Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Neosho Mucket and Rabbitsfoot

摘要

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for two species of mussels, the Neosho mucket (Lampsilis rafinesqueana) and rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica cylindrica), under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 777 river kilometers (483 river miles) in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma fall with the boundaries of the critical habitat designation for the Neosho mucket and approximately 2,312 river kilometers (1,437 river miles) in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation for the rabbitsfoot. The effect of this rule is to extend the Act's protections to these mussels' critical habitats.