12-Month Petition Finding and Proposed Rule To List the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) as Threatened Throughout Its Range

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the extension of the public comment period on nine new United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports produced for the Service to provide current data and modeling results relevant to the final determination of whether the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) qualifies for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We intend to take these reports into consideration as we make our final listing determination on the polar bear, and are extending the reopened public comment period on the January 9, 2007, proposed rule to list the polar bear as threatened throughout its range under the Act (72 FR 1064) for an additional 15 days to allow interested parties to comment on the USGS reports. We are limited in how long we can extend the public comment period because of the statutory deadline, which requires a final listing determination within one year of publication of the proposed rule, unless an extension of up to six months is granted due to substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the determination. Please note that comments previously submitted should not be resubmitted. This comment period is open only for comments on the nine USGS reports listed below. Comments submitted during the prior comment period have been incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered during preparation of our final determination.