The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has scheduled a series of public information meetings to provide information on a proposal to reclassify most gray wolves in the Great Lakes area from endangered status under the Endangered Species Act to the less protective threatened status.
Public hearings, designed to capture comments and information relevant to the Services proposal, have also been scheduled.
These public information meetings and hearings follow a national announcement made on July 11, 2000, which addressed the reclassification and delisting of gray wolves across the lower 48 states. Under the proposal, wolves in Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin would be reclassified from endangered to threatened, joining Minnesota wolves in that status. Additionally, Endangered Species Act protection would be removed from any wolves in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio entirely.
Our information meetings are designed to explain the details of our proposal and discuss the potential impact it might have here in the Great Lakes region, said Service Regional Director Bill Hartwig. We also want to answer any questions people might have about the proposal.
While the Service will accept comments at the informational meetings, Hartwig urged those wishing to provide formal comments to do so either at the separately scheduled public hearings or via the Services gray wolf web site at http://midwest.fws.gov/wolf
