The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan and issued an incidental take permit to the County of San Luis Obispo , authorizing take of Morro shoulderband snail that would result from covered activities in the Community of Los Osos in San Luis Obispo County. The Service also completed a Finding of No Significant Impact as a result of the completion of the Environmental Assessment informing the HCP. The plan balances the needs for residential and commercial development, infrastructure maintenance, and implementation of fire hazard reduction with the conservation of federally listed animals and plants. The Service signed the 25-year incidental take permit on February 15, 2024.

Habitat conservation plans are planning documents required as part of an application for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. They describe the anticipated effects on the federally listed species that may result from the proposed activities, how those impacts will be minimized or mitigated, and how the HCP is to be funded. The HCP describes measures designed to avoid, minimize, and offset the effects of the covered activities on federally listed wildlife and plant species.

The Service regularly engages conservation partners, the public, landowners, government agencies, and other stakeholders in our ongoing effort to identify innovative strategies for conserving and recovering protected wildlife, plants, and their habitats. Working with others is essential to protecting ecosystems that benefit society as a whole.

The Endangered Species Act defines “take” as “…to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” “Harm” includes significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures a listed species through impairing essential behavior such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering. Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act prohibits the take of endangered and threatened species. The purpose of the incidental take permit is to exempt non-federal permit-holders, such as states and private landowners, from the prohibitions of section 9. After working with the county to develop avoidance and minimization measures to limit effects to listed species, the Service is exempting the prohibitions of take; the Service is not authorizing the activities that may result in take.

The county is required to develop an HCP as part of their application for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. Land within the 3,209-acre permit area provides habitat for the federally listed Morro shoulderband snail, Morro Bay kangaroo rat, Morro manzanita, and Indian Knob mountainbalm, as well as many other native plant and animal species. The permit authorizes take of the federally threatened Morro shoulderband snail that could incidentally result from the covered activities. The HCP includes conservation measures for not only the Morro shoulderband snail, but also the Morro Bay kangaroo rat, Morro manzanita, Indian Knob mountainbalm, as well as migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 

By collaborating with the Service, the county has developed a plan to focus on conservation of larger more intact habitat and development within areas of Los Osos where habitat is fragmented and degraded. Proponents of covered activities, including private landowners, agencies, and organizations that choose to participate in the HCP, will receive “take coverage” through Certificates of Inclusion. The county will offer Certificates of Inclusion to applicants who qualify under the HCP. 

Certificates of Inclusion are legal documents that confer the county’s federal take coverage to others who agree to the terms of the incidental take permit. It is anticipated that for general applicants, Certificates of Inclusion will be issued once the county has accrued mitigation credits through the conservation program described in the HCP. The HCP has a “stay ahead” provision so that the county can only confer take coverage to applicants after it has accrued sufficient mitigation to offset the impacts being proposed. The schedule of mitigation credit accrual depends on the method of mitigation. Protecting land for conservation could offer mitigation credits right away. Restoration of native habitat would need to reach a predefined set goal prior to mitigation being credited.

The covered activities in the HCP could result in take, prohibited by the Endangered Species Act. An incidental take permit is required to lawfully conduct those activities. Obtaining a Certificate of Inclusion will provide a cost-effective and streamlined approach to obtaining take coverage to conduct activities already covered under the county’s ITP in application of incidental take permit.

Covered species include the federally threatened Morro shoulderband snail and Morro manzanita, and the federally endangered Morro Bay kangaroo rat and Indian Knob mountainbalm. While the incidental take permit only covers take of the Morro shoulderband snail, the HCP includes conservation measures and actions to avoid and offset impacts to the covered species.

The permit covers 3,209 acres of Los Osos.  The covered activities are residential and commercial development, infrastructure development, habitat restoration conducted by the County, and fire hazard reduction.

The permit term for the HCP is 25 years after the effective date.

The documents can be found at the following link.

The county will start accumulating mitigation credits.  Once they have been accrued through habitat restoration or preserve establishment, they can then issue the Certificates of Inclusion for all covered activities. Some of the covered activities, such as residential development, may need to wait for Certificates of Inclusion until the water basin goals of the Los Osos Community Plan are met.  

For more information about habitat conservation plans, visit: https://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/hcp-overview.html