Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus)

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the federally endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax trailli extimus) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In developing this proposal, we evaluated those lands determined to be essential to the conservation of the southwestern willow flycatcher to ascertain if any specific areas are appropriate for exclusion from critical habitat pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act. On the basis of our evaluation, we have determined that the benefits of excluding certain approved and pending Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) and lands owned and managed by the Department of Defense from critical habitat for the southwestern willow flycatcher outweighs the benefits of their inclusion, and have subsequently excluded those lands from this proposed designation of critical habitat for this species pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act. As such, we propose to designate 376,095 acres (ac) (152,124 hectares (ha)) [including approximately 1,556 stream miles (2,508 stream kilometers)] of critical habitat which includes various stream segments and their associated riparian