Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for Three Petitions To Delist the Grizzly Bear in the Lower-48 States

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce three 90-day findings on petitions to delist the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States (Ursus arctos horribilis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). One petition requests delisting the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States, and the other two petitions request delisting populations in two specific ecosystems, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Based on our review, we find that the petitions pertaining to the two ecosystems present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we plan to initiate a status review to determine whether the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are requesting new scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the grizzly bear in the NCDE and GYE and factors that may affect its status in those ecosystems, including the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms to address threats now and in the foreseeable future. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month petition finding, which will address whether or not the petitioned actions are warranted, in accordance with the Act. If we ultimately do find that one or more of the petitioned actions is warranted and proceed to propose to delist one or more distinct population segments (DPSs), we will consider the effects of any proposed delisting on the ongoing recovery of the larger listed entity of grizzly bears. We also found that a petition to delist the grizzly bear in the lower-48 states on the basis of it not being a valid listable entity did not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted; therefore, we will take no further action on that petition.