[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51088-51089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17063]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability of a Proposed Amendment to Environmental
Defense, Inc.'s Safe Harbor Agreement
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and 30-day public comment period.
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SUMMARY: Environmental Defense, Inc. (ED) has submitted to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) a request to amend their Safe
Harbor Agreement (SHA) and associated Endangered Species Act (Act)
Section 10(a)(1)(A) Safe Harbor Enhancement of Survival permit (Permit)
for habitat restoration activities on private lands for the endangered
Black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) (BCVI) and Golden-cheeked
warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) (GCWA) in the Hill Country of Texas to
include twelve additional counties, along with amending language in
Attachment 2 of their SHA. The amendment would allow the Safe Harbor
program to expand onto additional private lands in Texas, thus
furthering the conservation of BCVIs and GCWAs.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received on or
before September 28, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application may obtain copies
by calling or faxing a request to the Service at the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Austin Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin,
Texas 78758, (512/490-0057 voice, 512/490-0974 fax). The amendment
request will also be available for public inspection, by appointment,
during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at the Fish and
Wildlife Service Austin Office. During the 30-day public comment
period, written comments or data should be submitted to the Field
Supervisor at the above address. Please refer to the amendment to ED's
SHA in the Texas Hill Country (TE-024875-1). All comments received,
including names and addresses, will become a part of the official
administrative record and may be made available to the public.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina Williams at the Fish and
Wildlife Service Austin Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin,
Texas 78758, (512/490-0057 voice, 512/490-0974 fax).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to the 25 counties covered under
their current permit, habitat enhancement activities could now occur in
any or all of the following additional counties: Bexar, Callahan, Coke,
Concho, Hamilton, Hood, Kinney, McLennan, Palo Pinto, Runnels, Taylor,
and Tom Green. Habitat enhancement activities could include, but are
not limited to, prescribed burning, selective Ashe juniper thinning,
rotational grazing, cowbird trapping, and hardwood regeneration.
[[Page 51089]]
Currently, ED is prevented by the terms and conditions of their
original SHA from enrolling non-habitat within 300 feet of GCWA
habitat, which would create and maintain a strip of non-habitat between
two patches of habitat. Therefore, ED is requesting that language in
Attachment 2 of the SHA be amended to allow for the creation of habitat
for BCVIs or GCWAs within 300 feet of GCWA habitat, so long as no
alteration of existing habitat occurs.
BCVI and GCWA were listed as endangered in November 1987 and May
1990, respectively. The BCVI and GCWA are migratory songbirds that
occupy breeding habitat in Texas from about March 1-August 31. The BCVI
requires an early successional stage, patchy island habitat of wooded
areas with shrubs up to about 6 feet tall surrounded by grasslands.
GCWA habitat is mixed closed canopy woodland of mature Ashe juniper and
oaks.
Approximately 98 percent of the land in Texas is privately owned,
with a substantial majority of existing and restorable BCVI and GCWA
habitat falling into this category. Therefore, the participation of
private landowners in the recovery of these two species is highly
important.
Landowners having currently unoccupied or unsuitable, but
restorable habitat and thus a zero baseline condition for the Safe
Harbor, would be eligible for Certificates of Inclusion. Exceptions to
the zero baseline may also be included for certificates under very
limited circumstances with concurrence from the Service. Upon
completion and maintenance of the habitat improvements for at least
four breeding seasons, the landowners would be permitted to conduct any
otherwise lawful activity on their property, including activities that
result in the partial or total elimination of the restored habitat and
the incidental taking of either of these species as a result of such
habitat elimination (return to baseline).
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended, through its permitting provisions (50 CFR part 17).
The amendment request is available for public review, and subject to
the requirements of the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act, by
any party who submits a written request for a copy of such document
within the comment period to the address specified below (43 CFR part
2).
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 05-17063 Filed 8-26-05; 8:45 am]
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