(AP) — A federal agency has proposed a nearly 50 percent cut in the Nebraska land the agency says is needed to support the endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this month published a proposal in the Federal Register to designate 1,110 acres of saline wetlands as critical habitat. In 2010 the agency said more than 1,900 acres was needed.

The beetles live only in the rare saline wetlands on the north side of Lincoln and in neighboring Saunders County.

The agency says that although the 1,110 acres is a smaller area than the previous designation, it contains sufficient suitable habitat to support recovery of the species.