Department of the Interior April 10, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On October 3, 2013, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced a proposal to list the yellow-billed cuckoo in the western portion of the United States, Canada, and Mexico (western yellow-billed cuckoo) as a threatened distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). On December 26, 2013, we reopened the comment period for an additional 60 days to ensure the public had sufficient time to comment on the proposal for this species. We now announce another reopening of the comment period for our October 3, 2013, proposed rule to allow for us to accept and consider additional public comments on the proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, determine threatened species status for the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a grassland bird known from southeastern Colorado, western Kansas, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This final rule implements the Federal protections provided by the Act for the lesser prairie-chicken. Critical habitat is prudent but not determinable at this time. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, we published a final special rule under section 4(d) of the Act for the lesser prairie-chicken.