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| The Mountain-Prairie Region |
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
134 Union Boulevard
Lakewood, Colorado 80228
Date: March 17, 2003
Contacts:
Lori Nordstrom 406-449-5225 ext 208
Diane Katzenberger 303-236-7917 ex 408
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Seeks Additional Information
Regarding Lynx Habitat
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today opened a 30-day public comment period seeking information to help determine the amount and quality of habitat in the Northeast, Southern Rockies, Great Lakes, and Northern Rockies/Cascades regions of the United States for Canada lynx.
The Canada lynx was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in March of 2000. Within the contiguous United States, the lynx’s range extends into different regions that are separated from each other by ecological barriers consisting of unsuitable lynx habitat. These regions are the Northeast (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York); the Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan); the Northern Rocky Mountains/Cascades (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, northwestern Wyoming, Utah); and the Southern Rocky Mountains (Colorado, southeastern Wyoming).
In compliance with a court order, the Service must reevaluate a finding it made regarding the range of the lynx. This finding must be completed in June, 2003.
The Service intends to examine information that has become available since the listing of the lynx in March of 2000. We are making some of this information available on the Service’s internet site to enable the public to review and comment on it. The information is available at: http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/lynx
We invite comments on elements relevant to our determination concerning the range of the lynx. Our re-evaluation will not be limited solely to the information available on our internet site.
Written comments and information must be postmarked by April 16, 2003and sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Field Office, 100 North Park, Suite 320, Helena, MT 59601; or email fw6_lynx@fws.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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