N.C. WILDLIFE RESOURCES COMMISSION

RALEIGH — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will hold a public hearing to receive comments on proposed temporary rules regarding coyote hunting in the five-county red wolf reintroduction area in northeastern North Carolina.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 19 in the auditorium of Columbia High School, located at 902 East Main Street, Columbia, in Tyrrell County.

The comment period is June 2-23. Comments can be emailed to regulations@ncwildlife.org or mailed to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, 1701 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1701. For more information on Wildlife Commission temporary rulemaking, go to http://www.ncwildlife.org/ProposedRegulations.aspx.

The temporary rules will fulfill the requirements of a recent federal court order that prohibits taking of coyotes in Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Beaufort and Washington counties, day or night, except under extremely limited circumstances. The prohibition is already in effect.

The court order stems from a lawsuit in which the Wildlife Commission is alleged to have violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing coyote hunting in those counties where an experimental reintroduction of the red wolf is occurring. The Wildlife Commission has requested an immediate programmatic evaluation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to examine the feasibility of accomplishing the goals of its nonessential experimental red wolf reintroduction.