[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67779-67781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27947]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2015-N198; FXES11120100000-167-FF01E00000]
Proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the Northern Spotted Owl and
Draft Environmental Assessment, Roseburg Resources Company and Oxbow
Timber I, LLC, Lane County, OR
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received, from Roseburg Resources Company (RRC) and Oxbow Timber I, LLC
(Oxbow), an application for an enhancement of survival permit (permit)
for the federally threatened northern spotted owl under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit application includes
a draft safe harbor agreement (SHA) addressing access to RRC and Oxbow
lands for the survey and removal of barred owls as part of the
Service's Barred Owl Removal Experiment in Lane County, Oregon. The
Service also announces the availability of a draft environmental
assessment (EA) that has been prepared in response to the permit
application in accordance with requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We are making the permit application,
including the draft HCP and the draft EA, available for public review
and comment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be received from
interested parties by December 3, 2015.
ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments,
please use one of the following methods, and note that your information
request or comments are in reference to the Roseburg Resources Company
and Oxbow Timber I, LLC draft SHA and the draft EA.
Internet: Documents may be viewed and downloaded on the
Internet at http://www.fws.gov/ofwo/.
Email: barredowlsha@fws.gov. Include ``RRC SHA'' in the
subject line of the message.
U.S. Mail: Robin Bown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100,
Portland, OR 97266.
Fax: 503-231-6195.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Call 503-231-6179
to make an appointment (necessary for viewing or pickup only) during
regular business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon
Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR
97266. Written comments can be dropped off during regular business
hours at the above address on or before the closing date of the public
comment period (see DATES).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Bown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (see ADDRESSES), telephone 503-231-6179. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RRC and Oxbow have applied to the Service
for an enhancement of survival permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the
ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The permit application includes a draft
SHA. The Service has drafted an EA addressing the effects of the draft
SHA and the proposed issuance of a permit.
The SHA covers approximately 9,000 acres of forest lands owned by
Oxbow and 400 acres of forest lands owned by RRC within the treatment
portion of the Oregon Coast Ranges Study Area in Lane County, Oregon.
The proposed term of the permit and the SHA is 10 years. In return for
permission to access their lands for barred owl surveys and removal in
support of the Service's Barred Owl Removal Experiment, the permit
would authorize incidental take of the threatened northern spotted owl
(Strix occidentalis caurina) on currently unoccupied, non-baseline
spotted owl sites if they become occupied during the term of the
permit. The permit would also authorize incidental take of the spotted
owl as a result of management activities during the term of the permit.
Background
Under a SHA, participating landowners voluntarily undertake
activities on their property to benefit species listed under the ESA
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). SHAs, and the subsequent enhancement of
survival permits that are issued to participating landowners pursuant
to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, encourage private and other non-
Federal property owners to implement conservation actions for federally
listed species by assuring the landowners that they will not be
subjected to increased property use restrictions as a result of their
conservation efforts.
These assurances allow the property owner to alter or modify the
enrolled property to agreed-upon baseline conditions, even if such
alteration or modification results in the incidental take of a listed
species. The baseline conditions represent the existing levels of use
of the property by species covered in the SHA. SHA assurances depend on
the property owner complying with obligations in the SHA and the terms
and conditions of the permit. The SHA's net conservation benefits must
be sufficient to contribute, either directly or indirectly, to the
recovery of the covered listed species. Enrolled landowners may make
lawful use of the enrolled property during the permit term and may
incidentally take the listed species named on the permit as long as
that take does not modify the agreed-upon net conservation benefit to
the species.
Application requirements and issuance criteria for enhancement of
survival permits for SHAs are found in the Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22(c). The Service's Safe Harbor Policy (64 FR
32717, June 17, 1999) and the Safe Harbor Regulations (68 FR 53320,
September 10, 2003; and 69 FR 24084, May 3, 2004) are available at
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/regulations-and-policies.html.
Safe Harbor Agreement
RRC and Oxbow submitted an application for an enhancement of
survival permit under the ESA to authorize incidental take of the
federal-threatened northern spotted owl. The permit application
includes a draft SHA between RRC and Oxbow, and the Service. The SHA
addresses access to support the Service's Barred Owl Removal Experiment
(USFWS 2013a) in the Oregon Coast Ranges Study Area (Study Area), Lane
County, Oregon.
The SHA covers RRC and Oxbow lands within the treatment area of the
Study Area. The treatment area is composed lands owned by many
different landowners, including 58 percent Federal lands, 13 percent
State lands, and 29 percent private lands. This is the focus of the SHA
because this is the area where the removal of barred owls under the
experiment may lead to reoccupancy of sites that are not currently
occupied by spotted owls. If barred owl removal leads to the
reoccupancy of sites by spotted owls, in the absence of this permit
some
[[Page 67780]]
restrictions or limitations on forest management activities could
occur.
Take would be allowed for forest operation and management
activities, including but not limited to road use, road construction,
road maintenance, and the normal management activities associated with
managing private forestland for timber production, such as timber
harvest, planting, spraying, fertilizing, monitoring, measuring,
patrolling, and fighting wildfire.
