Jump to main content.

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Eastern New York Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Enhancement of Survival Permit

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


[Federal Register: October 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 195)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 57511-57512]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10oc07-21]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Eastern New York
Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Enhancement of Survival Permit

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability and Receipt of Application; Request for
Comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
has applied to the U.S. 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 (Act), as amended. The requested
permit, which is for a period of 50 years, includes a draft Safe Harbor
Agreement (SHA) for the Karner blue butterfly in portions of Albany,
Saratoga, Schenectady, and Warren Counties, New York.
    A draft Environmental Assessment (EA), pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), is also available for public
review. We are requesting comments on this application.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, SHA, and EA must be
received on or before November 9, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Please address comments to Field Office Supervisor, New York
Field Office, 3817 Luker Road, Cortland, New York 13045; facsimile 607-
753-9699. Please refer to permit TE162713-0 when submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stilwell or Robyn Niver at the
New York Field Office (see ADDRESSES above), telephone 607-753-9334;
facsimile 607-753-9699, or Robyn_Niver@fws.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Document Availability

    Individuals wishing copies of the permit application or the draft
EA, or copies of the full text of the proposed SHA, should contact the
office and personnel listed in the ADDRESSES section. Documents also
will be available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal
business hours at this office (see ADDRESSES).
    We specifically request information, views, and opinions from the
public on the proposed Federal action of issuing a permit. Further, we
solicit information regarding the adequacy of the SHA as measured
against our permit issuance criteria found in 50 CFR 17.22(c).
    Before including your address, telephone number, electronic mail
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be
advised that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal
identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do
so.

Background

    TNC has applied to the Service for a section 10(a)(1)(A) ESP for
the endangered Karner blue butterfly in portions of 4 eastern New York
counties (Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Warren) for a period of 50
years.
    TNC plans to implement a programmatic SHA program on non-Federal
and non-TNC lands in eastern New York to promote the recovery of the
Karner blue butterfly on enrolled private lands located in the counties
listed above. The conservation measures will improve and maintain pitch
pine scrub oak barrens oak-pine savannahs, and tall grass prairie
openings through mowing, tree clearing, and grubbing, removal of
debris, prescribed burning, limited use of herbicides, and planting
seeds or seedlings by hand or mechanical equipment. TNC may also employ
captive-rearing and translocation methods to enhance butterfly
colonization of sites. Due to the programmatic nature of the SHA,
baseline conditions will be determined at the time of enrollment.
Baseline conditions for most properties are anticipated to be zero.
Where properties are determination to have an environmental baseline
greater than zero, these areas shall be described in the cooperative
agreement between TNC and the property owner, with detailed
descriptions and maps showing the locations of existing habitat
attached to the cooperative agreement.
    Under an SHA, a participating property owner voluntarily undertakes
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 subject 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.

[[Page 57512]]

    The draft EA considers the environmental consequences of three
alternatives, including a no-action alternative, the proposed action,
and an alternative involving individual SHAs with the Service.

Decision

    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 permit application, the proposed SHA, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of section 10(a) of the Action and NEPA regulations. If
the requirements are met, we will sign the proposed SHA and issue an
enhancement of survival permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to
TNC for take of Karner blue butterfly incidental to otherwise lawful
activities of the project. We will not make a final decision until
after the end of the 30-day comment period and will fully consider all
comments received during the comment period.

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).

    Dated: August 24, 2007.
Thomas J. Healy,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5.
[FR Doc. E7-19882 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

 
 

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.