Public comment period reopened on proposed critical habitat
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today released a draft analysis that estimates costs associated with the conservation of Lane Mountain milk-vetch (Astragalus jaegerianus), a plant found in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County.
Between 1998 - when the milk-vetch was listed as an endangered species ? and the final critical habitat designation in 2005, costs for the conservation of the species are estimated between $1.6 million and $2 million. From 2005 to 2025, costs for the species? conservation are estimated between $5.8 million and $13 million.
The Service is accepting public comment on the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Lane Mountain milk-vetch and the draft economic analysis until January 7, 2005.
The Service proposed 29,522 acres as critical habitat for the Lane Mountain milk-vetch in April of this year in response to a lawsuit filed against the Service by the Center for Biological Diversity and the California Native Plant Society. Most of this acreage is on Federal and private lands, with a small amount on State lands. Most of the Federally-owned acreage is managed by the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Land Management.
Most of the estimated costs are expected to occur due to the listing of Lane Mountain milk-vetch and protective measures already under way as a result of the listing of the plant as an endangered species.
The majority of the costs prior to the designation of critical habitat for the species are for conservation measures associated with the expansion of U.S. Army military maneuver training. These measures include: endangered species education programs, species and boundary surveys, and development and maintenance of conservation areas. Other pre-designation costs for the Bureau of Land Management are attributable to the development and implementation of the West Mojave Plan, a multiple species habitat conservation plan.
Conservation cost estimates for the Army after the designation of critical habitat include purchasing 4,321 acres of private lands in two of the three critical habitat units, and maintaining and monitoring Lane Mountain milk-vetch conservation areas. On Bureau of Land Management lands, post-designation conservation costs cover increased law enforcement and maintenance personnel and closure and restoration of off-road vehicle routes in conservation areas.
When specifying an area as critical habitat, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the Service to consider economic and other relevant impacts of the designation. If the benefits of excluding an area outweigh the benefits of including it, the Service may exclude an area from critical habitat, unless this would result in the extinction of a threatened or endangered species.
Comments on the draft economic analysis and proposed critical habitat may be submitted to: Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003; or faxed to 805/644-3958. They may also be submitted to: fw1Lanemv@r1.fws.gov.
Comments previously submitted on the proposed critical habitat need not be resubmitted as they will be incorporated into the public record as part of this comment period and will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule.
Lane Mountain milk-vetch is a perennial herb in the pea family that grows only in an area of the west Mojave Desert north of the city of Barstow. The milk-vetch is unusual in that its twining branches grow up inside other shrubs, which it uses for support. Activities that may alter habitat for the species include dry-wash mining, off-road vehicle use, and military maneuvers at Fort Irwin. The plant's rate of reproduction varies greatly, and years of high reproduction are uncommon. This characteristic, coupled with the possibility of natural and human-caused random events, makes the species vulnerable to extinction.
Critical habitat is a term in the ESA that identifies specific geographic areas that are essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and which may require special management considerations. However, a designation does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve, or other special conservation area conservation area
A conservation area is a type of national wildlife refuge that consists primarily or entirely of conservation easements on private lands. These conservation easements support private landowner efforts to protect important habitat for fish and wildlife and major migration corridors while helping to keep agricultural lands in production.
Learn more about conservation area . It does not allow government or public access to private lands and does not close areas to all access or use.
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