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Proposed Programmatic Statewide Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Agreement, Florida
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 15)]
[Notices]
[Page 3882-3883]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24ja06-112]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Proposed Programmatic Statewide Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe
Harbor Agreement, Florida
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of permit application.
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SUMMARY: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWC or
Applicant) has applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for
an enhancement of survival permit (ESP) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A)
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.). The ESP application includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement
(Agreement) for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, (Picoides
borealis) (RCW), for a period of 99 years. If approved, the Agreement
would allow the Applicant to issue Certificates of Inclusion (CI)
throughout the State of Florida to eligible non-Federal landowners that
complete an approved Safe Harbor Management Agreement (SHMA).
We announce the opening of a 30-day comment period and request
comments from the public on the Applicant's ESP application; the
accompanying proposed Agreement, and the supporting Environmental
Action Statement (EAS) Screening Form. All comments received, including
names and addresses, will become part of the official administrative
record and may be made available to the public, subject to the
requirements of the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act. For
further information and instructions on reviewing and commenting on
this application, see the ADDRESSES section, below.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before February 23, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the information available by
contacting the Service's Regional Safe Harbor Coordinator, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,
Georgia 30345, or Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Ecological Services Field Office, 1601 Balboa Avenue, Panama City,
Florida 32405. Alternatively, you may set up an appointment to view
these documents at either location during normal business hours.
Written data or comments should be submitted to the Atlanta, Georgia,
Regional Office. Requests for the documentation must be in writing to
be processed, and comments must be in writing to be considered. When
you are requesting or reviewing the information provided in this
notice, please reference ``Proposed Programmatic Statewide Red-cockaded
Woodpecker Safe Harbor Agreement, Florida'' in any correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Gooch, Regional Safe
Harbor Program Coordinator at the Service's Southeast Regional Office
(see ADDRESSES above), telephone (404) 679-7124; or Mr. Stan Simpkins,
Ecologist, Panama City Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES
above), telephone (850) 769-0552.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Primary threats to the RCW throughout its
range all have the same basic cause: lack of suitable habitat. To help
address this threat, the Service has previously entered into
programmatic Safe Harbor Agreements in Georgia, Louisiana, and South
Carolina. These previous agreements are similar to the Agreement that
is being proposed by FFWC.
Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, participating property owners
voluntarily undertake management activities on their property to
enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under
the Act. Safe Harbor Agreements encourage private and other non-Federal
property owners to implement conservation efforts for listed species by
assuring property owners they will not be subjected to increased
property use restrictions if their efforts attract listed species to
their property or increase the numbers or distribution of listed
species already on their property. Application requirements and
issuance criteria for ESPs through Safe Harbor Agreements are found in
50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
The FFWCs proposed state-wide Agreement is designed to encourage
voluntary RCW habitat restoration or enhancement activities by
relieving a landowner who enters into a landowner-specific agreement
(the SHMA) from any additional responsibility under the Act beyond that
which exists at the time he or she enters into the program. The SHMA
will identify any existing RCWs and any associated habitat (the
baseline) and will describe the actions that the landowner commits to
take (e.g., hardwood midstory removal, cavity provisioning, prescribed
burning, etc.) or will allow to be taken to improve RCW habitat on the
property, and the time period within which those actions are to be
taken and maintained. A participating landowner must maintain the
baseline on his/her property (i.e., any existing RCW groups and/or
associated habitat), but may be allowed the opportunity to incidentally
take RCWs at some point in the future if above baseline RCWs are
attracted to that site by the proactive management measures undertaken
by the landowner. It is important to note that the Agreement does not
envision, nor will it authorize, incidental take of any pre-SHMA
existing RCW group with one exception. This exception is incidental
take related to a baseline shift; in this circumstance the baseline
will be maintained but redrawn or shifted on that landowner's property.
Among the minimization measures proposed by the Applicant are no
incidental take of RCWs during the breeding season, consolidation of
small, isolated RCW populations at sites capable of supporting a viable
RCW population, and measures to improve current and potential habitat
for the species. Further details on the topics described above are found
in the aforementioned documents available for review under this notice.
The geographic scope of the Applicant's Agreement is the entire
State of Florida, but the Agreement would only authorize the future
incidental take of above-baseline RCW groups on lands for which a CI
has been issued. Lands potentially eligible for inclusion include all
privately owned lands and public lands owned by cities, counties, and
municipalities, with potentially suitable RCW habitat in Florida.
[[Page 3883]]
The agreement is expected to attract sufficient interest among
Florida landowners to generate substantial conservation benefits to the
RCW on a landscape scale. FFWCs agreement was developed in an adaptive
management framework to allow changes in the program based on new
scientific information including, but not limited to, biological needs
and management actions proven to benefit the species or its habitat.
We have made a preliminary determination that issuance of the ESP
will not result in significant environmental, economic, social,
historical, cultural impacts and is therefore, categorically excluded
from review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969,
as amended pursuant to 516 Department Manual 2, Appendix 1 and 516
Department Manual 6 Appendix 1. In addition, we have evaluated the
proposed ESP under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act and have concluded that this Agreement will not affect cultural
resources on or eligible for, the National Historic Register of
Historic Places. We base our conclusions on our review of the process
for protection and consideration of cultural resources included in the
associated Agreement as well as the scope of the voluntary management
actions identified in the Agreement. We have consulted with the Florida
State Historic Preservation Officer and have received concurrence with
our conclusion. We have also consulted with the appropriate Tribal
Preservation Officers.
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and
pursuant to implementing regulations for NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6). We will
evaluate the proposed Agreement, associated documents, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether the requirements of section
10(a) of the Act and NEPA have been met. If we determine that the
requirements are met, we will issue an ESP under section 10(a)(1)(A) of
the Act to the Applicant in accordance with the terms of the Agreement
and specific terms and conditions of the authorizing ESP. We will not
make our final decision until after the end of the 30-day comment period
and will fully consider all comments received during the comment period.
Dated: December 28, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. E6-797 Filed 1-23-06; 8:45 am]
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