Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population for Two Fishes (Boulder Darter and Spotfin Chub) in Shoal Creek, Tennessee and Alabama

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), in cooperation with the States of Tennessee and Alabama and with Conservation Fisheries, Inc., a nonprofit organization, plan to reintroduce one federally listed endangered fish, the boulder darter (Etheostoma wapiti), and one federally listed threatened fish, the spotfin chub (Cyprinella (=Hybopsis) monacha), into their historical habitat in Shoal Creek (a tributary to the Tennessee River), Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Lawrence County, Tennessee. Based on the evaluation of species' experts, these species currently do not exist in this reach or its tributaries. These two fish are being reintroduced under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and would be classified as a nonessential experimental population (NEP). The geographic boundaries of the NEP would extend from the mouth of Long Branch, Lawrence County, Tennessee (Shoal Creek mile (CM) 41.7 (66.7 kilometers (km)), downstream to the backwaters of the Wilson Reservoir at Goose Shoals, Lauderdale County, Alabama (approximately CM 14 (22 km)), and would include the lower 5 CM (8 km) of all tributaries that enter this reach. These reintroductions are recovery actions and are part of a series of reintroductions and other recovery actions that the Service, Federal and State agencies, and other partners are conducting throughout the species' historical ranges. This rule provides a plan for establishing the NEP and provides for limited allowable legal taking of the boulder darter and spotfin chub within the defined NEP area. In addition, we are changing the scientific name for spotfin chub, from Cyprinella (=Hybopsis) monacha to Erimonax monachus, to reflect a recent change in the scientific literature, and adding a map to the regulation for a previously created NEP including one of these fishes for the purposes of clarity.