[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4849-4851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02633]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2018-N160; FXES11140100000-189-FF01E00000]
Draft Safe Harbor Agreement for Nene at Haleakala Ranch, Maui
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 an application from the Haleakala Ranch Company (the Ranch)
for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The permit
application includes a draft Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) between the
Ranch, the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources
(DLNR), and the Service. Implementation of the proposed SHA is intended
to benefit the recovery of the nene (Hawaiian goose, Branta
sandvicensis) on 3,056 acres of privately-owned Ranch land on the
island of Maui. The proposed SHA conservation measures on the Ranch
include nene habitat improvement and maintenance, establishment and
maintenance of a nene release pen, and control of predators. The
activities implemented under this SHA will aid in increasing the
current range of the covered species, restoring this species to part of
its historic range, and increasing the total population of the species,
thus contributing to its overall recovery. The Service is making the
permit application, including the proposed SHA, and the NEPA
environmental action statement for categorical exclusion available for
public review and invites comments, including the submission of written
data.
DATES: All comments from interested parties must be received on or
before March 21, 2019.
ADDRESSES: To request further information, obtain copies of documents,
or submit written comments, please use one of the following methods.
Please include your name and return address in your
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comments and refer to the ``Safe Harbor Agreement for Nene at Haleakala
Ranch'':
Internet: Documents may be viewed on the internet at
http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands.
Email: pifwo_admin@fws.gov. Include ``Safe Harbor
Agreement for Nene at Haleakala Ranch'' in the subject line of the
message.
U.S. Mail: Field Supervisor, Pacific Islands Fish and
Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala Moana
Boulevard, Room #3-122, Honolulu, HI 96822.
In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Documents will be
available for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business
hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office.
Fax: Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 808-792-
9580, Attn: Safe Harbor Agreement for Nene at Haleakala Ranch.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jodi Charrier, Pacific Islands Fish
and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone 808-792-9400, or email
pifwo_admin@fws.gov. If you use a telecommunications device for the
deaf, please call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service has received an application from
the Haleakala Ranch Company (the Ranch) for an enhancement of survival
permit (permit) pursuant to the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The
permit application includes a draft SHA between the Ranch, the State of
Hawaii DLNR, and the Service. Implementation of the proposed SHA is
intended to benefit the recovery of the nene on 3,056 acres of
privately-owned Ranch land on the island of Maui. The proposed SHA
conservation measures on the Ranch include nene habitat improvement and
maintenance, establishment and maintenance of a nene release pen, and
control of predators. The activities implemented under this SHA will
aid in increasing the current range of the nene, restoring this species
to part of its historic range, and increasing the total population of
this species, thus contributing to the overall recovery of the nene.
The Service is making the permit application, including the proposed
SHA, and the NEPA environmental action statement for categorical
exclusion available for public review and comment.
Background
Under a SHA, participating landowners voluntarily undertake
management activities on their property to enhance, restore, or
maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the ESA. SHAs, and the
subsequent permit 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 efforts to
either attract listed species to their property, or to increase the
numbers or distribution of listed species already on their property.
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. Application requirements and issuance criteria for permits
associated with SHAs are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
at 50 CFR 17.22(c).
Draft Safe Harbor Agreement
Nene were probably extirpated from Maui by the end of the 19th
century. Today nene are found on Maui primarily within the boundaries
of Haleakala National Park, where reintroduction efforts on Maui began
in 1962. In addition, populations of the nene have been established
through reintroduction programs at Piiholo Ranch on Maui, which has
been successfully implementing a SHA for the reintroduction of nene
since 2004. In 2011, the estimated population of nene on Maui was
approximately 350 to 375 birds.
The private lands subject to the proposed SHA and permit consist of
3,056 acres on the Ranch, and current land use practices include cattle
ranching operations. Habitat on the Ranch varies and includes
nonnative-plant-dominated grasslands, native and nonnative forests, and
gulches. Land elevation ranges from sea level to approximately 3,000
feet. The baseline nene population for this SHA is zero (0) nene.
The expected net conservation benefit to the nene as a result of
the proposed SHA is the establishment of a breeding population of 200
nene on the Ranch. This benefit will be achieved by providing high-
quality, predator-controlled nene habitat on Ranch property.
