NOA, Final Environmental Impact Statement: Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of the Gray Wolf in the State of Colorado

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a final environmental impact statement (EIS) and draft record of decision (ROD) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, for our intended action of establishing a nonessential experimental population (NEP) of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the State of Colorado. The State of Colorado (Colorado Parks and Wildlife, or CPW) requested that the Service establish an NEP in conjunction with their State-led gray wolf reintroduction effort. Establishment of this NEP under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, would provide for allowable, legal, purposeful, and incidental take of the gray wolf within the State of Colorado, while also providing for the conservation of the species. In the FEIS, we analyzed the environmental consequences of a range of alternatives for our proposed rule. The action would be implemented through a final rule.