Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determinations of Prudency and Designations of Critical Habitat for Plant Species From the Islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, Hawaii

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have reconsidered our findings concerning whether designating critical habitat for 38 federally protected plants from the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, some of which may also occur on other Hawaiian Islands, listed between 1991 and 1996, would be prudent. At the time each plant was listed, we determined that designation of critical habitat was not prudent because designation would increase the degree of threat to the species and/or would not benefit the plant. We have determined that critical habitat is prudent for 37 of these species since the potential benefits of designating critical habitat essential for the conservation of these species outweigh the risks of designation that may result from human activity. We propose that designation of critical habitat is not prudent for one species, which is no longer extant in the wild and for which no genetic material is currently extant, because such designation would not be beneficial to this species. We propose critical habitat designations for a total of 50 species in 52 units on Maui and 4 units on Kahoolawe at this time. The approximate land area within these units totals 13,574 hectares (33,6