compaction by cattle may increase 24,1977 (42 FR 32373-32381, 50 CFR Part surface during most of the year making the effects of frost heaving. The heaving 17). also provide for the issuance of the plants almost impossible to locate is a natural process which alone should permits under certain circumstances to during hot, dry periods. not cause a serious decline in the carry out otherwise prohibited activities [3) Disease or predation [including numbers of the plant. involving Endangered plants. grazing). Cattle grazing adversely Effect of the Rulemakmg Effect Internationally affects the plants during the wet seasons and is a definite threat throughout most Section 7(a) of the Act, as amended in In addition to the protection provided of this species’ range. There is a 1978, provides: by the Act, all native cacti are on Appendix II of the Convention on possibility that the areas may be grazed The Secretary shall review other programs by sheep in the future, an impact which administered by him and utilize such International Trade in Endangered could have a severe impact on the programs in furtherance of the purposes of Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which species because of the density of this Act. All other Federal agencies, shall, in requires a permit for export of the taxon. animals in flocks. consultation with and with the assistance of The Service will review whether it (4) The inadequacy of existing the Secretary, utilize their authorities in should be considered under the furtherance of the purposes of this Act by regulatory mechanisms. This species is convention on Nature Protection and carrying out programs for the Conservation of Wildlife Preservation in the Western offered some protection under Arizona Endangered species and Threatened species law, A.R.S. Chapter 7, Section 3-901, Hemisphere or other appropriate listed pursuant to Section 4 of this Act. Each international agreements. which requires a permit for the Federal agency shall, in consultation with collection of members of the genus and with the assistance of the Secretary, National Environmental Policy Act ensure that any action authorized. funded, or Pediocactus in particular and all An Environmental Assessment has members of the family Cactaceae. carried out by such agency [hereinafter in this section referred to as an ‘agency action’) been prepared and is on file in the Pediocactus bradyi occurs on lands Service’s Washineton Office of administered by the Bureau of Land does not jeopardize the continued existence of any Endangered species or Threatened Endangered Specyes. The assessment is Management, the National Park Service, species or result in the destruction or adverse the basis for a decision that this and on the Navajo Indian Reservation. modification of habitat of such species which determination is not a major Federal The taking or vandalizing of plants is is determined by the Secretary. after action which significantly affects the not prohibited by the Endangered consultation as appropriate with the affected quality of the human environment Species Act. However. where Federal States. to be critical, unless such agency has within the meaning of Section 102(2)(C) lands are involved, other restrictive been granted an exemption for such action by the Committee pursuant lo subsection (h) of of the National Environmental Policy provisions are available. Bureau of Land Act of 1989. Management regulations prohibit the this section. removal, destruction, and disturbance of Provisions for Interagency Critical Habitat vegetative resources unless such Cooperation were published on January The Endangered Species Act activities are specifically allowed or 4, 1978, in the Federal Register (43 FR Amendments of 1978 added the authorized (43 CFR 6010.2). National 870-876) and codified at 50 CFR Part following provision to subsection 4(a)(l] Park Service regulations prohibit the . 402. These regulations are intended to of the Endangered Species Act of ‘1973: possession, destruction, injury, assist Federal agencies in complying At the time any such regulation (to defacement, removal or disturbance of with section 7(a) of the Act. This determine a species to be an Endangered or any plant in natural, historic, and/or rulemaking requires Federal agencies to Threatened species] is proposed, the recreational areas (36 CFR 2.20). The satisfy these statutory and regulatory Secretary shall by regulation. to the Navajo Indian Reservation is a Federal obligations with respect to this species. maximum extent prudent, specify any habitat 61786 Federal Register { Vol. 44. No. 209 / Friday, October 26, 1979 / Rules and Reyiations of such specieswhich is then cokidered to The primary author of this rule is Ms. be Critical Habitat. E. LaVerne Smith, Office of Endangered .. Pediocactus bradyi is threatened by Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, taking [See discussion under factors 2 Washington, D.C. 20240 (703/235-19751. and 4 in the conclusion section of this Status information for this species was rule), and the taking of plants is not compiled by Dr. A. M. Phillips III, Dr. B. prohibited by the Endangered Species G. Phillips, Mr. L. T. Green, Ms. J. Act of 1973. publication of Critical Mazzoni, and Ms. Elaine Peterson Habitat maps would make this species (Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, more vulnerable, and therefore it would Arizona). not be prudent to determine Critical Reytrtion Promulgation Habitat. Federal agencies and other parties will be notified of the locations Accordingly, !j 17.12 of Part 17 of of these plants for protection purposes. Chapter i of Title 59 of the U.S. Code of BLM. the principal federal agency Federal Regulatkx-rs is amended as involved, is aware of the location of this foIlows: plant. The Service now proceeds with 1. Section 17.12 is amended by adding, this final rulemaking to determine this in alphabetical order by family, genus, species to be Endangered under the species, the following plant: authority contained in the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 8 17.t2. Endangered and threatened U.S.C. 1531443). Pbtr.

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CaCbceae-cactus Haly: PedmacrVs bradyi. ___....Brady pmcushmn U:S.A. (AZ) Enlm .__...,...... E . ..I....._...,. NA -.

Dated: October 16. 1979. Lynn A. Greenwatt. Director. Fish and Wildlife Service.

IFR Dot. 7%32973Filed 10454% 8z4Saml .” BILLING COOE 4510-55-M