{"abstract":"We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are issuing this final rule to comply with a district court order that vacated our November 3, 2020, rule removing the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. As a result of the court's order, the regulatory protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), apply to the gray wolf in all or portions of the 45 U.S. States and Mexico where the species was listed at the time we issued the delisting rule. The court order went into effect on February 10, 2022, and is the subject of several consolidated, pending appeals in the Ninth Circuit. While those appeals are pending, the Service is bound by the district court's order. Thus, this final rule implements the court's order by correcting the Code of Federal Regulations and officially reinstating threatened status for gray wolf in Minnesota; endangered status for gray wolf in all or portions of the remaining 44 U.S. States and Mexico where the species was listed prior to our November 2020 delisting rule; critical habitat for gray wolf in Minnesota and Michigan; and the rule promulgated under section 4(d) of the Act for gray wolf in Minnesota. Gray wolves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and north-central Utah (collectively, the Northern Rocky Mountains) retain their delisted status and are not affected by this final rule. This rule does not have any effect on the separate listing of the Mexican wolf subspecies (Canis lupus baileyi) as endangered under the Act.","action":"Final rule.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR","name":"Interior Department","id":253,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/interior-department","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/253","parent_id":null,"slug":"interior-department"},{"raw_name":"Fish and Wildlife Service","name":"Fish and Wildlife Service","id":197,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/fish-and-wildlife-service","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/197","parent_id":253,"slug":"fish-and-wildlife-service"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2023/11/03/2023-24299.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"17","title":50}],"citation":"88 FR 75506","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":null,"correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"This action is effective November 3, 2023. However, the court order had legal effect immediately upon its filing on February 10, 2022.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097","FF09E22000 FXES1113090FEDR 223"],"dockets":[{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"Final Gray Wolf Peer Review Summary Report","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-85012"},{"title":"Gray Wolf Peer Review Plan","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-85011"},{"title":"References Cited for Gray Wolf Proposed Rule","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-19633"},{"title":"Wolf Petition Dated 12 17 2018","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-107836"},{"title":"References Cited for Gray Wolf Final Rule","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-107835"},{"title":"Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan_with note to reader","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-107834"},{"title":"Gray Wolf Biological Report_October 2020","document_id":"FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097-107833"},{"title":"Gray Wolf 90-day finding petition review 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