Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for the Olympia Pocket Gopher, Roy Prairie Pocket Gopher, Tenino Pocket Gopher, and Yelm Pocket Gopher, With Special Rule

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act or ESA), as amended, for four subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher found in Thurston and Pierce Counties of Washington State: The Olympia pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis), Roy Prairie pocket gopher (T. m. glacialis), Tenino pocket gopher (T. m. tumuli), and Yelm pocket gopher (T. m. yelmensis). We are also promulgating a special rule under authority of section 4(d) of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable for the conservation of the Mazama pocket gopher. The effect of this regulation is to add these subspecies to the list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, extend the Act's protections to these subspecies, and establish a 4(d) special rule for the conservation of the Olympia, Roy Prairie, Tenino, and Yelm pocket gophers.