[Federal Register: January 9, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 6)]
[Notices]
[Page 913-915]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09ja09-48]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2008-N0337; 20124-11130000-C4]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Mexican Wolf
(Canis lupus baileyi) Conservation Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; draft conservation assessment; request
for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announce the
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availability of the Draft Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment (draft
assessment) for public review and comment. The draft assessment
provides scientific information relevant to the conservation of the
Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico as a
component of the Service's gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery efforts.
Not required by the Endangered Species Act (Act), the draft assessment
is a non-regulatory document that does not require action by any party.
We solicit review and comment from the public on this document.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive any comments from
interested parties no later than March 10, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a paper or electronic copy of the draft
assessment by contacting John Slown, Biologist, New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna, NE., Albuquerque, NM 87113;
telephone: 505/761-4782, facsimile 505/346-2542, e-mail: John_
Slown@fws.gov. The draft assessment is also available online at: http:/
/www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/.
You may submit written comments on the draft assessment by any one
of the following means: (1) By U.S. mail to John Slown at the
Albuquerque address above; (2) by fax to the number above, or (3) e-
mail to mexwolfdca@fws.gov. We must receive comments by the date in
DATES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct all questions or requests for
more information on the draft assessment to John Slown, Biologist, at
the Albuquerque address above; telephone: 505/761-4782.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the Draft
Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment (draft assessment) for public
review and comment. The draft assessment provides scientific
information relevant to the conservation of the Mexican wolf (Canis
lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico as a component of the
Service's gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery efforts. Not required by the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; Act) the draft
assessment is a non-regulatory document that does not require action by
any party. We solicit review and comment from the public on this
document.
Listed Entity
The Mexican wolf was listed as an endangered subspecies of gray
wolf in 1976 (41 FR 17736, April 28, 1976). In 1978, the Service listed
the gray wolf species in North America south of Canada as endangered,
except in Minnesota where it was listed as threatened (43 FR 9607,
March 9, 1978). The 1978 rangewide listing of the gray wolf species
subsumed the subspecies listing; however, the preamble to the rule
continued to recognize the Mexican wolf as a valid biological
subspecies for purposes of research and conservation (43 FR 9607).
After the 1978 listing of the gray wolf in the U.S. Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), the 50 CFR 17.11(h) List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife did not explicitly refer to an entity called the
``Mexican wolf.'' Due to the Mexican wolf's previous listed status as a
subspecies, we have continued to refer to the gray wolf in the
southwestern United States as the ``Mexican wolf.'' Today, the gray
wolf is listed as threatened in the Great Lakes and remains endangered
throughout the coterminous United States and Mexico, except where
designated as non-essential experimental populations (59 FR 60266,
November 22, 1994, and 63 FR 1752, January 12, 1998).
Background
The conservation and recovery of species is one of the primary
goals of our endangered species program. The Mexican wolf historically
inhabited the southwestern United States and portions of Mexico until
it was virtually eliminated in the wild by private and governmental
predator eradication efforts in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s.
Conservation and recovery efforts to ensure the survival of the Mexican
wolf were initially guided by the 1982 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan (U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service 1982) (recovery plan), which recommended the
establishment of a captive breeding program and the reintroduction of
Mexican wolves to the wild. Both of these recommendations have been
implemented, and today an international captive breeding program houses
more than 300 wolves, and a wild population of approximately 52 wolves
(as of the official 2007 end-of-year count) inhabits Arizona and New
Mexico.
Although the 1982 recovery plan was instrumental in guiding the
inception of the Mexican wolf program in the Southwest, the plan
requires updating to provide current guidance for the reintroduction
and recovery effort. We have initiated revisions to the 1982 plan, but
have been unable to finalize a revision due to various logistical
constraints. We are working to resolve these constraints to reinitiate
a full revision of the recovery plan, and are undertaking this
conservation assessment as an interim step.
The draft assessment provides the type of information typically
contained in a recovery plan, including the listing history of the
Mexican wolf and gray wolf, current species' biology and ecology, an
assessment of current threats to the Mexican wolf in the wild, and an
overview and assessment of current conservation and recovery efforts.
However, the draft assessment is not intended to serve as a revised
recovery plan for the Mexican wolf. The assessment does not contain
recovery criteria, site-specific management actions, or time and cost
estimates, the three statutorily required elements of a recovery plan
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)), nor does it contain recommendations for the
future of our Mexican wolf program in the Southwest. Social and
economic aspects of wolf conservation are not addressed in the
document. It is a non-regulatory document intended solely as a
compilation of current scientific information relevant to Mexican wolf
conservation that may be used by any interested party. We intend to use
the document as one of many information sources guiding our continuing
conservation and recovery efforts in the Southwest.
Public Comments Solicited
We seek public comments on the draft assessment. General comments
in support of or against wolf recovery or reintroduction are not
solicited at this time. All comments and information we receive by the
date specified in DATES will be considered prior to the approval of the
final Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment. Concurrent with public
review, the Service is soliciting peer review of the draft assessment
from persons with expertise in wolf conservation and related
disciplines. All comments, including names and addresses, will become
part of the supporting record.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. Comments and materials received will be available for
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at New
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico (see
ADDRESSES).
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If you wish to provide comments and/or information, you may submit
your comments and materials by any one of several methods (see
ADDRESSES). Comments submitted electronically should be in the body of
the e-mail message itself or attached as a text file (ASCII), and
should not use special characters or encryption. Please also include
``Attn: Draft Conservation Assessment,'' your full name, and your
return address in your e-mail message. If you do not receive a
confirmation from the system that we have received your e-mail message,
please contact us directly by calling our New Mexico Ecological
Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES).
References
All literature referenced in the draft assessment is available for
viewing, by appointment, at New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office
during normal business hours (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: December 30, 2008.
Nancy J. Gloman,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2.
[FR Doc. E9-298 Filed 1-8-09; 8:45 am]
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