Comment Period on Mex. Wolves Extended, New Hearing Dates Set

Contact:
Gavin Shire
(703) 358-2649
gavin_shire@fws.gov

*Service Extends Comment Periods for Gray and Mexican Wolf Proposals, Reschedules Public Hearings, Adds Hearing in Arizona *

As a result of delays caused by the lapse in federal appropriations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced rescheduled dates for the remainder of a series of public hearings on two proposed rules—one to list the Mexican wolf as an endangered subspecies and delist the gray wolf elsewhere, and the other to improve recovery efforts for the Mexican wolf in the Southwest. Comment period deadlines also are extended until December 17 to allow these hearings to take place within the public comment periods on the proposed rules.

The hearings will take place on November 19 in Denver, Colorado, November 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and November 22 in Sacramento, California. Each will include a short informational presentation. The Service has also added a public information meeting and hearing in Pinetop, Arizona, on December 3. The hearings are part of the Service’s continuing efforts to provide an open, comprehensive public process for the two proposed wolf rules and will provide the public a forum by which to register their views.

A formal notice of these hearings and the extension of the comment period will appear in *the Federal Register* on October 28.

To learn more about the proposed rules, view the draft *Federal Register*notice with the details of the public hearings, and for links to submit comments to the public record, visit www.fws.gov/home/wolfrecovery.