[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57943-57944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23911]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2011-0029; 92220-1113-000; ABC Code: C6]
RIN 1018-AX57


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revising the List 
of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife for the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) 
in the Eastern United States

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; supplementary materials.

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SUMMARY: On May 5, 2011, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
published a proposed rule to reevaluate the listing of the Minnesota 
population of gray wolves (Canis lupus) under the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended, and revise the listing to conform to current 
statutory and policy requirements. On August 26, 2011, we announced the 
reopening of the comment period for our May 5, 2011, proposed rule to 
provide for public review and comment of additional information 
regarding our recognition of C. lycaon as a separate species. We are 
publishing this notice to inform the public that supplementary 
materials are electronically available at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: The comment period closes on close of business September 26, 
2011. Any comments that we receive after the closing date may not be 
considered in the final decision on this action.

ADDRESSES:
    Document availability: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 
information on how to access the supplementary materials.
    Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following 
methods:
    Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Enter Keyword or ID box, enter FWS-R3-ES-
2011-0029, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, in the 
Search panel at the top of the screen, under the Document Type heading, 
click on the Proposed Rules link to locate this document. You may 
submit a comment by clicking on ``Submit a Comment.''
    By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public 
Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R3-ES-2011-0029, Division of Policy and 
Directives Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax 
Drive, MS 2042-PDM, Arlington, VA 22203.
    We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see the Public Comments Solicited section below for more 
information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Ragan, 612-713-5350. Direct all 
questions or requests for additional information to: Gray Wolf 
Questions, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, 5600 
American Blvd. West, Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458. Additional 
information is also available on our Web site at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf. Individuals who are hearing-impaired or speech-impaired 
may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8337 for TTY 
assistance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In the August 26, 2011, Federal Register (76 FR 53379), we 
announced the reopening of the comment period for our May 5, 2011, 
proposed rule (76 FR 26086) to provide for public review and comment of 
additional information regarding our recognition of the eastern wolf, 
Canis lycaon, as a separate species, including, in particular, a 
manuscript prepared by Service employees that is currently undergoing 
review for publication (Chambers et al., in prep.). In recognition of 
intellectual property right laws, the manuscript made available on 
August 26 provided readers with references to the sources of nine 
copyrighted figures, but did not include the figures themselves. We 
have since obtained approval to include the nine copyrighted figures in 
the manuscript made available for public review. On September 7, 2011, 
we posted the manuscript with the nine copyrighted figures at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2011-0029 to replace the 
version made available on August 26.

Public Comments Solicited

    We intend that any final action resulting from this proposal will 
be as accurate and as effective as possible. Therefore, we hereby 
request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the 
public, other

[[Page 57944]]

concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, Tribes, 
industry, or any other interested party concerning this proposed rule. 
We particularly seek comments concerning:
    (1) The taxonomic classification of wolves in the midwestern and 
northeastern United States as described in a Service manuscript 
prepared by Chambers et al., in particular the recognition of the 
eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) as a full species.
    (2) Any other relevant information regarding wolves in eastern 
North America.
    You may submit your comments and materials concerning this proposed 
rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you 
send comments only by the methods described in ADDRESSES. Comments must 
be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov before midnight (Eastern 
Daylight Time) on the date specified in DATES. All comments that were 
submitted during the earlier public comment period will be included as 
part of the administrative record for this action and need not be 
resubmitted.
    We will post your entire comment--including your personal 
identifying information--on http://www.regulations.gov. If you provide 
personal identifying information, such as your street address, phone 
number, or e-mail address, you may request at the top of your document 
that we withhold this information from public review. However, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting 
documentation we used in preparing this proposed rule including the 
Chambers et al. manuscript (in prep), will be available for public 
inspection on http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2011-
0029; on the Service's Internet site at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/; or by appointment, during normal business hours at the following 
Ecological Services offices:

     Twin Cities, Minnesota Ecological Services Field 
Office, 4101 American Blvd. E., Bloomington, MN; 612-725-3548.
     Green Bay, Wisconsin Ecological Services Field Office, 
2661 Scott Tower Dr., New Franken, WI; 920-866-1717.
     East Lansing, Michigan Ecological Services Field 
Office, 2651 Coolidge Road, Suite 101, East Lansing, MI; 517-351-
2555.
     New England Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 70 Commercial St., Suite 300, Concord, NH; 
603-223-2541.

    Dated: September 12, 2011.
Daniel M. Ashe,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-23911 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
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