Frequently Asked Questions About
Critical Habitat & the Zayante Band-winged Grasshopper
Q. What is the Zayante band-winged grasshopper?
The Zayante band-winged grasshopper (Trimerotropis infantilis) is a small pale grey grasshopper with dark crossbands on the forewing, pale yellow hindwings, and blue lower legs. Adult grasshoppers are generally active between May and October. When flushed, individuals generally fly three to seven feet and produce a buzzing sound with their wings. The species is currently found only in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Zayante sand hills habitat, a unique mosaic of northern maritime chaparral and coastal maritime ponderosa pine forests. Within the Zayante sand hills habitat, the grasshopper most commonly occupies areas with widely scattered trees and shrubs, bare or sparsely vegetated ground, and loose sand. Over 40 percent of Zayante sand hills habitat is estimated to have been lost to, or altered by, human activities including sand mining, urban development and recreation. Because of the significant threats to the Zayante band-winged grasshopper as a result of habitat loss, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) designated the species as endangered on January 24, 1997.
The Service is designating 10,560 acres as
critical habitat between Highway 9 and 17 in the vicinity of the
communities of Mount Hermon, Felton, Ben Lomond, Zayante, and
Scotts Valley. Not all the areas within these broad boundaries
contain the physical and biological features necessary for the
species' survival. For example, roads, buildings, and other
developed areas do not contain these features, these areas have
not been designated as critical habitat. Federal agencies are
required to consult with the Service on any action they undertake
that may affect either directly or indirectly, the critical
habitat essential to the survival of the grasshopper. The
proposal includes 610 acres owned by the State of California or
local governments. The Service is not proposing critical habitat
on non-federal lands already covered by existing Habitat
Conservation Plans with executed implementation agreements.
Critical habitat is defined as specific occupied and unoccupied areas that have been found to be essential to the conservation of a federally listed species and that may require special management considerations or
protection. Critical habitat is identified using
the best available scientific and commercial information about
the physical and biological needs of the species. These needs
include:
space for individual and population growth, and for normal behavior
food, water, light, air, minerals or other nutritional or physiological needs
cover or shelter
sites for breeding, reproduction, and rearing of offspring
habitat that is protected from disturbance or is
representative of the historical geographic and ecological
distribution of a species.
Q. How does a listed species benefit from the designation of critical habitat?
Critical habitat designation can help focus conservation activities for a listed species by identifying areas that have essential critical habitat features. Critical habitat designation raises public awareness of the importance of particular areas to the conservation of a species. Within critical habitat boundaries, listed plants and animals receive the same protection as species outside the boundaries.
In addition to its informational role, the designation of
critical habitat may provide protection where significant threats
have been identified. The designation of critical habitat
requires Federal agencies to consult with the Service regarding
any action that may affect the listed species or its critical
habitat.
Q. Why is the Zayante band-winged grasshopper important?
The importance of any species can be viewed through its
involvement in the complex and delicate web of interrelationships
among all plants, animals, and their environments. In addition to
having ecological and scientific value, the Zayante band-winged
grasshopper represents one of many species that are only found in
the vanishing specialized Zayante sand hills habitat of the Santa
Cruz mountains, and is a part of our natural heritage. The
Zayante band-winged grasshopper lives in open, sandy areas with
sparse, low annual and perennial herbs on high ridges with sparse
ponderosa pine, where it shares its habitat with the endangered
Ben Lomond wallflower, Ben Lomond spineflower, the Mount Herman
June beetle, and many other plant and animal communities. The
complex web of interrelationships in the natural world is still
relatively unknown and the subject of continuing research. It has
been estimated that the disappearance of even one species in an
ecosystem can cause a chain reaction that can trigger the
extinction of up to 30 other species.
The Zayante sand hills habitat consists of a complex
mosaic of maritime coast range ponderosa pine forest and areas of
northern maritime chaparral. Ponderosa pines occur throughout the
sand hills in low densities, interspersed with knobcone pines,
and in some areas, with the endangered Sant Cruz cypress. The
presence of the latter two species, which require periodic fires
for reproduction, suggest that fire may plan an important role in
the maintenance of the Zayante sand hills habitat. Northern
maritime chaparral
on Zayante soils is dominated by the silver-leafed manzanita, along with an occasional knobcone pine. The Zayante sand hills ecosystem supports a diversity of rare, native plant species, and as a result, the sand hills are considered to be "biological islands," distinctive areas where certain species thrive. A unique habitat within the sand hills is sand parkland, which is characterized by sparsely vegetated, sandstone-dominated ridges and saddles that support a wide array of annual and perennial herbs and grasses.
Does the designation of critical habitat create preserves?
No. The designation of critical habitat does not affect land
ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve,
or other special conservation area. It does not allow government
or public access to private lands, and will not result in closure
of the area to all access or use.
Q. What happens if my private property is designated critical habitat for the Zayante band-winged grasshopper?
Critical habitat does not require landowners to carry out any special management actions or restrict the use of their land, unless the landowner needs a Federal permit, license, or receives Federal funds for a specific activity. However, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits take of listed species without a permit or incidental take statement whether the land is designated as critical habitat or not.
