Comment on FR Doc # 2011-09836

On behalf of the IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG), I write to express support for the revision of your regulation, 50 CFR 17.11(h), by removing the Morelet’s Crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) throughout its range from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The CSG has been involved at various levels with the development of the COPAN Project, through regional CSG members actively involved in aspects of the program, and through formal review of documents, including Mexico’s recent proposal to CITES (March 2010). Of significance, the 15th Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP15) agreed unanimously to the transfer to Appendix II, to the transfer of the Morelet’s Crocodile in Mexico and Belize to CITES Appendix II with a zero quota for wild specimens for commercial purposes, based on the scientific evidence presented in Mexico’s proposal. The implementation of a monitoring program is well recognised by C. moreletii Range States, and a Manual for Monitoring Wild Populations of Morelet’s Crocodile (MEX-GUAT-BEL) has been developed by Mexico, with input from the CSG. The final version of this manual was endorsed at an international workshop held in February 2010, at which all Range States and the CSG participated. The manual will not only assist the Range States for C. moreletii, but will serve as a useful tool for other countries in the region. The CSG was pleased to hear that agreements between the four institutions involved in the monitoring program will soon be signed, and that the monitoring results will be available by the end of the year. The agreements will commit the institutions to regular monitoring, through which population trends and changes in size structure of the population can be quantified over time. The CSG agrees fully with the coordinated and collaborative approach taken by the Mexican authorities with respect to the ongoing management of C. moreletti in the region. The C