Availability of the Reassessment of the Interim Wolf Control Plan for the Northern Rocky Mountains

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of the Reassessment of the Interim Wolf Control Plan for the Northern Rocky Mountains, which includes northwestern Montana and the Panhandle of northern Idaho (Exclusive of the Experimental Population Area). Our 1988 Interim Wolf Control Plan (Control Plan) was developed in response to a recommendation in the 1987 Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan (Recovery Plan) to conserve and enhance survival and propagation of the gray wolf, and is implemented under an Endangered Species Act section 10 permit. The Control Plan has been carried out for 11 years to control problem wolves. A notice of availability of the draft reassessment was published in the Federal Register, Volume 63, Number 78, on April 23, 1998, soliciting review and comments from the public for 30 days. Based on the review and the comments received, we have modified the Control Plan to include changes in the following areas--(1) Management zones; (2) encouraging research in deterring wolf depredations on livestock; (3) recordkeeping and analysis; (4) non-lethal control techniques and; (5) monitoring of the wolf population in northwestern Montana. The Control Plan also was amended to include the need to control wolves that kill pets and an increased educational effort about wolf recovery and management in northwestern Montana.