Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for Atriplex coronata var. notatior (San Jacinto Valley crownscale)

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), herein address the proposed designation of critical habitat for Atriplex coronata var. notatior (San Jacinto Valley crownscale) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We identified 15,232 (ac) (6,167 hectares (ha)) of habitat essential for the conservation of A. coronata var. notatior. In developing this proposal, we evaluated those lands determined to be essential to the conservation of A. coronata var. notatior to ascertain if any specific areas are appropriate for exclusion from critical habitat pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the Act. All habitat essential for the conservation of A. coronata var. notatior is either within our estimate of the areas to be conserved and managed by the approved Western Riverside Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) in Riverside County, California, existing public and quasi-public lands plus additional conserved lands, or within areas where the MSHCP will ensure that future projects will not adversely alter essential hydrological processes. On the basis of our evaluation of the conservation measures afforded A. coronata var. notatior under the Western Riverside