Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Mazama Pocket Gophers; Final Rule

Author

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Publication Year

2014

Species

Mazama pocket gopher

Region

Puget Trough/Lowlands

Habitat

Upland Prairie

Topic

Mammals, Rare species recovery

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for three subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher (the Olympia pocket gopher, Thomomys mazama pugetensis; the Tenino pocket gopher, T. m. tumuli; and the Yelm pocket gopher, T. m. yelmensis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 1,607 acres (650 hectares) in Thurston County, Washington, fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation for the Olympia, Tenino, and Yelm pocket gophers. All critical habitat proposed for the Roy Prairie pocket gopher (T. m. glacialis) in Pierce County, Washington, is exempted under section 4(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Act; as a consequence, there is no final critical habitat for this subspecies. The effect of
this regulation is, therefore, to designate critical habitat for the Olympia, Tenino, and Yelm subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher found in Thurston County, Washington, under the Act.