[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69676-69677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26564]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096; FF06E11000-212-FXES11130600000]
Incidental Take Permit Application; Habitat Conservation Plan
Amendment for Montana Department of Natural Resources Lazy-Swift
Addition and Wolf Creek Land Exchange; Flathead and Lincoln Counties,
Montana
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of documents related to an application to amend an
existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act.
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has applied
for an amendment to their existing ITP, which, if granted, would add
lands for coverage under their Forest Management Habitat Conservation
Plan (HCP), and which would effectively extend the permit take coverage
to these lands for three federally listed species, the grizzly bear,
[[Page 69677]]
Canada lynx, and bull trout, and two unlisted species, the westslope
cutthroat trout and Columbia redband trout. We invite comments from the
public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
January 7, 2022. Comments submitted online at Regulations.gov (see
ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing
date.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as associated background documents and any comments and other materials
that we receive, will be available for public inspection online in
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096 at http://www.regulations.gov.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods:
Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096.
U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS:
PERMA; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We request that you send comments by only the methods described
above. We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide
us (see the Public Comments section below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Conard, by phone at 406-758-6882,
by email at Ben_Conard@fws.gov, or via the Federal Relay Service at
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), have received an application from the Montana Department of
Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to amend their incidental
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The amendment would add lands for
coverage under the existing forest management habitat conservation plan
(HCP) and extend the permit take coverage to these lands for species
covered by the HCP: Three federally listed species, the grizzly bear,
Canada lynx, and bull trout, and two unlisted species, the westslope
cutthroat trout and Columbia redband trout. Take authorization of an
unlisted species only becomes effective upon a final listing
determination.
The new document available for review and comment is the
applicant's requested amendment to the habitat conservation plan (HCP),
which is part of their ITP amendment application. The previously
finalized HCP and the Service's 2018 final supplemental environmental
impact statement (SEIS) and record of decision (ROD) included analysis
of potential permit amendments to add lands to the HCP under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), are also available online for
reference (see ADDRESSES, above). We have reviewed the prior NEPA
analysis and determined that the 2018 final SEIS and associated ROD
include the appropriate analysis necessary for this ITP amendment, and
that no further NEPA documentation is needed.
Applicant's Proposed Amendment
The additional lands include 14,642 acres of acquired forested land
now part of the Stillwater State Forest near Olney, Montana, and in the
Wolf Creek watershed on DNRC Libby Unit. A 2018 final SEIS considered
the environmental effects of amending the HCP and permit as a result of
adding acquired lands within the HCP planning area, and addressed
public comments received on the 2017 draft SEIS. The DNRC proposes to
add 14,642 acres into the HCP planning area for ESA incidental take
coverage for DNRC's forest management activities on these lands. Prior
to DNRC acquisition, private entities conducted forest management
activities on the 14,642 acres of forested lands.
In general, all conservation commitments would be applied
specifically as stated in the HCP (as amended in 2018), and all lands
that would be added to the HCP fall within the bounds of the original
HCP planning area. Some modifications are necessary to accommodate the
Lazy-Swift acquisition lands and existing conservation constraints
associated with established conservation easements on the properties
(e.g., create a new Lynx Management Area, incorporate associated road
systems into the existing transportation plan, and accommodate some
areas permanently deferred from commercial logging). However, these
modifications do not result in a substantial change from conservation
commitments made in the HCP and analyzed in the 2018 FEIS.
Background
In 2012, we issued an ITP to DNRC for take of the grizzly bear,
Canada lynx, bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, and Columbia
redband trout incidental to forest management activities covered in
their HCP (75 FR 57059). The grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and bull trout
are listed as threatened under the ESA, while the westslope and
Columbia redband trout are not federally listed species. The original
permit covered approximately 548,500 acres of forested State trust
lands in western Montana. The HCP addressed the process and
contingencies for DNRC to transfer, exchange, or add lands for their
forest management activities in the future. Thus, the Service had
considered in the 2011 final EIS the potential effects of amending the
HCP and permit to cover such actions, but was not able to analyze
effects from adding specific lands that had not yet been identified.
The 2018 final SEIS (83 FR 24335) analyzed potential effects to the
human and natural environment from the preferred alternative to amend
the permit to cover take from DNRC's forest management activities on an
additional 81,416 acres and the potential future addition of lands
within the HCP planning area, including the current amendment request
for the addition of 14,642 acres.
Public Comments
If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will
be posted on the website. If your submission is made via a hardcopy
that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the
top of your document that we withhold this information from public
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We
will post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
All submissions from organizations or businesses and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses will be made available for public
disclosure in their entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations for incidental take
permits (50 CFR 17.32) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).
Stephen Small,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Mountain-Prairie
Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-26564 Filed 12-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P