Removal of Federally Designated Critical Habitat for the Concho Water Snake
About the Document
Title: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Removal of the Concho Water Snake (Nerodia paucimaculata) From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Removal of Federally Designated Critical Habitat
About the Peer Review Process
Draft document disseminated: June - August 2008
Peer review initiated: June 2008
Peer review to be completed by: August 2008
Process:
- The Service will conduct a peer review of the portion of the delisting proposal that includes a discussion of the scientific information reviewed and our analysis (but not our conclusion regarding the species listing classification).
- The Service will conduct external peer review of this document through letters to 3 or more independent scientific reviewers with expertise in snake ecology, conservation biology and/or stream hydrology.
- Peer reviewers will not be asked to provide recommendations on the classification of the species. Peer reviewers may be asked to: comment specifically on the quality of any information and analyses used or relied on in the review; identify oversights, omissions, and inconsistencies; provide advice on reasonableness of judgments made from the scientific evidence; ensure that scientific uncertainties are clearly identified and characterized, and that potential implications of uncertainties for the technical conclusions drawn are clear; and provide advice on the strengths and limitation of the overall product.
- The Service will use the information received from the peer review in the final rule.
- The estimated start date of the peer review will be June 2008.
About Public Participation
- Public comments on the delisting proposal for this species will be sought concurrently with publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register and through distribution by mail and press release of this announcement to interested parties.
- This peer review plan will be posted on the Service’s website for public review and comment.
- The Service will post a notice on its website of the final rule, which will include a summary of the results of the peer review process.
Contact: Adam Zerrenner, Austin Ecological Services Office, at Adam_Zerrenner@fws.gov or 512-490-0057.