Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Extending the Public Comment Periods and Rescheduling Public Hearings Pertaining to the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) and the Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), recently published two proposed rules. One rule proposes to list the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) as an endangered subspecies and to delist the gray wolf elsewhere, and the other proposes to revise the Nonessential Experimental Population of the Mexican Wolf. On September 5 and October 2, 2013, we announced public hearings on the proposed rules. The September 5 notices also extended the public comment period for the proposed rules to October 28, 2013. Following delays caused by the Federal Government lapse in appropriations, the Service is announcing rescheduled dates for the remainder of a series of public hearings on the proposed rules. To allow these hearings to take place within the public comment period on the proposed rules, we now extend the public comment period for the proposed rules to December 17, 2013. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in preparation of the final rules. We also announce the scheduling of a public information meeting and an additional public hearing in Pinetop, Arizona.