Safe Harbor Agreement

West Gary (Karner Blue Butterfly) Recovery Unit Safe Harbor Agreement - Final

Below is a summary of the Safe Harbor Agreement. Click here to download the complete West Gary (Karner Blue Butterfly) Recovery Unit Safe Harbor Agreement - Final (15-page PDF)

 

Photo by USFWS; Joel Trick

This Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) is entered into between The Nature Conservancy (the "Conservancy") and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (the "Service"); hereinafter collectively called the "Parties." The purpose of this Agreement is to enable The Nature Conservancy to work with private landowners to restore and manage Karner blue butterfly (Kbb) habitat in the West Gary Recovery Unit (as identified in the Kbb Recovery Plan), with the ultimate goal of contributing to a viable metapopulation in this recovery unit. This Agreement follows the Service's Safe Harbor Agreement policy (64 FR 32717) and regulations (64 FR 32706), both of which implement section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This Safe Harbor Agreement meets the Service standard of producing a net conservation benefit for the Kamer blue butterfly.

 

Safe Harbor Agreements are voluntary arrangements between the Service and cooperating non-Federal landowners. This policy's main purpose is to promote voluntary management for endangered and threatened species on non-Federal property while giving assurances to participating landowners that no additional future regulatory restrictions will be imposed. In return for the participants' efforts, the Service will authorize incidental take through the section 10(a)(1)(A) process of ESA. This permit
allows participants to take individual listed plants or animals or modify habitat to return populations and habitat conditions to those agreed upon as baseline. The final SHA policy and associated re ulations were published in the Federal Register on June 17, 1999.

 

Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreements authorize individual States, local governments, or nongovernmental conservation organizations to implement Safe Harbor Programs. The Service providesa permit to the agency or organization, which can then offer individual landowners authorizations througha "certificate of inclusion." Through this SHA, the Conservancy will receive an "umbrella" permit to cover individual private and non-Federal lands that are voluntarily enrolled in the West Gary Recovery Unit Safe Harbor Program.

 

Above is a summary of the Safe Harbor Agreement. Click here to download the complete West Gary (Karner Blue Butterfly) Recovery Unit Safe Harbor Agreement - Final (15-page PDF)

 

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Last updated: October 24, 2012