The proposed residential construction is located on 91 acres of beachfront property on Lake Michigans Cathead Bay in Leelanau County. The site is adjacent to Leelanau State Park, where piping plovers have nested in recent years. While the construction site itself has not supported piping plover nests, it does contain plover habitat, including open, unvegetated beach and grassy, low dunes near forested areas.
Because there is a potential that construction on the site may affect the endangered piping plover, project developers, the Magic Carpet Woods Association, have developed a habitat conservation plan. Habitat conservation plans are a provision of the federal Endangered Species Act that allow flexibility for private landowners who may have endangered species on their property. An approved habitat conservation plan authorizes "incidental take, or take that is incidental to but not the purpose of an activity, when the effects of the take are mitigated or minimized by conservation measures.
Under the Endangered Species Act, animals listed as endangered or threatened are protected from activities which result in "take", which includes killing or harming them or destroying their habitat. With an approved habitat conservation plan in place, landowners and developers can proceed without fear of penalties for an incidental take of a protected species on their property.
The draft habitat conservation plan developed by Magic Carpet Woods Association provides for seasonal restrictions for people using the beach, control of pets while plovers are nesting and rearing young, control of garbage, and funding for piping plover research, monitoring and recovery efforts.
Copies of the draft environmental assessment and habitat conservation plan are available at the Services website at http://midwest.fws.gov/nepa/ The revised draft incorporates public input from an earlier comment period.
Documents will also be made available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Services Regional Office, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and the Services East Lansing Field Office in Michigan. Written comments should be addressed to Peter Fasbender, Regional HCP Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, One Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111-4056. Questions may be directed to the Regional HCP Coordinator at 612-713-5343 or by e-mail at Peter_Fasbender@fws.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