Conservation measures proposed by the Ranch to encourage the
establishment and survival of nene on the enrolled lands include
allowing DLNR to: (1) Construct or expand a nene release pen; (2) make
road improvements as needed to implement the agreement; (3) maintain
the release pen and associated water source, and to monitor nene
throughout the term of the agreement; (4) allow DLNR to release nene
into the release pen; and (5) allow DLNR to conduct predator control in
and around the release pen.
The proposed duration of the conservation measures contained in the
SHA is for 10 years; however, the landowner may terminate the SHA after
5 years for reasons beyond their control and return to baseline. The
proposed duration of the permit is for 50 years. The permit would
authorize the incidental take of nene on the enrolled lands as a result
of lawful activities at the Ranch, from the time the SHA is executed.
The Ranch may continue current land use practices, undertake new ones,
or make any other lawful use of the property, even if such use
incidentally results in the loss of nene or their habitat covered under
this SHA. Once the SHA has ended, the Ranch can return the enrolled
lands to baseline conditions. The authority for incidental take of the
nene associated with the return to baseline conditions is provided by
the permit.
During the nonbreeding season, the birds may disperse and have
seasonal movement throughout Maui, but due to their site fidelity, they
are expected to return to the protected pen for breeding. It is
expected that some of the nene released under the SHA, and their
progeny, will still utilize the site upon expiration or termination of
the SHA and that a percentage of nene will remain on the Ranch property
for the permit term and beyond. Based on experience from similar sites,
the Service and DLNR anticipate this SHA will result in an increase in
the number of nene on Maui and an increase in the total area of
suitable habitat on private lands utilized by nene. Without this
cooperative government/private landowner effort, these lands would not
otherwise be utilized by nene in the foreseeable future. For these
reasons, this SHA and the activities it covers, which are facilitated
by the allowable incidental take, would provide a net conservation
benefit to the nene.
When this 10-year SHA expires, the parties have the option to
extend the term of the SHA, or return to baseline numbers. By
establishing the term of the permit at 50 years, the Ranch may defer
returning the property to baseline conditions when the 10-year SHA
expires. Nene would, in this case, continue to benefit from any ongoing
or residual conservation actions on the Ranch for an additional period
of time. Providing for a 50-year term of the permit also offers
flexibility to the Ranch landowner; if there is no immediate need to
return to baseline
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conditions, the Ranch landowner may therefore be interested in having
nene on the Ranch for a longer period of time. The Ranch will notify
DLNR and the Service in advance of conducting any activities that it
anticipates will adversely affect the nene and also report any dead,
injured, or diseased nene during the term of the permit, as well as
provide a report on the status of the reintroduced nene population
every 5 years after the SHA expires for the 50-year term of the permit.
If at the end of 10 years the Ranch plans to return to baseline
conditions, they will notify DLNR and the Service to provide time to
relocate nene from the property. At the end of the term of the SHA, the
Ranch may also remove any nene habitat and return the property to the
baseline conditions existing prior to the SHA. Additionally, the Ranch
will provide 1-year notice to DLNR and the Service prior to a potential
return to baseline conditions to allow DLNR to develop a suitable
alternate site and move birds. The SHA may be renewed upon approval by
the Service and DLNR.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The development of the draft SHA and the proposed issuance of a
permit is a Federal action that triggers the need for compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Service has made a preliminary determination
that the proposed SHA and permit application are eligible for a
categorical exclusion under NEPA, based on the following criteria: (1)
Implementation of the SHA would result in minor or negligible adverse
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their
habitats; (2) implementation of the SHA would result in minor or
negligible adverse effects on other environmental values or resources;
and (3) impacts of the SHA, considered together with the impacts of
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative adverse effects to
environmental values or resources which would be considered
significant. We explain the basis for this determination in more detail
in an Environmental Action Statement (EAS) that is also available for
public review.
Based on the EAS, we have preliminarily determined that the
issuance of the associated permit would have minor or negligible
adverse effects on the species covered in the SHA. Therefore, we
determined that the SHA qualifies for categorical exclusion under NEPA,
as provided by the Department of the Interior NEPA regulations (43 CFR
part 46).
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 personal identifying information
in your comments, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly
available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so. Comments and materials we
receive, as well as supporting documentation we use in preparing the
EAS, will be available for public inspection by appointment, during
normal business hours, at our Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office
(see ADDRESSES).
Authority
We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of
section 10(c) of the ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22
and 17.32) and NEPA and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Katherine B. Hollar,
Acting Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-02633 Filed 2-15-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P