The goal of both RRC and Oxbow is to manage their timberlands for
timber production, providing economic, community and stewardship values
on a long-term sustained-yield basis while meeting State and Federal
regulatory requirements. The RRC and Oxbow lands within the Study Area
are an important part of each company's overall operating plans from
both a short-term and long-term perspective. RRC and Oxbow are
anticipating significant changes and fluctuations regarding spotted owl
occupancy status of well surveyed sites and areas on or near RRC and
Oxbow lands in the treatment area after barred owl removal occurs and
potential short term regulatory impacts to operation plans after barred
owl removal in the treatment area occurs.
The purpose of RRC and Oxbow participation is to demonstrate good-
faith cooperation with the Service regarding this recovery action while
maintaining a reasonable level of certainty regarding the anticipated
biological response and subsequent regulatory requirements impacting
both forest operations and management during and after the experiment
period for themselves, and to the maximum extent allowable under the
ESA, adjacent landowners.
To support the Barred Owl Removal Experiment, RRC and Oxbow will
provide the researchers access to RRC and Oxbow lands to survey barred
owls throughout the Study Area and to remove barred owls located on RRC
and Oxbow lands within the treatment portion of the Study Area. In
addition, RRC and Oxbow will maintain habitat to support actively
nesting spotted owls on any reoccupied non-baseline sites during the
nesting season.
Proposed Action
The Service proposes to enter into the SHA and to issue an
enhancement of survival permit to RRC and Oxbow for incidental take of
the northern spotted owl caused by covered activities, if permit
issuance criteria are met. The permit would have a term of 10 years.
As a result of the continued monitoring of spotted owls on RRC and
Oxbow lands as part of the ongoing spotted owl surveys conducted under
the Northwest Forest Plan Monitoring program, we have strong annual
survey data for the area that may be included in the SHA and can
establish a baseline based on the estimated current occupancy status of
each spotted owl site. Any spotted owl sites with a response from at
least one resident spotted owl between 2013 and present are considered
in the baseline and would not be authorized to be taken. Based on this
approach, there are nine baseline spotted owl sites in the treatment
portion of the Oregon Coast Ranges Study Area where RRC or Oxbow own
land or have operations easements or agreements.
The conservation benefits for the northern spotted owl under the
SHA arise from RRC and Oxbow allowing access to their roads and lands
for barred owl surveys and, within the treatment area, barred owl
removal. In this landscape of multiple landowners, access to
interspersed non-Federal lands is important to the efficient and
effective completion of the Barred Owl Removal Experiment within a
reasonable timeframe.
The impact of the increase in non-native barred owl populations as
they expand in the range of the spotted owls has been identified as one
of the primary threats to the continued existence of the spotted owl.
The Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl includes Recovery Action
29--``Design and implement large-scale control experiments to assess
the effects of barred owl removal on spotted owl site occupancy,
reproduction, and survival'' (USFWS 2011, p. III-65). The Service
developed the Barred Owl Removal Experiment to implement this Recovery
Action, completing the Environmental Impact Statement and Record of
Decision in 2013 (USFWS 2013a and b). The Service selected a study
conducted on four study areas, including the Oregon Coast Ranges Study
Area. Timely results from this experiment are crucial for informing
development of a long-term barred owl management strategy, itself
essential to the conservation of the northern spotted owl.
While the Study Area is focused on Federal lands, it still contains
significant interspersed non-Federal lands. To complete the experiment
in the most efficient and complete manner, the Service requires access
on non-public roads and the ability to remove barred owls on the non-
Federal lands within the treatment area. While the experiment is
possible without access to non-Federal lands, failure to remove barred
owls from portions of the treatment area could reduce the power of the
experiment to detect any changes in spotted owl population dynamics
resulting from the removal of barred owls and potentially extend the
duration of the experiment. The Service has repeatedly indicated the
need to gather this information in a timely manner. Failure to access
non-Federal lands could delay the results.
Incidental take of spotted owls under this SHA would likely be in
the form of harm from forest operation activities that result in
habitat degradation, or harassment from forest management activities
that cause disturbance to spotted owls. Incidental take in the form of
harassment by disturbance is most likely to occur near former spotted
owl nest sites if they become reoccupied. Harm and harassment could
occur during timber operations and management that will continue during
the permit term. RRC and Oxbow will perform routine harvest, road
maintenance and construction activities, including rock pit
development, herbicide spraying and soil fertilization that may disturb
spotted owls.
Net Conservation Benefits
RRC and Oxbow own lands in the treatment portion of the Oregon
Coast Ranges Study Area. Access to the RRC and Oxbow lands is important
to the efficient and effective completion of the Barred Owl Removal
Experiment within a reasonable timeframe. All of the currently occupied
spotted owl sites are within the baseline and no take of these sites is
authorized under this SHA. If barred owl removal does allow spotted
owls to reoccupy sites that are not currently occupied (non-baseline),
RRC and Oxbow will be allowed to take these spotted owls. It is highly
unlikely that these sites would ever be reoccupied by spotted owls
without the removal of barred owls.
