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Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for a Timber Harvest Operation by Red Oak Timber Company in Vernon Parish, Louisiana
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Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of a
[Federal Register: July 13, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 134)] [Notices]
[Page 36155-36156]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for a Timber Harvest Operation by Red Oak Timber Company in Vernon Parish, Louisiana
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Management Authority (Applicant) is seeking an incidental take permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. The permit would authorize the take of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a threatened species, in Perry County, Mississippi for a period of 20 years. The proposed taking is incidental to the construction and operation of a solid waste landfill within a 340-acre tract located approximately 2 miles north of Runnelstown in Sections 8 and 9, Township 5 North, Range 11 West.
The Service also announces the availability of an environmental assessment (EA) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the incidental take application. The Service prepared the EA and the HCP was developed by the Applicant. Copies of the EA and HCP may be obtained by making a request to the Regional Office address below. This notice is provided pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).DATES: Written comments on the permit application, EA, and HCP should be received on or before August 14, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia. Requests must be in writing to be processed. Documents will also be available for public inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Regional Office, or the Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office.
[[Page 36156]]
Written data or comments concerning the application, EA, or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. Please reference permit under PRT- 804406 in such comments.Regional Permit Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345, (telephone 404/ 679-7110, fax 404/679-7280)
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi 39213, (telephone 601/965-4900, fax 601/ 965-4340)FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Will MacDearman at the Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office, or Rick G. Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Office.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, is listed as a threatened species in the western part of its range, from the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers in Alabama west to southeastern Louisiana. As a native burrowing species of the fire-maintained longleaf pine ecosystem, typical gopher tortoise habitat consists of frequently burned longleaf pine or longleaf pine/scrub oak uplands on moderately well-drained to xeric soils. About 80 percent of the original habitat for gopher tortoises has been lost due to urbanization and agriculture. Certain forest management practices in remaining upland pine habitats have also adversely affected the gopher tortoise. Silvicultural systems using intensive site preparation, dense plantations and stands of loblolly pine or slash pine, and infrequent fire have reduced or eliminated the open forest and sunny forest floor of grasses and forbs where gopher tortoises burrow, nest, and feed. Though gopher tortoises are widely distributed in south Mississippi, most populations are fragmented, small in size, and functionally nonviable.
Section 9 of the Act, and implementing regulations, prohibits taking the gopher tortoise. Taking, in part, is defined as an activity that kills, injures, harms, or harasses a listed endangered or threatened species. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provides an exemption, under certain circumstances, to the Section 9 prohibition if the taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of otherwise lawful activities.
Gopher tortoise surveys conducted by the Applicant have identified at least one tortoise and six other burrows in the landfill operations area. Two of these burrows exhibited signs of recent gopher tortoise use within the past year. This area will consist of four waste disposal cells and sites for the excavation and stocking of soil to be used to cover solid wastes. Tortoises within this area would be expected to be taken as an incidental consequence of landfill construction and operation. Heavy equipment operations can directly kill or injure tortoises as a result of their becoming crushed or entombed in burrows. The HCP describes measures the Applicant will take to avoid and mitigate such taking. Prior to landfill construction, the Applicant will survey the operations area to identify, trap, and relocate gopher tortoises to an adjacent site designated as a permanent gopher tortoise habitat conservation area. The conservation area, owned by the Applicant, consists predominately of suitable habitat, a longleaf pine/ blackjack oak upland, that is partially occupied by other gopher tortoises. The Applicant will manage the conservation area using a program of prescribed fire and tree thinning to maintain and improve habitat conditions for the gopher tortoise. Without such active management, particularly the use of prescribed fire, gopher tortoise habitat would deteriorate as a natural consequence of ecological succession.
Also, a temporary conservation area will be managed using the same methods as in the permanent conservation area. About one-half of the temporary area contains solid waste cells that are forecast to be used about 20 years from now. No tortoises currently occupy this portion, though habitat is suitable. The remaining portion of the temporary area, which is occupied by tortoises, may be used within 5-10 years to provide soil for waste overfill. Tortoises in this remaining portion will be relocated to the permanent conservation area prior to landfill operations.
The EA considers the environmental consequences of two alternatives; issue the requested permit as conditioned by the HCP, or take no action (deny permit). The Service has made a preliminary determination that the Applicant has satisfactorily complied with the statutory and regulatory criteria for permit issuance. The Service's proposed alternative is to issue the requested incidental take permit. The principal environmental consequence of permit issuance, in the Service's assessment, is to the gopher tortoise. Permits authorizing the disposal and management of solid wastes at the landfill are otherwise administered according to Federal and State statutory/ regulatory standards by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and the Mississippi Permit Board.Dated: July 6, 1995.
Noreen K. Clough,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-17162 Filed 7-12-95; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-55-P