The meeting will use an open house format, enabling individuals to come and go as they like. The session will feature a video of the reintroduction proposal and various alternatives for restoring wolves into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and a representative from the Services Helena, Montana, office will be on hand to provide additional explanation and answer questions. Individuals attending the open house will be able to express their concerns and opinions by completing survey forms which will be used in preparation of the environmental impact statement. Individuals can add their names to a mailing list to receive additional information.
"Yellowstone National Park and the endangered gray wolf belong to all of the citizens of the United States", stated John Rogers, Jr., Acting Director of the Services Region 3. "The Service hopes to involve interested individuals nationwide in the reintroduction proposal, and to gain a broad spectrum of public input for the EIS."
More information on the meeting can be obtained by calling the Twin Cities Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species, at (612) 725-3276.
As an agency of the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service enhances, protects, preserves, and restores fish and wildlife resources throughout the Nation. Region 3 has responsibility for the states of Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Ohio.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
