[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 913-915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-298]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-ES-2008-N0337; 20124-11130000-C4]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Mexican Wolf 
(Canis lupus baileyi) Conservation Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; draft conservation assessment; request 
for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announce the

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availability of the Draft Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment (draft 
assessment) for public review and comment. The draft assessment 
provides scientific information relevant to the conservation of the 
Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico as a 
component of the Service's gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery efforts. 
Not required by the Endangered Species Act (Act), the draft assessment 
is a non-regulatory document that does not require action by any party. 
We solicit review and comment from the public on this document.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive any comments from 
interested parties no later than March 10, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a paper or electronic copy of the draft 
assessment by contacting John Slown, Biologist, New Mexico Ecological 
Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna, NE., Albuquerque, NM 87113; 
telephone: 505/761-4782, facsimile 505/346-2542, e-mail: [email protected]. The draft assessment is also available online at: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/.
    You may submit written comments on the draft assessment by any one 
of the following means: (1) By U.S. mail to John Slown at the 
Albuquerque address above; (2) by fax to the number above, or (3) e-
mail to [email protected]. We must receive comments by the date in 
DATES.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct all questions or requests for 
more information on the draft assessment to John Slown, Biologist, at 
the Albuquerque address above; telephone: 505/761-4782.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the Draft 
Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment (draft assessment) for public 
review and comment. The draft assessment provides scientific 
information relevant to the conservation of the Mexican wolf (Canis 
lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico as a component of the 
Service's gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery efforts. Not required by the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; Act) the draft 
assessment is a non-regulatory document that does not require action by 
any party. We solicit review and comment from the public on this 
document.

Listed Entity

    The Mexican wolf was listed as an endangered subspecies of gray 
wolf in 1976 (41 FR 17736, April 28, 1976). In 1978, the Service listed 
the gray wolf species in North America south of Canada as endangered, 
except in Minnesota where it was listed as threatened (43 FR 9607, 
March 9, 1978). The 1978 rangewide listing of the gray wolf species 
subsumed the subspecies listing; however, the preamble to the rule 
continued to recognize the Mexican wolf as a valid biological 
subspecies for purposes of research and conservation (43 FR 9607). 
After the 1978 listing of the gray wolf in the U.S. Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), the 50 CFR 17.11(h) List of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife did not explicitly refer to an entity called the 
``Mexican wolf.'' Due to the Mexican wolf's previous listed status as a 
subspecies, we have continued to refer to the gray wolf in the 
southwestern United States as the ``Mexican wolf.'' Today, the gray 
wolf is listed as threatened in the Great Lakes and remains endangered 
throughout the coterminous United States and Mexico, except where 
designated as non-essential experimental populations (59 FR 60266, 
November 22, 1994, and 63 FR 1752, January 12, 1998).

Background

    The conservation and recovery of species is one of the primary 
goals of our endangered species program. The Mexican wolf historically 
inhabited the southwestern United States and portions of Mexico until 
it was virtually eliminated in the wild by private and governmental 
predator eradication efforts in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s. 
Conservation and recovery efforts to ensure the survival of the Mexican 
wolf were initially guided by the 1982 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan (U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service 1982) (recovery plan), which recommended the 
establishment of a captive breeding program and the reintroduction of 
Mexican wolves to the wild. Both of these recommendations have been 
implemented, and today an international captive breeding program houses 
more than 300 wolves, and a wild population of approximately 52 wolves 
(as of the official 2007 end-of-year count) inhabits Arizona and New 
Mexico.
    Although the 1982 recovery plan was instrumental in guiding the 
inception of the Mexican wolf program in the Southwest, the plan 
requires updating to provide current guidance for the reintroduction 
and recovery effort. We have initiated revisions to the 1982 plan, but 
have been unable to finalize a revision due to various logistical 
constraints. We are working to resolve these constraints to reinitiate 
a full revision of the recovery plan, and are undertaking this 
conservation assessment as an interim step.
    The draft assessment provides the type of information typically 
contained in a recovery plan, including the listing history of the 
Mexican wolf and gray wolf, current species' biology and ecology, an 
assessment of current threats to the Mexican wolf in the wild, and an 
overview and assessment of current conservation and recovery efforts. 
However, the draft assessment is not intended to serve as a revised 
recovery plan for the Mexican wolf. The assessment does not contain 
recovery criteria, site-specific management actions, or time and cost 
estimates, the three statutorily required elements of a recovery plan 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(1)(B)), nor does it contain recommendations for the 
future of our Mexican wolf program in the Southwest. Social and 
economic aspects of wolf conservation are not addressed in the 
document. It is a non-regulatory document intended solely as a 
compilation of current scientific information relevant to Mexican wolf 
conservation that may be used by any interested party. We intend to use 
the document as one of many information sources guiding our continuing 
conservation and recovery efforts in the Southwest.

Public Comments Solicited

    We seek public comments on the draft assessment. General comments 
in support of or against wolf recovery or reintroduction are not 
solicited at this time. All comments and information we receive by the 
date specified in DATES will be considered prior to the approval of the 
final Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment. Concurrent with public 
review, the Service is soliciting peer review of the draft assessment 
from persons with expertise in wolf conservation and related 
disciplines. All comments, including names and addresses, will become 
part of the supporting record.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so. Comments and materials received will be available for 
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at New 
Mexico Ecological Services Field Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico (see 
ADDRESSES).

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    If you wish to provide comments and/or information, you may submit 
your comments and materials by any one of several methods (see 
ADDRESSES). Comments submitted electronically should be in the body of 
the e-mail message itself or attached as a text file (ASCII), and 
should not use special characters or encryption. Please also include 
``Attn: Draft Conservation Assessment,'' your full name, and your 
return address in your e-mail message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your e-mail message, 
please contact us directly by calling our New Mexico Ecological 
Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES).

References

    All literature referenced in the draft assessment is available for 
viewing, by appointment, at New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office 
during normal business hours (see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

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

    Dated: December 30, 2008.
Nancy J. Gloman,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2.
 [FR Doc. E9-298 Filed 1-8-09; 8:45 am]
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