FWS Extends Tracking of Endangered Wolves and Bears
Published Date: 3/12/2026
Notice
Summary
The Fish and Wildlife Service is renewing three important info collections about endangered animals like gray wolves and grizzly bears, without making any changes. This affects people who work with or study these special animal groups and helps keep tracking smooth and easy. You’ve got until May 11, 2026, to share your thoughts, and there’s no new cost or paperwork hassle coming your way!
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 5 costs, 1 mixed.
Gray Wolf Take Authorization Rules
For the Colorado gray wolf nonessential experimental population, the Service or a designated agent may issue written take authorizations valid for not longer than 1 year, and may issue a 'repeatedly depredating wolf or wolves' written take authorization of limited duration (45 days or fewer) to landowners or permittees to take up to a specified number of wolves.
Grizzly Bear Conditioned Lethal Authorization
For the grizzly bear nonessential experimental population, individuals may lethally take a grizzly bear within 200 yards (183 meters) of legally present livestock in Management Areas B and C if depredation has been confirmed by the Service or an authorized agency and nonlethal options are not reasonably possible; the Service may also authorize lethal take in Management Area C for bears identified as an ongoing threat to human safety, livestock, or other property.
Renewal of Three Information Collections
The Fish and Wildlife Service is renewing three information collections (OMB Control Nos. 1018-0095, 1018-0197, and 1018-0199) without change. The renewals keep current reporting rules in place for experimental populations (including gray wolves and grizzly bears) and the notice states there is no estimated annual non-hour burden cost.
Required Incident Reporting Timeframes
If you report incidents involving experimental population animals, the rule requires specific reporting deadlines: lethal take must be reported within 24 hours, opportunistic or intentional harassment within 7 days, and animals taken into captivity or euthanized within 24 hours (as described for the general experimental population collection).
Colorado Wolf Annual Report Deadline
Colorado Parks and Wildlife must produce an annual report by June 30 each year documenting wolf monitoring and management, including post-release movements, minimum counts or abundance estimates, reproductive success and recruitment, territory use, cause-specific mortalities, and summaries of conflicts and management actions.
Tribal Proposal Requirements for Wolf Removal
Tribes seeking to allow take of gray wolves on Tribal lands for impacts to wild ungulate herds must submit a science-based proposal that includes data on ungulate population objectives and declines, evidence wolves are a major cause, proposed level/duration of wolf removal, measurement plans, and documentation of other measures attempted, and the proposal must undergo public and peer review with at least three independent peer reviewers.
Grizzly Bear Reporting Deadlines and Nonlethal Reporting
Under the grizzly bear collection, lethal take must be reported within 24 hours and nonlethal take that results in injury must be reported within 5 days; the collection also requires reporting of recovered or dead specimens and specimen collection information.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden Hours
The notice lists estimated annual burden for each collection: the general experimental population collection shows a total of 105 annual responses and 55 total annual burden hours; the Colorado gray wolf collection shows 24 annual responses and 24 total annual burden hours; the grizzly bear collection shows 15 annual responses and 15 total annual burden hours.
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