[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 19, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64399-64400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20175]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-0100; FXES11130600000-223-FF06E00000]
RIN 1018-BG79


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Establishment of a 
Nonessential Experimental Population of the Gray Wolf in the State of 
Colorado; Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notification of the availability of a final environmental 
impact statement and draft record of decision.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a final environmental impact statement (EIS) and draft 
record of decision (ROD) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, for our intended action of establishing a 
nonessential experimental

[[Page 64400]]

population (NEP) of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the State of 
Colorado. The State of Colorado (Colorado Parks and Wildlife, or CPW) 
requested that the Service establish an NEP in conjunction with their 
State-led gray wolf reintroduction effort. Establishment of this NEP 
under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, 
would provide for allowable, legal, purposeful, and incidental take of 
the gray wolf within the State of Colorado, while also providing for 
the conservation of the species. In the FEIS, we analyzed the 
environmental consequences of a range of alternatives for our proposed 
rule. The action would be implemented through a final rule.

DATES: The Service will issue a record of decision no sooner than 30 
days after publication of this announcement of the availability of the 
final EIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: The final EIS, draft ROD, and other 
supporting documents are available on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-0100 and on the 
Service's website at https://www.fws.gov/coloradowolf, or from the 
office listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liisa Niva, Acting Field Supervisor, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Ecological Services Field 
Office, 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 670, Lakewood, CO 80228; telephone 
303-236-4773; email [email protected]. Individuals in the 
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We announce the availability of the final 
environmental impact statement (EIS) and our draft record of decision 
(ROD) for the proposed establishment of a nonessential experimental 
population (NEP) of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the State of 
Colorado under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). We developed the final EIS in 
compliance with the agency decision making requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended. 
Our final EIS provides updates, as needed, to information presented in 
the draft EIS, including revisions in response to issues raised in 
comments received during the public review period. We have described 
and evaluated all alternatives in our final EIS. Our draft decision is 
based on our review of the alternatives and their environmental 
consequences, as described in the final EIS.

Background

    On July 21, 2022 (87 FR 43489), we published a notification of 
intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for this 
action and held public scoping meetings, in person on August 2, 3, and 
4, and virtually on August 10, 2022. Cooperating agencies included 
multiple Federal and State agencies, Tribal Governments, and local 
governments. We also participated in Tribal working groups and Tribal 
coordination meetings. Additionally, we shared information with the 
public through a dedicated website, emails, in-person meetings, and 
webinars.
    We published the proposed rule and noticed the availability of the 
draft EIS on February 17, 2023 (88 FR 10258), which opened a 60-day 
public comment period for both documents. During the public comment 
period, we hosted four in-person informational public meetings on March 
14, 15, 16, and 28, and a virtual public meeting on March 22, 2023. The 
public comment period closed on April 18, 2023. We received 4,290 
pieces of correspondence during the public comment period, with 1 
correspondence having 16,233 signatures. We developed our final EIS 
after assessing and considering all comments, both individually and 
collectively. Our response to the substantive comments that we received 
are provided as an appendix to the final EIS.

Authors

    The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the 
Colorado Ecological Services Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Marjorie Nelson,
Acting Assistant Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-20175 Filed 9-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P