(3)
Definitions. Key terms used in this rule have the following definitions:
Active den means a den or a specific site above or below ground that is used by Mexican wolves on a daily basis to bear and raise pups, typically between approximately April 1 and July 31. More than one den site may be used in a single season.
Cross-foster means the removal of offspring from their biological parents and placement with surrogate parents.
Depredation means the confirmed killing or wounding of lawfully present domestic animals by one or more Mexican wolves. The Service, Wildlife Services, or other Service-designated agencies will confirm cases of wolf depredation on lawfully present domestic animals. Cattle trespassing on Federal lands are not considered lawfully present domestic animals.
Designated agency means a Federal, State, or tribal agency designated by the Service to assist in implementing this rule, all or in part, consistent with a Service-approved management plan, special management measure, conference opinion pursuant to section 7(a)(4) of the Act, section 6 of the Act as described in § 17.31 for State game and fish agencies with authority to manage Mexican wolves, or a valid permit issued by the Service through § 17.32.
Disturbance-causing land-use activity means any activity on Federal lands within a 1-mi (1.6-km) radius around release pens when Mexican wolves are in them, around active dens between April 1 and July 31, and around active Mexican wolf rendezvous sites between June 1 and September 30, which the Service determines could adversely affect reproductive success, natural behavior, or persistence of Mexican wolves. Such activities may include, but are not limited to, timber or wood harvesting, prescribed fire, mining or mine development, camping outside designated campgrounds, livestock husbandry activities (e.g., livestock drives, roundups, branding, vaccinating, etc.), off-road vehicle use, hunting, and any other use or activity with the potential to disturb wolves. The following activities are specifically excluded from this definition:
(A) Lawfully present livestock and use of water sources by livestock;
(B) Livestock drives if no reasonable alternative route or timing exists;
(C) Vehicle access over established roads to non-Federal land where legally permitted activities are ongoing if no reasonable alternative route exists;
(D) Use of lands within the National Park or National Wildlife Refuge Systems as safety buffer zones for military activities and Department of Homeland Security border security activities;
(E) Fire-fighting activities associated with wildfires; and
(F) Any authorized, specific land use that was active and ongoing at the time Mexican wolves chose to locate a den or rendezvous site nearby.
Domestic animal means livestock as defined in this paragraph (k)(3) and non-feral dogs.
Federal land means land owned and under the administration of Federal agencies including, but not limited to, the Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Energy, or Department of Defense.
Feral dog means any dog (Canis familiaris) or wolf-dog hybrid that, because of absence of physical restraint or conspicuous means of identifying it at a distance as non-feral, is reasonably thought to range freely without discernible, proximate control by any person. Feral dogs do not include domestic dogs that are penned, leashed, or otherwise restrained (e.g., by shock collar) or which are working livestock or being lawfully used to trail or locate wildlife.
Harass means intentional or negligent actions or omissions that create the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns, which include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.
In the act of biting, killing, or wounding means grasping, biting, wounding, or feeding upon a live domestic animal on non-Federal land or live livestock on Federal land. The term does not include feeding on an animal carcass.
Initial release means the release of Mexican wolves to the wild within Zone 1, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3), or in accordance with tribal or private land agreements in Zone 2, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3), that have never been in the wild, or releasing pups that have never been in the wild and are less than 5 months old within Zones 1 or 2. The initial release of pups less than 5 months old into Zone 2 allows for the cross-fostering of pups from the captive population into the wild, as well as enables translocation-eligible adults to be re-released in Zone 2 with pups born in captivity.
Intentional harassment means deliberate, preplanned harassment of Mexican wolves, including by less-than-lethal means (such as 12-gauge shotgun rubber-bullets and bean-bag shells) designed to cause physical discomfort and temporary physical injury, but not death. Intentional harassment includes situations where the Mexican wolf or wolves may have been unintentionally attracted - or intentionally tracked, waited for, chased, or searched out - and then harassed. Intentional harassment of Mexican wolves is only allowed under a permit issued by the Service or its designated agency.
Livestock means domestic alpacas, bison, burros (donkeys), cattle, goats, horses, llamas, mules, and sheep, or other domestic animals defined as livestock in Service-approved State and tribal Mexican wolf management plans. Poultry is not considered livestock under this rule.
Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) means an area in Arizona and New Mexico including Zones 1, 2, and 3, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3), that lies south of Interstate Highway 40 to the international border with Mexico.
Non-Federal land means any private, State-owned, or tribal trust land.
Occupied Mexican wolf range means an area of confirmed presence of Mexican wolves based on the most recent map of occupied range posted on the Service's Mexican Wolf Recovery Program Web site at . Specific to the prohibitions at paragraphs (k)(5)(iii) and (k)(5)(vii)(D) of this section, Zone 3, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3), and tribal trust lands are not considered occupied range.
Opportunistic harassment means scaring any Mexican wolf from the immediate area by taking actions such as discharging firearms or other projectile-launching devices in proximity to, but not in the direction of, the wolf, throwing objects at it, or making loud noise in proximity to it. Such harassment might cause temporary, non-debilitating physical injury, but is not reasonably anticipated to cause permanent physical injury or death. Opportunistic harassment of Mexican wolves can occur without a permit issued by the Service or its designated agency.
Problem wolves mean Mexican wolves that, for purposes of management and control by the Service or its designated agent(s), are:
(A) Individuals or members of a group or pack (including adults, yearlings, and pups greater than 4 months of age) that were involved in a depredation on lawfully present domestic animals;
(B) Habituated to humans, human residences, or other facilities regularly occupied by humans; or
(C) Aggressive when unprovoked toward humans.
