Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designated Ports for Listed Plants

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) hereby amends the regulations that establish designated ports for the importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants by adding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ports at Laredo, Texas; and Fort Lauderdale (=Port Everglades), Jacksonville, and Panama City, Florida, as designated ports for the importation of logs and lumber from trees listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (the Act), or listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Service also amends these same regulations by adding the USDA port at Port Huron, Michigan, as a port for the importation from Canada and exportation or reexportation to Canada of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the Act, or listed under CITES. The USDA has adequate facilities and personnel at these ports to qualify the ports as designated ports for the importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants under the terms of the Act and CITES. The addition of these ports to the list of designated ports will facilitate trade and the enforcement of the Act and CITES. Additionally, the Service amends the regulations that establish designated ports for the importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants by removing Laredo, Texas, from the list of ports designated for the importation, exportation, or reexportation of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the Act, or listed under CITES. The USDA no longer operates Laredo as a plant inspection station and has proposed to remove it from the list of plant inspection stations in its regulations. Because the Laredo plant inspection station has closed, it no longer is used as a designated port for the importation, exportation, or reexportation of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the Act, or listed under CITES. However, the USDA has sufficient staff in place in Laredo for the Service to add it