SANDPOINT - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is extending the comment period and conducting public hearings on its proposal to amend the Endangered Species Act listing of woodland caribou in the southern Selkirk Mountains.

The agency proposes to down-list the population from endangered to threatened and redraw the bounds of its distinct population segment.

The hearings are set for June 25 and June 26 in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, respectively. Both events have informational meetings from 2-5 p.m. and speaker registration at 5:30 p.m.

Both hearings start at 6 p.m.

The Sandpoint hearing is being held at the Bonner County Administration Building at the corner of U.S. Highway 2 and Division Avenue. The Bonners Ferry hearing is being held at the Bonners Ferry High School auditorium, 6485 Tamarack Lane.

The comment period on the amended listing has been extended to Aug. 6.

The down-listing and DPS designation are the outcome of a petition to de-list the southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou and a request to amend the current listing of the population.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, on behalf of Bonner County and the Idaho State Snowmobile Association, petitioned for de-listing in 2012. The group argued that the southern Selkirk herd did not meet the definition of a distinct population segment.

Fish and Wildlife responded to the petition proposing a DPS that includes a broader range of mountain caribou extending into Canada's British Columbia.

The proposed DPS is composed of 1,600 caribou spread across 15 populations, which includes an 18-animal transboundary species that moves between B.C., North Idaho and northeastern Washington.