Rendezvous site means a gathering and activity area regularly used by Mexican wolf pups after they have emerged from the den. Typically, these sites are used for a period ranging from about 1 week to 1 month in the first summer after birth during the period from June 1 to September 30. Several rendezvous sites may be used in succession within a single season.
Service-approved management plan means management plans approved by the Regional Director or Director of the Service through which Federal, State, or tribal agencies may become a designated agency. The management plan must address how Mexican wolves will be managed to achieve conservation goals in compliance with the Act, this experimental population rule, and other Service policies. If a Federal, State, or tribal agency becomes a designated agency through a Service-approved management plan, the Service will help coordinate their activities while retaining authority for program direction, oversight, guidance, and authorization of Mexican wolf removals.
Take means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct ( 16 U.S.C. 1532(19) ).
Translocate means the release of Mexican wolves into the wild that have previously been in the wild. In the MWEPA, translocations will occur only in Zones 1 and 2, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3).
Tribal trust land means any lands title to which is either: Held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual; or held by any Indian tribe or individual subject to restrictions by the United States against alienation. For purposes of this rule, tribal trust land does not include land purchased in fee title by a tribe. We consider fee simple land purchased by tribes to be private land.
Unacceptable impact to a wild ungulate herd will be determined by a State game and fish agency based upon ungulate management goals, or a 15 percent decline in an ungulate herd as documented by a State game and fish agency, using their preferred methodology, based on the preponderance of evidence from bull to cow ratios, cow to calf ratios, hunter days, and/or elk population estimates.
Unintentional take means the take of a Mexican wolf by any person if the take is unintentional and occurs while engaging in an otherwise lawful activity, occurs despite the use of due care, is coincidental to an otherwise lawful activity, and is not done on purpose. Taking a Mexican wolf by poisoning or shooting will not be considered unintentional take.
Wild ungulate herd means an assemblage of wild ungulates (bighorn sheep, bison, deer, elk, or pronghorn) living in a given area.
Wildlife Services means the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services.
Wounded means exhibiting scraped or torn hide or flesh, bleeding, or other evidence of physical damage caused by a Mexican wolf bite.
Zone 1 means an area within the MWEPA in Arizona and New Mexico into which Mexican wolves will be allowed to naturally disperse and occupy and where Mexican wolves may be initially released from captivity or translocated. Zone 1 includes all of the Apache, Gila, and Sitgreaves National Forests; the Payson, Pleasant Valley, and Tonto Basin Ranger Districts of the Tonto National Forest; and the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest.
Zone 2 is an area within the MWEPA into which Mexican wolves will be allowed to naturally disperse and occupy, and where Mexican wolves may be translocated.
(A) On Federal land in Zone 2, initial releases of Mexican wolves are limited to pups less than 5 months old, which allows for the cross-fostering of pups from the captive population into the wild, as well as enables translocation-eligible adults to be re-released with pups born in captivity. On private and tribal land in Zone 2, Mexican wolves of any age, including adults, can also be initially released under a Service- and State-approved management agreement with private landowners or a Service-approved management agreement with tribal agencies.
(B) The northern boundary of Zone 2 is Interstate Highway 40; the western boundary extends south from Interstate Highway 40 and follows Arizona State Highway 93, Arizona State Highway 89/60, Interstate Highway 10, and Interstate Highway 19 to the United States-Mexico international border; the southern boundary is the United States-Mexico international border heading east, then follows New Mexico State Highway 81/146 north to Interstate Highway 10, then along New Mexico State Highway 26 to Interstate Highway 25; the boundary continues along New Mexico State Highway 70/54/506/24; the eastern boundary follows the eastern edge of Otero County, New Mexico, to the north and then along the southern and then eastern edge of Lincoln County, New Mexico, until it intersects with New Mexico State Hwy 285 and follows New Mexico State Highway 285 north to the northern boundary of Interstate Highway 40. Zone 2 excludes the area in Zone 1, as defined in this paragraph (k)(3).
Zone 3 means an area within the MWEPA into which Mexican wolves will be allowed to disperse and occupy, but neither initial releases nor translocations will occur there.
(A) Zone 3 is an area of less suitable Mexican wolf habitat where Mexican wolves will be more actively managed under the authorities of this rule to reduce human conflict. We expect Mexican wolves to occupy areas of suitable habitat where ungulate populations are adequate to support them and conflict with humans and their livestock is low. If Mexican wolves move outside of areas of suitable habitat, they will be more actively managed.
(B) Zone 3 is two separate geographic areas on the eastern and western sides of the MWEPA. One area of Zone 3 is in western Arizona, and the other is in eastern New Mexico. In Arizona, the northern boundary of Zone 3 is Interstate Highway 40; the eastern boundary extends south from Interstate Highway 40 and follows State Highway 93, State Highway 89/60, Interstate Highway 10, and Interstate Highway 19 to the United States-Mexico international border; the southern boundary is the United States-Mexico international border; the western boundary is the Arizona-California State border. In New Mexico, the northern boundary of Zone 3 is Interstate Highway 40; the eastern boundary is the New Mexico-Texas State border; the southern boundary is the United States-Mexico international border heading west, then follows State Highway 81/146 north to Interstate Highway 10, then along State Highway 26 to Interstate Highway 25, the southern boundary continues along State Highway 70/54/506/24; the western boundary follows the eastern edge of Otero County to the north and then along the southern and then eastern edge of Lincoln County until it follows State Highway 285 north to the northern boundary of Interstate Highway 40.