The removal of barred owls on the Study Area will end within 10
years. The Service anticipates that, once released from the removal
pressure, barred owl populations will rebound to pre-treatment levels
within 3 to 5 years. This is likely to result in the loss of the newly
reoccupied sites. Therefore, any occupancy of these sites is likely to
be temporary and short term.
The SHA allows for the take of spotted owls on 19 non-baseline
sites in the treatment area of the Study Area if these sites become
reoccupied during the barred owl removal study. Take of non-baseline
owl sites that may be reoccupied can result from disturbance from
forest management activities or habitat loss. For 6 of the 19 sites,
take
[[Page 67781]]
is anticipated primarily from disturbance. Take resulting from
disturbance is temporary, short term, and only likely to occur if
activities occur very close to nesting spotted owls. None of the 48
historic spotted owl site centers in the treatment area occur on RRC or
Oxbow lands, and only three are close enough that forest management
activities on RRC or Oxbow lands could result in some disturbance of
the sites if these site centers were reoccupied.
For the remaining 13 sites, take may occur as a result of
disturbance or habitat removal if they become reoccupied during the
experiment. Loss of habitat has longer term effects, and the degree to
which it may affect the study depends on the amount of potential
habitat loss compared to the condition of the spotted owl site. RRC and
Oxbow are minor owners on seven of these sites with less than 10
percent of the land ownership and less than five percent of the
remaining suitable habitat on these seven sites. Federal lands contain
the majority of the remaining suitable spotted owl habitat on six of
these seven sites. Thus, even if all non-baseline spotted owl sites are
reoccupied by spotted owls, and RRC and Oxbow remove all habitat
remaining on their lands within these sites under their permit, many of
these sites are likely to remain viable at some level as a result of
habitat remaining on other landowners, including the Federal agencies.
The primary conservation value of the Barred Owl Removal Experiment
is the information it provides on the efficacy of removal as a tool to
manage barred owl populations for the conservation of the spotted owl.
This information is crucial to the development of a long-term barred
owl management strategy, itself essential to the conservation of the
northern spotted owl. In this landscape of multiple landowners, access
to interspersed non-Federal lands is important to the efficient and
effective completion of the Barred Owl Removal Experiment within a
reasonable timeframe. The SHA under which RRC and Oxbow allow access to
their roads and lands for barred owl surveys and, within the treatment
area, barred owl removal contributes significantly to the conservation
value of this experiment. Thus, the take of spotted owls on the
temporarily reoccupied sites is more than offset by the value of the
information gained from the experiment and its potential contribution
to a long-term barred owl management strategy. This SHA advances the
recovery of the spotted owl.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The development of the draft SHA and the proposed issuance of an
enhancement of survival permit is a Federal action that triggers the
need for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA). We have prepared a draft EA
to analyze the impacts of permit issuance and implementation of the SHA
on the human environment in comparison to the no-action alternative.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We request data, new information, or
suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental agencies,
Tribes, the scientific community, industry, or any other interested
party on our proposed Federal action. In particular, we request
information and comments regarding the following issues:
1. The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects that implementation
of the SHA could have on endangered and threatened species;
2. Other reasonable alternatives consistent with the purpose of the
proposed SHA as described above, and their associated effects;
3. Measures that would minimize and mitigate potentially adverse
effects of the proposed action;
4. Identification of any impacts on the human environment that
should have been analyzed in the draft EA pursuant to NEPA;
5. Other plans or projects that might be relevant to this action;
6. The proposed term of the enhancement of survival permit and
whether the proposed SHA would provide a net conservation benefit to
the covered species; and
7. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the
proposed action on the human environment.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments and materials we receive become part of the public
record associated with this action. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable
information in your comments, you should be aware that your entire
comment--including your personally identifiable information--may be
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your
comment to withhold your personally identifiable 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. Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we used in preparing the draft EA, will be available for
public inspection by appointment, during normal business hours, at our
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES).
Next Steps
We will evaluate the draft SHA, associated documents, and any
public comments we receive to determine whether the permit application
and the EA meet the requirements of section 10(a) of the ESA and NEPA,
respectively, and their respective implementing regulations. We will
also evaluate whether issuance of an enhancement of survival permit
would comply with section 7 of the ESA by conducting an intra-Service
section 7 consultation on the proposed permit action. If we determine
that all requirements are met, we will sign the proposed SHA and issue
an enhancement of survival permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA
to the applicant, RRC and Oxbow, for incidental take of the northern
spotted owl caused by covered activities in accordance with the terms
of the permit and the SHA. We will not make our final decision until
after the end of the 30-day public comment period, and we will fully
consider all comments and information we receive during the public
comment period.
Authority
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 of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: October 21, 2015.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2015-27947 Filed 11-2-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P