Proposal to revise ESA for Eastern Gray Wolf issued

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS) is re-evaluating the listing of the Minnesota population of gray wolves (Canis lupus) and proposes to revise it to conform to current statutory and policy requirements. FWS proposes to identify the Minnesota population as a Western Great Lakes (WGL) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the gray wolf and to remove this DPS from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

They propose these actions because the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the WGL DPS does not meet the definitions of threatened or endangered under the Act. This proposed rule, if made final, would remove the currently designated critical habitat for the gray wolf in Minnesota and Michigan and the current special regulations for gray wolves in Minnesota.

They also propose to revise the range of the gray wolf (the species C. lupus) by removing all or parts of 29 eastern states that they now recognize were not part of the historical range of the gray wolf.  New information indicates that these areas should not have been included in the original listing of the gray wolf.

The FWS will accept comments received or postmarked on or before July 5, 2011.

Click here to read the complete Federal Register Notice.