[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70479-70480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29044]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2010-N174; 20124-1112-0000-F2]
Draft Environmental Assessment and Safe Harbor Agreement for the
Houston Toad Within Nine Texas Counties
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Defense Fund (Applicant) has applied to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival
permit pursuant to a section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. The requested permit, which is for a period of 30 years, would
authorize incidental take of the endangered Houston toad (Bufo
houstonensis) as a result of conservation actions, land management, and
other land-use activities. We invite the public to review and comment
on the permit application and the associated draft Safe Harbor
Agreement (Agreement).
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before January 13,
2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments or requests for copies or more
information by any of the following methods. You may request hard
copies or a CD-ROM of the documents.
Email: Edith_Erfling@fws.gov. Include ``Clear Lake
Ecological Services Field Office draft Houston Toad Programatic SHA/
draft EA'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: [Attn: Field Supervisor], (281) 488-5882.
U.S. Mail: 17629 El Camino Real, Suite 211, Houston, Texas
77058.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Call (281) 286-
8282 to make an appointment (necessary for view/pickup only) during
regular business hours at 17629 El Camino Real, Suite 211, Houston,
Texas 77058. For more information on locations for viewing or obtaining
documents, see ``Public Availability of Documents'' under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marty Tuegel, at the Service's
Southwest Regional Office, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
(505) 248-6651).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, participating
property owners voluntarily undertake management activities to enhance,
restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the
Endangered Species 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 subjected
to increased property use restrictions as a result of increased target
species abundance due to their efforts to improve conditions for listed
species on their property. Application requirements and issuance
criteria for enhancement of survival permits through Safe Harbor
Agreements are found in 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32.
Non-Federal landowners within Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado,
Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Milam, and Robertson Counties, Texas, may be
enrolled under the proposed Agreement if it is approved by entering
into a Cooperative Agreement with the Applicant. The Cooperative
Agreement will include: (1) A map of the property and its legal
location; (2) the portion of the property to be enrolled and its
acreage; (3) a description of the habitat types that occur on the
portion of the property to be enrolled, including
[[Page 70480]]
accurate descriptions of vegetation, water features, and soil types;
(4) current land use practices and existing development; and (5) a
detailed account of conservation activities to be undertaken on the
portion of the property to be enrolled. After signing a Cooperative
Agreement, landowners will receive a certificate of inclusion to
document landowners' participation in the Safe Harbor Agreement and
convey incidental take authorization from the Applicant to certificate
recipients. The Applicant will be responsible for annual monitoring and
reporting related to implementation of the Safe Harbor Agreement and
Cooperative Agreements and fulfillment of their provisions.
We have worked with the Applicant to design conservation activities
expected to have a net conservation benefit to the Houston toad within
the nine Texas counties to be covered under this proposed Agreement.
These conservation activities include: (1) Brush management to create
desired understory conditions and facilitate restoration of native
ground cover; (2) forest enhancement/restoration to create favorable
canopy conditions; (3) prescribed burning to restore, create, and
maintain desired understory and ground cover conditions; (4)
enhancement of existing breeding ponds to provide habitat for breeding
adults and emerging toadlets; (5) control of red imported fire ants to
maximize successful toadlet survival; (6) creation of new breeding
ponds; and (7) headstarting and/or reintroduction of captively bred
Houston toads (see section 5 ``Conservation Activities'' in the draft
Agreement).
These conservation activities are expected to: (1) Enhance Houston
toad foraging and hibernating habitat; (2) create and enhance Houston
toad breeding and toadlet emergence habitat; (3) facilitate Houston
toad dispersal through the creation and enhancement of habitat linkages
throughout the species' range; (4) increase Houston toad population
numbers through headstarting and reintroduction; and (5) facilitate
viable, self-sustaining Houston toad subpopulations.
The incidental take of toads may occur from: (1) Habitat management
actions conducted in accordance with the conservation activities in the
Agreement, (2) ongoing land use activities that may have an increased
chance of taking a toad if toad numbers increase, as expected, and (3)
cessation of the conservation activities, return to baseline
activities; if enrolled landowners exercise their authorization to do
so under the permit.
The impacts of permit issuance and implementation on the human
environment are analyzed within the draft Environmental Assessment, in
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibits ``taking'' of threatened or endangered
species. However, the Service, under limited circumstances, may issue
permits to take threatened and endangered wildlife species incidental
to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware 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 your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authorities
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), its
implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22), and the National Environmental
Policy Act (42 CFR 4371 et seq.).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: October 13, 2011.
Joy E. Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-29044 Filed 11-10-11; 8:45 am]
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