Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Rule to List the Riparian Brush Rabbit and the Riparian, or San Joaquin Valley, Woodrat as Endangered

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine endangered status pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), for the riparian brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani riparius) and the riparian or San Joaquin Valley woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes riparia). Only a single population of each subspecies has been confirmed, in Caswell Memorial State Park (Park), San Joaquin County, California. These two subspecies are threatened primarily by flooding, wildfire, disease, predation, competition, clearing of riparian vegetation, use of rodenticide, and loss of genetic variability. Naturally occurring random events increase the risk to the single, small population of each subspecies. This rule implements the Federal protection and recovery provisions afforded by the Act for these two subspecies.