Department of the Interior September 1, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the opening of a public comment period for a status review of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) in the United States, which has been initiated pursuant to a recent Court order requiring us to prepare a 12-month finding on a petition to list the subspecies as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This action will allow all interested parties an opportunity to provide information on the status of the subspecies of fish.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, as joint lead agencies, have prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to assess the consequences of proposed changes in the operation of Sumner Dam and the implementation of a water acquisition program in the Pecos River Basin. The Carlsbad Project Water Operations and Water Supply Conservation DEIS includes a description of alternative means of implementing the proposed federal action and presents an evaluation of the environmental, economic, and social consequences that could result from implementing these alternatives. These proposed changes in water operations are designed to conserve the Pecos bluntnose shiner (Notropis simus pecosensis) (shiner) and its designated critical habitat. The water acquisition program is proposed to conserve the Carlsbad Project water supply. In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the shiner, a small minnow, as a threatened species and designated two noncontiguous river reaches, totaling approximately 101 miles of the Pecos River, as critical habitat. The shiner has undergone significant population declines and range contraction in the last 65 years and is now restricted to about 194 miles from Fort Sumner State Park to Brantley Reservoir. Lower base flows, lower peak flows, and extended duration of peak flows along with river channel degradation, drought, and intermittency have contributed to loss of habitat and increased mortality (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003).