Fish and Wildlife Service December 5, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the northern distinct population segment (DPS) of the western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), an amphibian occurring in central and northern California, and the southern DPS of the western spadefoot, occurring in southern California and northwestern Mexico, as threatened DPSs under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. This determination serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the western spadefoot range-wide. After a review of the best scientific and commercial information available, we find that listing the northern and southern DPSs of the western spadefoot as threatened is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the northern and southern DPSs of the western spadefoot as threatened DPSs with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add the northern DPS and southern DPS of the western spadefoot to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the two DPSs. Due to the current lack of data sufficient to perform required analyses, we conclude that the designation of critical habitat for the northern DPS and southern DPS of the western spadefoot is not determinable at this time.