Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With a Section 4(d) Rule for Ocmulgee Skullcap and Designation of Critical Habitat

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Ocmulgee skullcap (Scutellaria ocmulgee), a plant species from Georgia and South Carolina, as a threatened species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the Ocmulgee skullcap. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Ocmulgee skullcap as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act ("4(d) rule"). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it will add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants and extend the Act's protections to the species. We also propose to designate critical habitat for the Ocmulgee skullcap under the Act. In total, approximately 6,577 acres (ac) (2,662 hectares (ha)) in Bibb, Bleckley, Burke, Columbia, Houston, Monroe, Pulaski, Richmond, Screven, and Twiggs counties, Georgia, and Aiken and Edgefield counties, South Carolina, fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Ocmulgee skullcap.