[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 112 (Friday, June 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35565-35567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12507]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2022-N008; FXES11140800000-189-FF08EACT00]
Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Northern Spotted Owl,
Mendocino County, California
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that registered professional
foresters Craig and Christopher Blencowe have applied to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival
[[Page 35566]]
(EOS) permit under the Endangered Species Act. If granted, the EOS
permit would be in effect for a 40-year period in Mendocino County,
California, and would authorize take of the threatened northern spotted
owl (covered species) that is likely to occur incidental to managing
the timber on properties under periodic (approximately 10-year harvest
intervals) uneven-aged forestry management practices of single-tree and
group selection. Owners of properties managed by the Blencowes would
sign on to the Blencowe Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA)
through specific cooperative agreements and certificates of inclusion.
The documents available for review and comment include the applicants'
SHA; cooperative agreements and certificates of inclusion for the
Bradford Ranch, Miller Tree Farm, and Weger Ranch properties; and our
draft environmental action statements and low-effect screening form,
which support categorical exclusions under the National Environmental
Policy Act. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal,
State, and local governments.
DATES: Submitting Comments: To ensure consideration, we must receive
written comments by 5 p.m. on July 11, 2022.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain the applicants' SHA and our
draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form by
one of the following methods.
U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1655 Heindon
Road, Arcata, CA 95521;
Electronic Mail: Contact fw8_afwo_comments@fws.gov to
request documents; indicate ``Blencowe SHA'' in subject line.
Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by any one of
the following methods.
U.S. Mail: Tanya Sommer, Field Supervisor, at our Arcata
office (address above);
Electronic mail: fw8_afwo_comments@fws.gov; in the email
subject line, please be specific about which documents your comments
address;
Fax: 707-822-8411.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill McIver, at our Arcata office
(address above), or by telephone at 707-822-7201. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under safe harbor agreements (SHAs), participating landowners
voluntarily undertake management activities on their properties to
enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). SHAs, and the subsequent enhancement of survival (EOS) permits
that are issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, encourage
private and other non-Federal property owners to implement conservation
efforts for listed species, by assuring property owners that they will
not be subject to increased land use restriction as a result of efforts
to attract or increase the numbers or distribution of a listed species
on their property. Application requirements and issuance criteria for
EOS permits through SHAs are found in 50 CFR 17.22(c) and 17.32(c).
This SHA is expected to promote the recovery of the covered species
on non-Federal properties within Mendocino County. The proposed
duration of the SHA and the associated enhancement of survival permit
is 40 years. The proposed EOS permit would authorize the incidental
taking of the covered species associated with the restoration,
enhancement, and maintenance of suitable habitat for the covered
species during routine and ongoing silvicultural activities and the
potential future return of any property included in the SHA to baseline
conditions. Under this SHA, individual landowners (cooperators) may
include their properties by entering into a cooperative agreement with
the applicants. Each cooperative agreement will specify the restoration
and/or enhancement and management activities to be carried out on that
specific property, and a timetable for implementing those activities.
The Service will review all cooperative agreements to determine whether
the proposed activities would result in a net conservation benefit for
the covered species and meet all required standards of the Service's
Safe Harbor Policy (June 17, 1999, 64 FR 32717). Upon Service approval,
the Blencowes (applicants) will issue a certificate of inclusion to
each of the cooperators. Each certificate of inclusion will extend the
incidental take coverage conferred by the EOS permit to the cooperator.
Baseline levels for the covered species will be determined by the
cooperator, in coordination with the Service, and then the Service will
review each baseline determination prior to the Blencowes' issuance of
a certificate of inclusion to the cooperator. The SHA also contains a
monitoring component that requires the applicant to ensure that the
cooperators are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the SHA.
Results of these monitoring efforts will be provided to the Service by
the applicant in an annual report.
Upon approval of this SHA, and consistent with the Service's Safe
Harbor Policy, the Service would issue an EOS permit to the Blencowes.
This permit would authorize cooperators who are issued a certificate of
inclusion to take the covered species incidental to the implementation
of the management activities specified in the SHA, incidental to other
lawful uses of the property, including routine land management
activities, and to return to baseline conditions if desired. An
applicant would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(c)(5) and 17.32(c)(5)) for the covered
species in the EOS permit. In addition to meeting other criteria,
actions to be performed under an EOS permit must not jeopardize the
existence of Federally listed fish, wildlife, or plants, and the
Service is conducting a section 7 consultation.
Application
The Service has worked with registered professional foresters Craig
Blencowe and Christopher Blencowe to develop a programmatic SHA for the
creation and enhancement of habitat for the northern spotted owl on
three Mendocino County properties that the Blencowes manage for timber
harvest using uneven-aged silviculture techniques. At the start of the
permit term for the SHA, the Blencowes propose to include the following
three properties under the SHA: Bradford Ranch, Miller Tree Farm, and
Weger Ranch. The landowners associated with each property would sign a
cooperative agreement with the Blencowes, and the Blencowes would sign
a certificate of inclusion for each property, verifying that the
landowners agree to implement the timber management activities
described in the SHA and cooperative agreements. The term of the
proposed SHA and associated EOS permit is 40 years. Any associated
certificate of inclusion would be tied to permit term and not longer,
unless the SHA is extended by agreement. Currently, the properties
support approximately 6,606 acres of northern spotted owl nesting/
roosting habitat and 3 northern spotted owl territories (i.e., an
activity center on property), as follows: Bradford Ranch (2,363 acres
and 1 territory), Miller Tree Farm (1,849 acres and 2 territories), and
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Weger Ranch (2,394 acres and 0 territories). We anticipate that under
the timber management prescriptions proposed in the programmatic SHA,
at least 6,606 acres of nesting/roosting habitat will be enhanced on
Blencowe-managed properties, and potentially up to 2 additional
northern spotted owl territories could exist on each of the three
properties at the end of the 40-year SHA term.
For properties managed under the SHA, if any additional northern
spotted owl territory becomes established on the property, take of
northern spotted owls associated with the effects of timber harvest on
such additional northern spotted owl territories would be authorized
under the incidental take permit during the 40-year permit term. The
Service anticipates that incidental take of a northern spotted owl
would occur only if: (a) additional northern spotted owl territories
were established on any of the enrolled properties; and (b) any of the
enrolled properties were returned to baseline conditions after the term
of the 40-year SHA has expired. The Service anticipates that no more
than two additional northern spotted owl territories would be
established on each property during the 40-year permit term. In other
words, during the 40-year permit term, the Service anticipates that no
more than 12 northern spotted owls (2 adult owls per territory and as
many as 6 new territories) would be subject to take if habitat
conditions were returned to baseline conditions. The development and
maintenance of high-quality functional habitat employing uneven-aged
timber management practices in a matrix of private timberland subject
to even-aged management regimes will provide a relatively stable
habitat condition that we believe will provide high productivity for
multiple generations of northern spotted owls. Therefore, the
cumulative impact of the SHA and the activities it covers, which are
facilitated by the allowable incidental take, are expected to provide a
net conservation benefit to the northern spotted owl.
Public Availability of Comments
Written comments we receive become part of the administrative
record associated with this action. 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 request in your comment that we
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 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 (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32)
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40
CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR part 46).
Tanya Sommer,
Field Supervisor, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, Arcata, California.
[FR Doc. 2022-12507 Filed 6-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P