Wolf comment period reopened

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it will reopen the public- comment period on its plan to delist the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains. 

On July 18, the U.S. Federal District Court in Missoula, Mont., issued an order immediately reinstating Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. In September, the Fish and Wildlife Service asked the court to vacate and remand the final delisting rule back to the agency -- that request was granted on Oct. 13.  

At this time, the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves remains under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.

The area affected by the ruling includes all of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, as well as parts of north-central Utah. Management of the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves is now governed by the same Endangered Species Act protections that were in effect prior to delisting last March.  

"The service is committed to ensuring that wolves thrive in the northern Rocky Mountains and will continue to work with the states and the public to advance the recovery of the species," said Steve Guertin, regional director for the Mountain-Prairie Region.

The service is asking the public to provide comments and any additional information on the 2007 proposal to delist wolves, and is seeking additional information on a variety of topics related to delisting. More details are available in the Federal Register notice which will be posted Oct. 28, at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov.

The minimum recovery goal for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains is 30 breeding pairs and at least 300 wolves for three consecutive years. That goal was attained in 2002 and has been exceeded every year since.

Gray wolves were previously listed as endangered in the lower 48 states, except in Minnesota, where they were listed as threatened. 

The public will have until Nov. 28 to submit comments go to http://www.regulations.gov or via mail or hand delivery to, Public Comments Processing, Attn:  RIN 1018-Au53; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.

By Journal staff

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