Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Sharpnose Shiner and Smalleye Shiner

摘要

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the sharpnose shiner (Notropis oxyrhynchus) and smalleye shiner (N. buccula) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 1,002 river kilometers (623 river miles) of river segments occupied by the species in Baylor, Crosby, Fisher, Garza, Haskell, Kent, King, Knox, Stonewall, Throckmorton, and Young Counties in the upper Brazos River basin of Texas fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to these species' critical habitat.