[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 214 (Friday, November 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 60454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29000]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Three Public Open Houses Prior to Proposing a Revision 
to the Special Rule for a Nonessential Experimental Population of Red 
Wolves in North Carolina

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public open houses.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce three public open 
houses in eastern North Carolina to present information to, and answer 
questions from the public prior to proposing a change to the special 
rule for the nonessential experimental population (NEP) of red wolves 
in eastern North Carolina under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

DATES AND ADDRESSES: We will hold the first open house on Tuesday, 
November 16, 1999, at the Mattamuskeet Lodge, Mattamuskeet National 
Wildlife Refuge, 1 Mattamuskeet Refuge Road, Swan Quarter, North 
Carolina 27885, from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The second open house will be 
on Wednesday, November 17, 1999, at the Vernon James Research & 
Extension Conference Center, 207 Research Station Road, Plymouth, North 
Carolina 27962, from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The third open house will be 
on Thursday, November 18, 1999, at Tyrrell Hall, 108 South Water 
Street, Columbia, North Carolina 27925, from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brian T. Kelly, Wildlife 
Biologist/Field Projects Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
P.O. Box 1969, 708 North Highway 64/264, Manteo, North Carolina 27954 
(telephone 252/473-1131, extension 27).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The red wolf is an endangered species that is currently found in 
the wild only as a NEP in northeastern North Carolina on the Alligator 
River, Pocosin Lakes, and Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuges; the 
U.S. Air Force's Dare County Bombing Range; and adjacent private land 
in Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, North 
Carolina; and as an endangered species in three small island 
propagation projects located on Bulls Island in South Carolina and Cape 
St. George and St. Vincent Islands in Florida. These four carefully 
managed wild populations contained a minimum of 48 animals as of 
September 30, 1999. The remaining red wolves are located in 33 captive-
breeding facilities in the United States. The captive population 
numbered 161 animals as of September 30, 1999.
    We published a proposed rule in the Federal Register of July 24, 
1986 (51 FR 26564), to introduce red wolves into Alligator River, Dare 
County, North Carolina. We published a final rule on November 19, 1986 
(51 FR 41790), making a determination to implement the proposed action 
with some modifications. We determined that the red wolf population in 
Dare County and adjacent Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties would 
be a NEP, according to Section 10(j) of the Act. We revised the rule in 
the Federal Register of November 4, 1991 (56 FR 56325), to add Beaufort 
County to the list of counties where the NEP designation would apply. 
We reevaluated the status of the population after 5 years and included 
input from public meetings in this reevaluation.
    We published a proposed rule in the Federal Register of November 
24, 1993 (58 FR 62086), to revise the special rule for NEPs of red 
wolves in North Carolina and Tennessee. We published a final rule in 
the Federal Register of April 13, 1995 (60 FR 18940), making a 
determination to implement the proposed action with some modifications.
    We will hold three public open houses in eastern North Carolina. 
Through these open houses, we will provide the public with a forum to 
obtain information and ask questions of us before we request their 
formal comment through the rulemaking process.

Author

    The primary author of this notice is Brian T. Kelly (see FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: October 29, 1999.

H. Dale Hall,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 99-29000 Filed 11-4-99; 8:45 am]
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