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Safe Harbor Agreement and Receipt of Application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit Associated With the Restoration of Habitat for Utah Prairie Dogs on Private Land in Piute County, UT

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: February 27, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 38)]
[Notices]
[Page 8765-8766]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe07-109]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Safe Harbor Agreement and Receipt of Application for an
Enhancement of Survival Permit Associated With the Restoration of
Habitat for Utah Prairie Dogs on Private Land in Piute County, UT

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Mr. Verl Bagley (Applicant/Cooperator) has applied to the Fish
and Wildlife Service (Service) for an Enhancement of Survival Permit
(ESP) for the Utah prairie dog (UPD) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This permit
application includes a Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) between the
Applicant and the Service. The Service requests information, views, and
opinions from the public via this notice. Further, the Service is
soliciting information regarding the adequacy of the SHA as measured
against the Service's Safe Harbor Policy and the regulations that
implement it.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application must be received on
or before March 29, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the SHA and the ESP application
may obtain a copy by writing the Service's Mountain-Prairie Regional
Office, Denver, Colorado. Documents also will be available for public
inspection during normal business hours at the Regional Office, 134
Union Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80228-1807, or the Utah Field Office,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2369 West Orton Circle, Suite 50, West
Valley City, Utah 84119. Written data or comments concerning the SHA or
ESP application should be submitted to the Regional office and must be
in writing to be processed. Comments must be submitted in writing to be
adequately considered in the Service's decision-making process. Please
reference permit number TE131544-0 in your comments, or in the request
for the documents discussed herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Mehlhop, Regional Safe Harbor
Coordinator (see Denver address above), telephone 303-236-4215, or
Larry Crist, Utah Field Office Supervisor (see West Valley City address
above), telephone 801-975-3330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The UPD is the westernmost member of the
genus Cynomys. The species' range, which is limited to the southwestern
quarter of Utah, is the most restricted of all prairie dog species in
the United States. Distribution of the UPD has been greatly reduced due
to disease (plague), poisoning, drought, and human-related habitat
alteration. Protection of this species and enhancement of its habitat
on private land will benefit recovery efforts.
    The primary objective of a SHA is to encourage voluntary
conservation measures to benefit the species and the landowner. Through
this agreement, the

[[Page 8766]]

landowner will receive relief from any additional section 9 liability
under the Act beyond that which exists at the time the agreement is
signed (``regulatory baseline''). The property is currently maintained
as fallow land, native rangeland, and irrigated pastureland and is
bordered by other private lands and Federal lands owned by the Bureau
of Land Management. At the present time, the property supports several
active prairie dog burrows that comprise a small colony. Several
unoccupied burrows also occur on the property. Foraging habitat and
habitat that offers visual surveillance for the prairie dogs will be
further enhanced by implementing a prescribed grazing plan, seeding to
improve the forage quality for UPD, and installing irrigation
improvements. Additionally, reintroduction of UPDs will occur on the
property once the vegetation conditions have improved.
    Habitat improvements will be occurring throughout the term of the
agreement through managed grazing. The Cooperator will receive an ESP
that authorizes implementation of the conservation actions and other
provisions of this Agreement and authorizes incidental take of the
covered species above the Cooperator's baseline responsibilities, as
defined in SHA. The proposed SHA would become effective upon signature
of the SHA and issuance of the permit, and would remain in effect for
15 years. The requested permit would remain in effect for 35 years. We
have made the determination that the proposed activities described in
the application and SHA will increase available prairie dog habitat and
will potentially expand an existing active colony and allow successful
establishment of a reintroduced colony of Utah prairie dogs on the
Bagley property. The action is categorically excluded under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This notice is provided
pursuant to section 10 of the Act, and the Service's Safe Harbor Policy
(64 FR 32717).
    The Service has evaluated the impacts of this action under the NEPA
and determined that it warrants categorical exclusion as described in
516 DM 8, 8.5 C. (1). The Service will evaluate whether the issuance of
the ESP complies with section 7 of the Act by conducting an intra-
Service section 7 consultation on the issuance of the permit. The
result of the biological opinion, in combination with the above finding
and any public comments, will be used in the final analysis to
determine whether or not to issue the requested ESP, pursuant to the
regulation that guide issuance of the type of permit.

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: January 11, 2007.
James J. Slack,
Deputy Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. E7-3360 Filed 2-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

 
 

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