Public Comment Sought on Proposal to List California Spotted Owl

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is proposing to list two distinct population of the California Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act: the Coastal-Southern California DPS as endangered and the Sierra Nevada DPS as threatened. As part of this proposed listing, USFWS is including a 4(d) rule for the Sierra Nevada DPS that exempts the prohibition of take under the ESA for forest fuels management activities that reduce the risk of large-scale high-severity wildfire.  USFWS is seeking public comment on the proposed rule through April 24.