The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received a draft Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances developed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that would provide protection and management of habitat for the rare eastern massasauga rattlesnake at Rome State Nature Preserve in northeastern Ohio. The draft agreement and an application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit are available to the public for comment and review. The Service is accepting comments on the documents through October 20, 2005.
Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances are for species that are not yet listed as endangered or threatened, but are considered to be in decline and could be listed in the future. The agreements identify actions that the landowner commits to take to conserve declining species. Landowners who participate in this program will receive assurances from the Service that no additional conservation measures above and beyond those contained in the CCAA will be required and that no additional land, water, or resource-use restrictions will be imposed upon them should the species become listed in the future.
The eastern massasauga was once common throughout much of the Great Lakes basin but is now restricted to scattered, often isolated populations. In Ohio, the snake is found in 15 counties; eight of the populations occur on state-owned or state-managed lands. The eastern massasauga was designated a candidate for federal listing in 1999.
Threats to the species include draining of wetland habitat, land use changes for agriculture and other practices, and deliberate killing by humans. The proposed Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances is aimed at protecting massasauga habitat at the preserve and reducing threats to the rare snake. The agreement also includes control of the spread of invasive vegetation, which can degrade habitat, and undertaking protective measures to reduce losses from humans and natural predators.
Copies of the proposed CCAA, and the application for an enhancement of survival permit, are available for public inspection during regular business hours at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services office located at 6950 Americana Parkway, Suite H, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, or at the Service’s Regional website at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/NEPA/index.html . Comments should be directed to Regional Director (Attn: Pete Fasbender), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111-4056, or emailed to PermitsR3ES@fws.gov and must be received by October 20, 2005 and must be received by October 20, 2005.
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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
