PORTLAND, Ore. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is announcing the availability of a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Oregon Department of State Lands’ proposed Elliott State Research Forest (Forest) Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and associated request for incidental take permits under the Endangered Species Act. The HCP supports forest research and management activities and the conservation of listed species and their habitat on the Forest, located in Coos and Douglas County, Oregon.
“We have been working with Oregon Department of State Lands and partners for many years toward the shared goal of an operational and public research forest which provides for both conservation of at-risk species and timber management,” said the Service’s Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office State Supervisor Kessina Lee.
The Service developed the final EIS considering input from individuals and interested parties submitted on the draft EIS released in November of 2022. Cooperating agencies for the development of the EIS included NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), the Oregon Department of Forestry, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“The information we receive during public comment periods is vital to our decision-making process, and it’s important to have the opportunity for everyone’s voice to be heard,” said Lee.
The final EIS evaluates effects of the proposed action and several alternatives and is one of the last steps before the Service decides whether to issue an 80-year incidental take permit to Oregon Department of State Lands for northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet based on the HCP. A separate decision whether to issue an incidental take permit regarding Oregon coast coho would be made by NOAA Fisheries.
The final EIS will publish in the Federal Register on January 10, 2025, and the Service will issue a record of decision no sooner than 30 days after the notice publication date. The final EIS document will be available on www.regulations.gov by searching under the docket number FWS–R1–ES–2022–0029 and will be posted to the Service’s Elliott State Research Forest HCP webpage.
For more information about habitat conservation plans, please visit: https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/habitat-conservation-plan-fact-sheet.pdf