The designation of critical habitat on privately-owned land does not mean the government would like to acquire or control the land. Critical habitat may benefit listed species by helping to identify habitat that is essential to the species, helping direct voluntary conservation actions to these areas, and by making sure Federal activities do not affect the long-term conservation needs of the species.
The Act directs Federal agencies to protect and promote the recovery for federally listed species. Where a listed species or its critical habitat occurs on federal lands, consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service is required when projects or activities may affect the species or its critical habitat. For private and non-Federal landowners, however, consultations come into play only in cases where activities involving the grasshopper or its critical habitat require Federal funding or permitting.
Through this consultation process, the Service can ensure that
permitted actions do not adversely modify critical habitat in
such a way that it no longer can meet the physical and biological
needs of the species. Under non-critical habitat consultations,
we consult with agencies to determine if these actions are likely
to jeopardize a listed species. We believe it is unlikely that a
project which will not jeopardize a listed species will result in
the adverse modification of critical habitat.
Yes. The Service must take into account the economic and other
relevant impacts of identifying any particular area as critical
habitat. We may exclude an area from critical habitat if we
determine that the benefits (economic and otherwise) of excluding
it outweigh the benefits of including it. However, we cannot
exclude an area if it would lead to extinction of a species. This
determination is based on the best scientific, economic, and
commercial information available.
Overall, the economic analysis found that there are no
significant economic impacts resulting from the designation of
critical habitat for the Zayante band-winged grasshopper. The
draft economic analysis was released for public review and
comment on December 7, 2000. The Service based its analysis on
public comments received on the proposed rule, information about
current and future planned land uses, and input from the Service
regarding the impacts of critical habitat on specific projects.
No. Critical habitat has been designated for 135 of the 1, 244
species currently listed as threatened and endangered under the
Act. The Act requires us to identify critical habitat at the time
a species is listed. However, in some cases, designating critical
habitat may be considered "not prudent" if it would
cause harm to the species, such as increasing the possibility of
vandalism or collection. Or we may find that such a designation
is "not determinable" if we don't have enough
information when a species is listed to define areas as critical
habitat.
When we listed the Zayante band-winged grasshopper as an
endangered species, we concluded that designation of critical
habitat for the Zayante band-winged grasshopper was not prudent
because such designation would not benefit the species.
On March 4, 1999, the Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Christians
Caring for Creation filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of
California against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bruce
Babbitt, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, for failure
to designate critical habitat for seven species including the
Zayante band-winged grasshopper. On November 5, 1999, William
Alsup, U.S. District Judge, dismissed the plaintiffs' lawsuit
pursuant to a settlement agreement entered into by the parties.
Publication of this final rule is consistent with that settlement
agreement.
We have determined that designation of critical habitat for the Zayante band-winged grasshopper will help inform both the public and other Federal agencies about its habitat needs, and highlight the areas likely to be the focus of the Service's recovery efforts for the species. The grasshopper is threatened by destruction and degradation of its habitat due to sand mining, urban development, and recreational activities. The species has also declined because of the encroachment of non-native plants in its preferred habitat of sparsely vegetated, sandy areas in ponderosa pine forests.
We considered the existing status of non-federal and private
lands in designating areas as critical habitat. The Service is
authorized to issue permits for the taking of listed species
incidental to otherwise lawful activities. Incidental take permit
applications must be supported by a HCP that identifies
conservation measures that the permit holder agrees to implement
for the species to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the
requested incidental take. Critical habitat has not been
designated for areas where HCPs are in place because these lands
already receive special management considerations and protection
that address the conservation needs of the Zayante band-winged
grasshopper.
We expect that critical habitat may be used as a tool to help
identify areas within the range of the Zayante band-winged
grasshopper that are most critical for the conservation of the
species. Designation of critical habitat should not discourage
development of HCPs for such areas on non-federal lands. We
consider HCPs to be one of the most important methods through
which non-federal landowners can resolve endangered species
conflicts. We will provide technical assistance and work closely
with applicants throughout development of HCPs to help identify
special management considerations and ensure that HCPs provide
protection measures sufficient to address the conservation needs
of the species. Section 4(b)(2) of the Act allows broad
discretion to exclude from critical habitat designation areas
where the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of
inclusion, providing the exclusion will not result in the
extinction of the species.
Federal regulations require agencies to reinitiate
consultation with the Service on previously reviewed actions if
critical habitat is designated after the initial consultation and
if those actions may adversely affect critical habitat. This
applies only if those agencies have retained discretion over the
action, or if such involvement is authorized by law. Federal
agencies must request to reinitiate consultation with us if a
project is likely to adversely modify critical habitat.
It is highly unlikely that an activity that was reviewed and
permitted by the Service under section 7 of the Act prior to the
designation of critical habitat will be changed because the area
is now part of critical habitat. When reviewing projects under
section 7, we must determine if the proposed action will "jeopardize
the continued existence" of a species by asking the question
"will the project appreciably reduce the likelihood of
the species' survival and recovery?" A project that
will "destroy or adversely modify" critical habitat is
one that will appreciably reduce the value of critical habitat
for the survival and recovery of the species. Regardless of
whether critical habitat has been designated, we must still
consider the effect a project may have on the continued survival
and recovery of a listed species.
Prepared by: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office
Prepared on: February 7, 2001