Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for the Blue Tree Monitor

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei), a lizard species from Indonesia, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the blue tree monitor. After a review of the best scientific and commercial information available, we find that listing the species is warranted. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species. A temporary rule (emergency action) listing this species as endangered for 240 days is published concurrently in this issue of the Federal Register.