Eastside Exploration Project Eagle Permit NEPA Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received an application from Allegiant Gold Ltd. requesting eagle take coverage under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  The application requested authorization for incidental disturbance take of eagles at the Eastside Exploration Project, over a 5-year period. The project is located approximately 25 miles west of Tonopah, Nevada, in Esmeralda County, on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management located at the northern end of the Monte Cristo Range.  The project involves exploration activities that may require approximately 69 acres of surface disturbance, including an existing road network for project access, reverse circulation and core drilling from constructed drill sites, road construction, overland travel, road maintenance, and drill pad and sump construction. These surface operations and activities may disturb golden eagle pairs in the vicinity of the project, which may prevent them from breeding and producing offspring. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, to assess impacts of the proposed action of issuance of the requested short-term (5-year) incidental eagle take permit to the applicant, as well as alternatives to the proposed action. The proposed action of issuing a permit required implementation of measures to avoid and minimize adverse effects to eagles to the maximum extent practicable and compensatory mitigation to fully offset eagle take. Details of the minimization measures and compensatory mitigation can be found in the EA. The analysis detailed in the EA resulted in the selection of the proposed action and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI and EA documents are provided here.