Fish and Wildlife Service April 9, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the San Francisco Bay-Delta population of the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) as endangered with critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a thorough review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that the San Francisco Bay-Delta population of the longfin smelt does not meet our definition of a distinct population segment (DPS), as identified in our DPS policy (61 FR 4721, February 7, 1996). As a result, listing the species as a DPS is not warranted. However, we are initiating a status assessment of the longfin smelt, and we solicit information on the status of the species range wide.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) are initiating 5-year status reviews of 13 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We conduct these reviews to ensure that the classification of species as threatened or endangered on the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants is accurate. A 5-year review is an assessment of the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review.