[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38204-38206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16336]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2011-N065; 10120-1112-0000-F3]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed
Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in
Southeastern Oregon
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of permit application.
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SUMMARY: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has applied
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of
survival permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA). The permit application includes a proposed Programmatic
Safe Harbor Agreement (Agreement) between the ODFW and the Service. The
requested permit would authorize the ODFW to extend incidental take
coverage with assurances to eligible landowners who are willing to
carry out habitat management measures that would benefit the threatened
Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) by enrolling
them under the Agreement as Cooperators through issuance of
Certificates of Inclusion. The covered area or geographic scope of this
Agreement includes the Quinn River, Coyote Lake, and Alvord basins
located in Harney and Malheur Counties, Oregon. The Service is making
the permit application, proposed Agreement, and related documents
available for public review and comment.
DATES: All comments must be received from interested parties on or
before July 29, 2011.
[[Page 38205]]
ADDRESSES: Please address written comments to Nancy Gilbert, Field
Supervisor, Bend Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 20310
Empire Ave., Ste. A-100, Bend, OR 97701. Alternatively, you may send
comments by facsimile to (541) 383-7638. Please include your name and
return address in your comments and refer to the ``Lahontan Cutthroat
Trout Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Gilbert, Field Supervisor, Bend
Field Office (see ADDRESSES above); telephone (541) 383-7146. Persons
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339, 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
You may obtain copies of the documents for review by contacting the
Service's Bend Field Office (see ADDRESSES above), or by making an
appointment to view the documents at the above address during normal
business hours. These documents are also available electronically for
review on the Service's Bend Field Office Web site at http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/FieldOffices/Bend/. Comments and materials we
receive, as well as supporting documentation we used in preparing the
Agreement, will become part of the public record and will be available
for public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in your comment, 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.
Background
The Lahontan cutthroat trout was listed as an endangered species by
the Service in 1970 (35 FR 16047; October 13, 1970) and reclassified as
threatened in 1975 (40 FR 29863; July 16, 1975). The primary threats
affecting Lahontan cutthroat trout include habitat degradation, habitat
fragmentation, and hybridization with and competition from introduced
nonnative salmonids. On March 30, 2009, the Service completed a 5-year
status review of the Lahontan cutthroat trout that determined that
``Lahontan cutthroat trout populations have been and continue to be
impacted by nonnative species interactions, habitat fragmentation and
isolation, degraded habitat conditions, drought, and fire.''
Furthermore, the status review found that ``[t]he present or threatened
destruction, modification, or curtailment of [the] Lahontan cutthroat
trout's habitat and range continues to be a significant threat and in
some instances is increasing in magnitude and severity.''
Under a Safe Harbor Agreement, participating landowners voluntarily
undertake management activities on their property to enhance, restore,
or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). Safe Harbor Agreements, and the subsequent enhancement
of survival permits that are issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of
the ESA, encourage private and other non-Federal property owners to
implement conservation efforts for 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. Application requirements
and issuance criteria for enhancement of survival permits for Safe
Harbor Agreements are found in 50 CFR 17.22(c). These permits allow any
necessary future incidental take of any covered species above the
mutually agreed upon baseline conditions for those species in
accordance with the terms of the permit and accompanying agreement.
Proposed Agreement
We jointly developed the proposed Agreement with the ODFW for the
conservation of the Lahontan cutthroat trout. The proposed term of the
permit and Agreement is 30 years. The area covered by this Agreement
includes all non-Federal land portions of the Quinn River, Coyote Lake,
and Alvord basins located in Harney and Malheur Counties, Oregon; these
areas comprise the estimated historical and current distribution of the
species in Oregon. Sites within basins not currently occupied by the
Lahontan cutthroat trout will have a baseline condition of zero unless
a landowner is willing to accept a baseline greater than zero to
support an enhanced level of conservation after the Agreement expires.
Sites within basins currently occupied by the Lahontan cutthroat trout
will have their baseline conditions determined on a case-by-case basis,
with landowner consent.
The purpose of this Agreement is to enhance the reintroduction and
long-term recovery of the Lahontan cutthroat trout within the Northwest
Geographic Management Unit that includes the Quinn River, Coyote Lake,
and Alvord basins in southeastern Oregon, by encouraging private
landowners to voluntarily create, enhance, maintain, or restore
Lahontan cutthroat trout habitat. Under this Agreement, private lands
may be enrolled through individual Cooperative Agreements between the
ODFW and cooperating landowners (Cooperators). The duration of the
Cooperative Agreements will be a minimum of 10 years. Cooperators will
be issued a Certificate of Inclusion, which will allow activities on
the enrolled properties to be covered by ODFW's section 10(a)(1)(A)
Enhancement of Survival permit. Cooperators may renew their Cooperative
Agreements to remain in effect for the 30-year duration of the permit.
Cooperators will avoid conducting activities that could adversely
affect the Lahontan cutthroat trout's habitat during the term of their
Cooperative Agreement. Using site-specific Cooperative Agreements, ODFW
intends to enroll landowners who are willing to allow the introduction
or expansion of Lahontan cutthroat trout within streams on their
private lands. Landowners would also voluntarily commit to engage in
conservation practices that may include: Control of herd stocking rates
and seasons, livestock exclusion, off-site water development,
alternative haying, crop selection modification, fertilizer management,
and modification of irrigation practices. Several additional
conservation measures that may be implemented include: Road or trail
management, including improved stream crossings or fish passage
structures; riparian vegetation plantings and rehabilitation projects;
and stream habitat improvement projects.
Without the regulatory assurances provided through the Agreement
and permit, landowners may be unwilling or reluctant to engage in
activities that would place federally listed species such as the
Lahontan cutthroat trout onto their properties. The proposed Agreement
is expected to provide a net conservation benefit to the Lahontan
cutthroat trout in Oregon by expanding and possibly creating new
populations through translocations or by enhancing the quality,
quantity, or connectivity of existing habitat for naturally occurring
populations, thereby increasing the distribution and abundance of the
species.
[[Page 38206]]
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the proposed
Agreement and permit application are eligible for a categorical
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; NEPA). We explain the basis for this determination
in an Environmental Action Statement that is also available for public
review (see Availability of Documents section above). The Service will
evaluate the permit application, associated documents, and comments
submitted thereon to determine whether the permit application meets the
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA and NEPA regulations.
If we determine that all requirements are met, we will sign the
Agreement and issue an enhancement of survival permit under section
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA to ODFW for the take of Lahontan cutthroat
trout, incidental to otherwise lawful activities in accordance with the
terms of the Agreement. This notice is provided pursuant to section
10(c) of the ESA and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: June 21, 2011.
Paul Henson,
State Supervisor, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2011-16336 Filed 6-28-11; 8:45 am]
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