Comment period extended on wolverine
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November 3, 2013 |
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced
Thursday that it is reopening the comment period
regarding the proposed listing under the
Endangered Species Act of the North American
wolverine.
The extended comment period is designed to
broaden the discussion on the proposed listing
to the entire public and to ensure that all
available information is adequately considered
in the process, according to a USFWS press
release.
The reopened comment period will close on
December 2.
In North America, wolverines now occur within a
wide variety of habitats, primarily boreal
forests, tundra, and western mountains
throughout Alaska and Canada; however, the
southern portion of the range extends into the
contiguous United States.
Currently, wolverines are found in the North
Cascades in Washington and the Northern Rocky
Mountains in Idaho, Montana, Oregon (Wallowa
Range), and Wyoming. Individual wolverines have
also moved into historic range in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains of California and the Southern
Rocky Mountains of Colorado, but have not
established breeding populations in these areas.
Adult males weigh 12 to 18 kilograms (26 to 40
pounds) and adult females weigh 8 to 12
kilograms (17 to 26 pounds). The wolverine
resembles a small bear with a bushy tail. It has
a broad, rounded head; short, rounded ears; and
small eyes. Each foot has five toes with curved,
semi-retractile claws used for digging and
climbing.
On February 4, 2013, the USFWS published in the
Federal Register a proposed rule to list the
North American wolverine as threatened. With
that rule, the agency also proposed a special
rule that tailored the prohibitions of the ESA
that would apply to the wolverine if the listing
were finalized. The proposed rule had a 90-day
comment period that ended May 6.
During the peer review process, the USFWS
received comments indicating that there exists a
variety of opinions among the scientific
community concerning the information used by the
agency to support the proposed rules.
Specifically, some peer reviewers questioned the
information used to describe wolverine habitat,
and that was used to estimate potential impacts
to wolverine habitat from future climate change,
according to the press release.
The USFWS also received several requests from
states and the public to extend the comment
period for these proposals.
Details on the kinds of information the Service
is seeking are available in the comment period
reopening notice published in the Federal
Register on October 31, 2013. Copies of the
proposed rules are also available at
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolverine. |
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