Four opportunities to learn more about and comment on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove Midwestern gray wolves from the list of endangered and threatened species will be offered at locations in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in May. Each will include an information meeting about the proposal and a formal public hearing during which participants may offer oral or written comments.
The Service has proposed delisting the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment, which includes the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, where wolves occur. Also included in the area are parts of North and South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Wolves in the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment have exceeded recovery goals for several years, prompting the Service’s proposal to remove federal protection of the Endangered Species Act.
The schedule includes:
May 8, 2006
Duluth, MinnesotaMeeting and hearing will be in the Northern Lights I Room at the Inn on Lake Superior, 350 Canal Park Drive.
May 10, 2006
Wausau, WisconsinMeeting and hearing will be at the Westwood Conference Room of the Westwood Center, 1800 West Bridge Street.
May 16, 2006
Marquette, MichiganMeeting and hearing will be in the Michigan Room of the Don H. Bottum University Center, Northern Michigan University, 540 West Kaye Avenue. (Use parking lot #8.)
May 17, 2006
Grayling, MichiganMeeting and hearing will be held in the Evergreen Room of the Holiday Inn, 2650 Business Loop South I-75. Located on I-75 at exit 254 and M-72 east/west route.
At each location, the public information session will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. local time; with the public hearing following from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Participants may submit oral or written comments at the hearings. Those who are unable to attend the sessions may submit comments in writing by one of several methods:
By Mail: Please add "WGL Wolf Delisting; RIN 1018-AU54" in the subject line of your comments. WGL Wolf Delisting, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN 55111-4056
By E-mail to WGLwolfdelist@fws.gov. Submit Internet e-mail comments without any form or encryption. Avoid the use of special characters. Please add "WGL Wolf Delisting; RIN 1018-AU54" and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the subject line and your name and return address in the body of your message.
By Fax to 612-713-5292. Please add "WGL Wolf Delisting; RIN 1018-AU54" in the subject line.
Hand Delivery/: WGL Wolf Delisting, Ecological Services - Room 646, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN 55111-4056. Please add "WGL Wolf Delisting; RIN 1018-AU54" in the subject line.
Federal Electronic Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Please add "WGL Wolf Delisting; RIN 1018-AU54" and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the subject line.
Comments must be received no later than June 26, 2006.
For more information on the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes and the Service’s proposal to delist the species, as well as maps showing the hearing locations, visit the Service’s Midwest Region website at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf
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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
