WASHINGTON, DC-Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) sent a letter Secretary of the Department of the Interior Sally Jewell urging her to extend the gray wolf delisting public comment period, which was impacted by the recent 16-day government shutdown. DeFazio also requested that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reschedule gray wolf public hearings cancelled by the shutdown and urged them to schedule a hearing in Oregon.
In June, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a rule to remove essential ESA protections for gray wolves in areas where the population has only begun to recover, including the Pacific Northwest, California, southern Rocky Mountains and Northeast.
“Last month, the agency extended the public comment period by 30 days because of an overwhelming response from concerned citizens opposed to the gray wolf delisting. Unfortunately, House Republicans forced an irresponsible government shutdown that undermined public participation in this process. At the very least, the Service should follow the lead of other agencies that are extending their public comment periods for significant rules. Certainly the gray wolf delisting falls into that category. They should also reschedule public hearings that were cancelled because of the shutdown to allow the broadest scope of citizens to voice their concerns about the proposed delisting," said DeFazio.
In September, DeFazio sent a letter Secretary of the Department of the Interior Sally Jewell, urging her to continue protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). He also urged USFWS to continue to review the taxonomic history of wolves in the eastern United States and seek a broader scientific consensus before removing federal protection.
“Gray wolves have only just begun to return to portions of the Pacific Northwest, California, southern Rocky Mountains and Northeast and continue to need protection in these areas if they are to truly recover. I urge the Service to rescind the proposed rule because continued federal protections are essential to the long-term survival and recovery of this iconic American animal," said DeFazio.
The full letter to Secretary Jewell is below.
BACKGROUND
In February, 2012, the Fish and Wildlife Service released a five year review for the wolf that recommended removing protections for gray wolves across most of the lower 48 states. In March, DeFazio sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) urging them to continue protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Retaining protections for wolves in the lower 48 will not impact the delisting decisions in the northern Rocky Mountains or western Great Lakes, where wolf recovery has seen considerable improvement and wolves have been removed from the endangered list. Instead, it will retain protections for a small number of wolves on the West Coast and wolves that have slowly been moving back into historically occupied areas like the southern Rocky Mountains and Northeast.
Studies completed after the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park have found that wolves are highly beneficial to ecosystems, benefitting a host of species from fish to songbirds to pronghorn antelope. Wolves have also been a boon to the local economy as a major tourist draw.
Letter to Secretary Jewell:
Oct. 23, 2013
The Honorable Sally Jewell
Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Secretary Jewell:
On June 13, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a rule to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for all gray wolves other than a small experimental population of Mexican wolves being reintroduced in Arizona and New Mexico. Today, I write to respectfully request an extension of the public comment period due to the impact from the lapse in appropriations, which resulted in a 16-day government shutdown and directly hindered the public’s ability to meaningfully participate and comment on the proposed rule.
As you are aware, the comment period for the rule ends on Oct. 28, 2013. I applaud the Service for granting a 45-day extension beyond the previous September 11th comment period deadline. Moreover, I commend the Service for working expeditiously to hold more hearings to provide an open and comprehensive public process. However, due to extraordinary circumstances of the government shutdown, public hearings subsequently were cancelled in Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico. Now, only the hearings in Arizona and New Mexico are expected to be rescheduled. This is unfortunate and denies the opportunity for broader public input in California and Colorado. Clearly, an extension of the comment period would allow those hearings to be rescheduled and an opportunity for more concerned citizens to be heard.
An extension would also offer the Service an opportunity to schedule a hearing in Oregon, as Representative Earl Blumenauer and I previously requested on July 22, 2013. Gray wolves were once common in Oregon, occupying most of the state, however, by the late 1940’s, wolves were deliberately eradicated. Wolves are just starting to make a comeback in Oregon, where there is a considerable amount of suitable, but unoccupied, historic gray wolf habitat. In 2011, a lone wolf from the Imnaha Pack in Oregon, OR-7, became the first wolf in California in over 80 years and its journey made international headlines. Extending the public comment period would provide the Service with the valuable opportunity to hold a hearing in Oregon, where your agency’s proposal to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list is of great interest.
Other agencies have wisely chosen to extend public comment periods following the shutdown. The National Park Service extended the public comment periods on the draft Florida Bay Seagrass Habitat Restoration Management Plan and for the Willeo Road Multi-Use Trail construction project, for example. [1] Similarly, the Army Corps of Engineers has extended the public comment periods for the St. John levee project and the Central Everglades Planning project.[2] Within the Department of Interior, the Fish and Wildlife Service, due to lack of access, has granted an extension for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act small grant deadline and the Bureau of Land Management has extended the public comment periods on a number of environmental assessments.[3]
Due to extraordinary circumstances, it is in the public interest and in the interest of the Service to extend the comment period on this contentious delisting rule and provide the full opportunity for public input. Therefore, I strongly urge you to consider an extended comment period to schedule a broader range of hearings and allow for public comment from the broadest scope of concerned citizens as possible.
Thank you for your consideration of this important matter. If you have questions or concerns regarding information in this letter, please have your staff contact Matt Strickler or Sarah Parker of the Natural Resources Committee Democratic Staff at (202)-225-6065.
Sincerely,
Peter DeFazio
Ranking Member
Committee on Natural Resources
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[1]National Park Service, Press Release: Public Comment Period Extended on Draft Florida Bay Seagrass Habitat Restoration Management Plan (Oct. 18, 2013). Available on: http://www.nps.gov/ever/parknews/public-comment-period-extended-on-draft-florida-bay-seagrass-habitat-restoration-management-plan.htm;
Sandy Springs Patch, Public Comment Period Extended for Willeo Road Multi-Use Trail, (Oct. 20, 2013). Available online: http://sandysprings.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/public-comment-for-willeo-road-multiuse-trail-extended;
[2]The Times-Picayune, Government shutdown extends public comment period for St. John levee project (Oct. 14, 2013). Available online: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/10/government_shutdown_extends_pu.html; Army Corps of Engineers, Press Release: Corps extends comment period for Central Everglades Planning Project, (Oct. 17, 2013). Available online: http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsReleases/tabid/6071/Article/19190/corps-extends-comment-period-for-central-everglades-planning-project.aspx.
[3] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Bird Habitat Conservation Extension Announcement. Available online: http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/Small/index.shtm; U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Notification Bulletin, (Oct. 18. 2013). Available online: https://www.blm.gov/ut/enbb/.
