43450
Federal Register
/Vol. 65, No. 135/Thursday, July 13, 2000/Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFish and Wildlife Service50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018–AF20
Endangered and Threatened Wildlifeand Plants; Proposal To Reclassifyand Remove the Gray Wolf From theList of Endangered and ThreatenedWildlife in Portions of theConterminous United States; ProposalTo Establish Three SpecialRegulations for Threatened GrayWolves
AGENCY
:
Fish and Wildlife Service,Interior.
ACTION
:
Proposed rule.
SUMMARY
:
The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService (Service or we) proposes tochange the classification of the graywolf (
Canis lupus
) under theEndangered Species Act of 1973, asamended (Act). Increases in gray wolf numbers, expansion of the species’occupied range, and progress towardachieving the reclassification anddelisting criteria of several approvedgray wolf recovery plans show that thespecies’ current classification is nolonger appropriate throughout most of its range. This proposal, if finalized,will establish four distinct populationsegments (DPSs) for the gray wolf in theUnited States and Mexico. Gray wolvesin the Western Great Lakes DPS, theWestern DPS, and the Northeastern DPSwill be reclassified from endangered tothreatened, except where alreadyclassified as an experimental populationor as threatened. Gray wolves in theSouthwestern (Mexican) DPS will retaintheir endangered status. All threeexisting gray wolf experimentalpopulation designations will be retainedand are not affected by this proposal.Gray wolves will be removed from theprotections of the Act in all other areasof the 48 conterminous states. We areproposing a new special regulationunder section 4(d) of the Act for thethreatened Western DPS to increase ourability to respond to wolf-humanconflicts outside the two experimentalpopulation areas in the northern UnitedStates Rockies. We are proposing asecond special regulation under section4(d) that would apply to theNortheastern DPS to reduce wolf-humanconflicts and land-use restrictions. Athird section 4(d) special regulationwould expand the current Minnesotawolf depredation program intoWisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, andSouth Dakota. The classification, underthe Act, of captive gray wolves would bedetermined by the location from whichthey, or their ancestors, were removedfrom the wild. We would revise ourexisting recovery plans, as appropriateto accommodate changes necessitated by this proposal, if finalized. Thisproposal does not affect the protectioncurrently afforded by the Act to the redwolf (
C. rufus
), a separate species thatis listed as endangered in thesoutheastern United States.
DATES
:
We must receive comments frominterested parties by November 13, 2000so they can be considered in our finaldecision. Requests for formal publichearings must be received by August 28,2000. We will hold informal publicinformational meetings at numerouslocations across the country during thecomment period. The locations anddates of the informational meetings will be widely publicized in advance in thepress; the locations and dates can also be obtained by using the phone,facsimile, electronic mail, and WorldWide Web contact information given below.
ADDRESSES
:
Send all comments andother materials concerning this notice toContent Analysis Enterprise Team, Wolf Comments, 200 East Broadway, PO Box7669, Room 301, Missoula, Montana59807. Comments only (no questions orrequests for information) may besubmitted by electronic mail toGRAYWOLFCOMMENTS@FWS.GOV or by facsimile to 406–329–3021; thesubject line must say wolf comments.Questions or requests for additionalinformation should follow theinstructions in the following section.We will make the comments andmaterials we receive available for publicinspection, by appointment, duringnormal business hours at RegionalOffices and the Washington Office of theU.S. Fish Wildlife Service following theclose of the comment period. Use thecontact information in the nextparagraph to obtain the addresses of those locations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Direct all questions or requests foradditional information to the Fish andWildlife Service using the Gray Wolf Phone Line—612–713–7337, facsimile—612–713–5292, the general gray wolf electronic mail address—GRAYWOLFMAIL@FWS.GOV, or writeto: GRAY WOLF QUESTIONS, Fish andWildlife Service, Federal Building, 1Federal Drive, Ft. Snelling, MN 55111–4056. Additional information is alsoavailable on our World Wide Web siteat http://midwest.fws.gov/wolf.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
Background
Purpose and Definitions of the Act
The purpose of the Act is to identifyspecies that meet the Act’s definitions of endangered and threatened species, toadd those species to the Federal lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlifeand Plants (50 CFR 17.11 and 17.12,respectively), and to implementconservation measures to improve theirstatus to the point at which they nolonger need the protections of the Act.When protection is no longer needed,we take steps to remove (delist) thespecies from the Federal lists. If aspecies is listed as endangered, we mayreclassify it to threatened status as anintermediate step before eventualdelisting; however, reclassification tothreatened status is not required inorder to delist.Section 3 of the Act provides thefollowing definitions that are relevant tothis proposal:
Endangered species
—any specieswhich is in danger of extinctionthroughout all or a significant portion of its range;
Threatened species
—any specieswhich is likely to become anendangered species within theforeseeable future throughout all or asignificant portion of its range; and
Species
—includes any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and anydistinct population segment of anyspecies of vertebrate fish or wildlifewhich interbreeds when mature. (Seeadditional discussion in
Distinct Population Segments under Our Vertebrate Population Policy,
below.)
Organization and Contents of ThisProposed Rule
This proposal begins with adiscussion of the biology of the graywolf, followed by a description of related issues that we considered duringthe development of this proposal. Theseissues include gray wolf taxonomy,experimental population designations,our Vertebrate Population Policy, andwolf-dog hybrids. We describe previousFederal actions taken for the gray wolf,including the development of recoveryplans, and recovery progress in variousparts of the country.A detailed discussion is presented forthe five listing factors as required by theAct. These factors are (1) the present orthreatened destruction, modification, orcurtailment of its habitat or range; (2)overutilization for commercial,recreational, scientific, or educationalpurposes; (3) disease or predation; (4)the inadequacy of existing regulatorymechanisms; and (5) other natural ormanmade factors affecting its continued
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