Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Receipt of an Application for the Proposed Issuance of a Permit To Allow Incidental Take of Threatened and Endangered Species on Plum Creek Timber Company, L.P., Lands in the I?90 Corridor, King

This notice advises the public that Plum Creek Timber Company, L.P. (Applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (together Services) for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Applicant has also requested unlisted-species and safe-harbor provisions in an Implementation Agreement (Agreement) to cover vertebrate species which may be found in the planning area. The application has been assigned permit number PRT-808398. The requested permit would authorize incidental take of currently listed threatened or endangered species that may occur within the planning area in King and Kittitas Counties, Washington, as a result of the Applicant's timber management activities. The unlisted-species provision provides for the issuance of further permits for the incidental take of species not presently listed under the Act, but which might become listed during the term of the proposed permit, and which might occur within the planning area. The Services also announce the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed issuance of the incidental take permit and approval of the Agreement. All comments received will become part of the public record and may be released. This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act and National Environmental Policy Act regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).