Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat

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We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose designation of critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami parvus) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). A total of approximately 22,423 hectares (55,408 acres) in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California, are proposed as critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. Critical habitat identifies specific areas, both occupied and unoccupied, that are essential to the conservation of a listed species and that may require special management considerations or protection. The primary constituent elements for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat are those habitat components that are essential for the primary biological needs of foraging, reproducing, rearing of young, intra- specific communication, dispersal, genetic exchange, or sheltering. All areas proposed for designation as critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat contain one or more of the primary constituent elements essential to the conservation of the species. If this proposed rule is made final, section 7 of the Act would prohibit destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat by any