Articles tagged: interior-department

Open for Comment: National Wildlife Refuge System; 2026-2027 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations

Interior Department — We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to open or expand hunting opportunities on 111 field stations, including 107 units of the National Wildlife Refuges System (Refuge System or NWRS) and 4 units of the National Fish Hatchery System (Hatchery System or NFHS). This includes opening hunting or sport fishing opportunities for the first time on 14 National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and 3 National Fish Hatcheries (NFH). The proposed actions will open or expand more than 1,450 opportunities for hunting and fishing across the NWRS and NFHS. In accordance with Secretary's Order 3447 and Director's Order 233, we also propose to make changes to existing station-specific regulations in order to improve the clarity and accuracy of regulations, reduce the regulatory burden on the public, ensure consistency across FWS lands and waters, and comply with a Presidential mandate for plain-language standards. (30 days remaining)

Open for Comment: Revision of Regulations for Grazing Administration, Exclusive of Alaska

Interior Department — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) are proposing to revise the grazing regulations, Grazing Administration--Exclusive of Alaska, to establish a new part addressing land health management, with certain provisions relocated from existing regulations, and to make conforming updates to the regulations that govern administrative appeals of BLM grazing decisions to OHA's Departmental Cases Hearings Division (DCHD). We solicit comment on all aspects of this rule. (61 days remaining)

Open for Comment: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the North Park Phacelia From the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants

Interior Department — We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the comment period on our March 19, 2024, proposed rule to delist the North Park phacelia (Phacelia formosula), a plant found in the state of Colorado, from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are reopening the proposed rule's comment period for 30 days to give all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule in consideration of the updated Species Status Assessment (SSA) report, which we revised based on new information from comments previously submitted, and based on peer review. Comments previously submitted will be fully considered in our final determination and do not need to be resubmitted. (31 days remaining)

Open for Comment: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Jamaican Kite Swallowtail

Interior Department — We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Jamaican kite swallowtail (Eurytides marcellinus), a butterfly species from Jamaica, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we find that listing the species is warranted. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species. (56 days remaining)