Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Determination of Critical Habitat for Peninsular Bighorn Sheep

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for Peninsular bighorn sheep pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). A total of approximately 341,919 hectares (844,897 acres) in Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial counties, California, are designated as critical habitat for Peninsular bighorn sheep. Critical habitat identifies specific areas that have the physical and biological features that are essential to the conservation of a listed species, and that may require special management considerations or protection. The primary constituent elements for the Peninsular bighorn sheep are those habitat components that are essential for the primary biological needs of feeding, sheltering, reproduction, dispersal, and genetic exchange. All areas designated as critical habitat for the Peninsular bighorn sheep contain one or more of the primary constituent elements. Section 7 of the Act prohibits destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat by any activity funded, authorized, or carried out by any Federal agency. Section 4 of the Act requires us to consider economic and other impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. We solicited data and comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rule and economic analysis.