About this Collection

As a result of the public interest in the withdrawal by Eastern Collier Property Owners (ECPO) of their Incidental Take Permit (ITP) Applications, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has decided to release the December 2021 Draft Biological Opinion (Draft BiOp) and, with permission from ECPO, their application withdrawal letter submitted to the Service on July 28, 2022.

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 10 ITP process is triggered by an applicant submitting an application to the Service for a permit. Upon submission of a complete application, it is the Service’s role to determine whether the criteria for permit issuance have been met. 

On June 3, 2010, ECPO submitted an ITP application and a summary of their Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP).  The first full draft of the HCP was received on April 22, 2015.  Modifications to the original HCP were received by the Service on October 14, 2017, April 6, 2018, April 23, 2018, August 22, 2018, March 8, 2019, March 25, 2019, and September 17,2019 (HCP Addendum).  Also, a modification to the original ITP application was received on September 9, 2019.  

The HCP, which went through a number of iterations, was large scale involving multiple species, over 150,000 acres of covered lands and a suite of covered activities. ECPO modified the project design over time, changing the project scope and possible impacts on the covered species and various habitat types. The scale, modifications, and complexity of the HCP necessitated the Service’s consideration and deliberations.  

On July 28, 2022, ECPO submitted a letter to the Service withdrawing their ITP applications.  At the time of withdrawal, the Service had not made a final determination regarding jeopardy or non-jeopardy for any of the covered species.

We hope to work closely with the former applicants and all other private landowners to proactively conserve listed species. 

Links to some of the historical records associated with this application:

2011- circa. 2017, ZIP files for download: https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/111968

FWS-R4-ES-2018-0079 docket for this Permit Application: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FWS-R4-ES-2018-0079

Application related previous and ongoing Freedom of Information Act requests records releases:

DOI-FWS-2021-003464; FWS-2020-00506; FWS-2020-00516; FWS-2020-00633; FWS-2020-00658; FWS-2020-00668; FWS-2019-01086; FWS-2019-00749; FWS-2019-00595; FWS-2017-00044; FWS-2017-00323; and FWS-2015-01009 : https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/foia-ecological-services-section-10-hcps-eastern-collier-hcp

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