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Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Public Hearings and Reopening of Comment Period on Proposed Reclassification From Endangered to Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From Guam, and Proposed Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
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[Federal Register: May 29, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 103)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 29367-29368]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29my98-20]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
RIN 1018-AE83
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of Public
Hearings and Reopening of Comment Period on Proposed Reclassification
From Endangered to Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From
Guam, and Proposed Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearing and reopening of
comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), provides notice of
two public hearings on the proposed reclassification from endangered to
threatened status for the Mariana fruit bat from Guam, and on proposed
threatened status for the Mariana fruit bat from the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands. In addition, the Service has reopened the
comment period. All parties are invited to submit comments on this
proposal.
DATES: The comment period now closes on July 10, 1998. There will be
two public hearings, one each on the islands of Saipan and Rota. The
public hearing on Saipan will be held from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on
Wednesday, June 24, 1998. The public hearing on Rota will be held from
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 1998. Prior to each of the
public hearings, the Service will be available from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
to provide information and to answer questions.
ADDRESSES: On Saipan, the public hearing will be held at the Pacific
Gardenia Hotel, Chalan Kanoa Beach Road. On Rota, the public hearing
will be held at the Rota Resort and Country Club. Written comments and
materials concerning this proposal may be submitted at the hearings or
sent directly to Mr. Brooks Harper, Field
[[Page 29368]]
Supervisor, Ecological Services, Pacific Islands Ecoregion, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-122 Box 50088,
Honolulu, HI 96850. Comments and materials will be available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Worthington or Christa Russell
at 808/541-3441 (see ADDRESSES section).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mariana fruit bat is a medium-sized fruit bat that is
restricted to the Mariana archipelago, comprised of the Territory of
Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), where
it is known from all islands.
The movement of bats among the Mariana Islands is an aspect of
their biology that is critical to conservation. The 1984 Federal
listing (49 FR 33881) of fruit bats resident on Guam was based on the
assumption that these bats formed a separate population segment
distinct from the bats found in the CNMI. Recently, biologists in the
Mariana Islands have gathered evidence indicating that movement of bats
among the Mariana Islands links these colonies as a single population.
Thus, the Service believes that the Mariana fruit bats in the CNMI and
Guam represent one population, but recognizes that the bats on Guam are
not recovering and that survival of bats on Guam continues to be
threatened by a variety of factors. However, when viewed in the context
of representing a portion of the entire Mariana fruit bat population in
the Mariana Islands, rather than as a distinct population as previously
thought, reclassification from endangered to threatened is appropriate
and biologically justified. Therefore, proposing to list the entire
population of Pteropus mariannus mariannus as threatened throughout its
range, including bats in both the CNMI and Guam, retains an appropriate
level of protection for this bat on Guam while increasing overall
protection to the Mariana fruit bat throughout the Mariana Islands.
The fruit bats of Guam and the CNMI are threatened by degradation
or loss of habitat through the development of forested areas, illegal
hunting, the possible introduction of alien species such as the brown
tree snake (Boiga irregularis) to the CNMI, and the potential impacts
of typhoons that can disrupt small populations. Most of the known
Mariana fruit bat roost sites in the Mariana Islands are on public
land.
On August 27, 1984, the Service listed the Guam population of
Mariana fruit bats as endangered (49 FR 33881). Fruit bats found on
Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan are currently identified as candidates for
listing (62 FR 49401). On March 26, 1998, the Service published a rule
proposing reclassification from endangered to threatened status for the
Mariana fruit bat from Guam, and proposing threatened status for the
Mariana fruit bat from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(63 FR 14641-14650).
Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires
that a public hearing be held if it is requested within 45 days of the
publication of the proposed rule. Public hearing requests by the CNMI
Governor, the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources, the CNMI
Division of Fish and Wildlife, and CNMI Representatives Heinz S.
Hofschneider and Diego T. Benavente, were received within the allotted
time period. The Service has scheduled public hearings for Saipan and
Rota. The public hearing on Saipan is on Wednesday, June 24, 1998, at
the Pacific Gardenia Hotel from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. On Rota, the
hearing will be on Thursday, June 25, 1998, at the Rota Resort and
Country Club from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Public hearings are an
opportunity for the public to provide oral comments for the official
record, which does not allow for questions and responses to questions;
therefore, prior to each public hearing, the Service will be available
to provide information and answer questions from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30
p.m.
Oral and written comments will be accepted and treated equally.
Parties wishing to make statements for the record should bring a copy
of their statements to the hearings. Oral statements may be limited in
length, if the number of parties present at the hearings necessitates
such a limitation. There are no limits to the length of written
comments or materials presented at the hearings or mailed to the
Service. Written comments carry the same weight as oral comments. Legal
notices announcing the date, time, and location of the hearings are
being published in newspapers concurrently with this Federal Register
notice.
The comment period on the proposal was initially closed on May 26,
1998. To accommodate the hearings, the public comment period is
reopened upon publication of this notice. Written comments may now be
submitted until July 10, 1998, to the Service office in the ADDRESSES
section.
Author
The primary author of this notice is David Worthington (see
ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
William F. Shake,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 98-14233 Filed 5-28-98; 8:45 am]
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