REV00636 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DESIGNATION OF CRITICAL HABITAT FOR MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL 1.0 Purpose The purpose of designating critical habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidenta/is /ucida) is to utilize provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), to help achieve the species' conservation. The purpose of the Ac[ is to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend. Critical habitat designation identifies those areas that are essential to the survival and recovery of the Mexican spotted owl, and describes those physical and biological features within those areas that require special management considerations to achieve conservation of the species. 1.1 Need for the Action The need for this action is to comply with section 4 of the Act, which requires that critical habitat be designated for endangered and threatened species unless such designation is not prudent. In the final rule listing the Mexican spotted owl as a threatened (58 FR 14248), we, the Fish and Wildlife Service, found that although considerable knowledge of owl habitat needs had been gathered in recent years, habitat maps in sufficient detail to accurately delineate critical habitat areas were not available. After the listing, we began gathering the data necessary to develop a proposed rule to designate critical habitat. A final rule designating critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl was published on June 6, 1995 (60 FR 29914). In 1996, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Catron County Board of Commissioners v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 75 F.3d 1429, 1439 (] 0th Cir. 1996), ruled that the Service had to comply with the National Enviromnental Policy Act (NEPA) before designating critical habitat for two desert fish, the spikedace and loach minnow. In addition, a federal district court in New Mexico later set aside the final rule designating critical habitat for the owl and forbid the Service from enforcing cri[ipl habitat for the owl (Coalition of Arizona-New Mexico Counties for Stable Economic Growth v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 95-1285-M Civil, April 1, 1997). As a result of these court rulings, we removed the critical habitat designation for the owl from the Code of Federal Regulations on March 25, 1998 (63 FR 14378). On March 13, 2000, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, (Southwest Center for Biological Diversity and Silver v. Babbitt and Clark, CIV 99-519 LFG/I,CS-ACE), ordered us to propose critical habitat within 4 months of the court order, and to complete and publish a final designation of critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl by January 15, 2001. On July 21, 2000, we published a proposal to designate critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, mostly on Federal lands (65 FR 45336). This final rule is in response to that court order. Critical habitat is one of several provisions of the