[Federal Register: September 8, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 174)]
[Notices]
[Page 53129-53130]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08se06-64]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Proposed Joint Programmatic Candidate Conservation Agreement with
Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreement for Select Species in the Upper
Little Red River Watershed, Arkansas
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Arkansas Ecological Service Field Office (ARFO), Arkansas
Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), have applied to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (we or Service) for an enhancement of survival permit
(permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit application includes a proposal
that combines a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA)
for the candidate yellowcheek darter (Etheostoma moorei; YCD) with a
Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) for the federally endangered speckled
pocketbook (Lampsilis streckeri; SPB)--jointly referred to as the
``Agreement.'' The term of the Agreement will be 30 years. If approved,
the Agreement would allow the Applicants to issue Certificates of
Inclusion (CI) throughout the upper Little Red River Watershed in
Arkansas to eligible non-Federal landowners that complete an approved
Property Owner Management Agreement (POMA).
We announce the opening of a 30-day comment period and request
comments from the public on the Applicant's permit application, the
accompanying proposed Agreement, and the supporting National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before October 10,
2006.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the information available by
contacting the Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Arkansas
Ecological Services Field Office, 1500 Museum Road, Suite 105, Conway,
Arkansas 72032. Alternatively, you may set up an appointment to view
these documents during normal business hours. Written data or comments
should be submitted to the Service's Regional Safe Harbor Coordinator,
Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,
Georgia 30345. Note that requests for any documents must be in writing
to be processed. When you are requesting or reviewing the information
provided in this notice, please reference ``Programmatic CCAA and SHA
in the Upper Little Red River'' in any correspondence.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Chris Davidson, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES
above), telephone (501) 513-4481; or Mr. Rick Gooch, Regional Safe
Harbor Program Coordinator, Regional Office (see ADDRESSES above),
telephone (404) 679-7124.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under a CCAA, participating property owners
voluntarily undertake management activities on their property to
enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting candidate species for
listing under the Act. CCAAs encourage private and other non-Federal
property owners to implement conservation efforts for candidate species
by assuring property owners they will not be subjected to increased
property use restrictions should the species become listed as
threatened or endangered under the Act. Under a SHA, participating
property owners voluntarily undertake management activities on their
property to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting federally
listed species under the Act. SHAs encourage private and other non-
Federal property owners to implement conservation efforts for federally
listed species by assuring property owners they will not be subjected
to increased property use restrictions under the Act. Application
requirements and issuance criteria for SHAs and CCAAs are found in 50
CFR 17.22(d) and 50 CFR 17.32(d), respectively. Because of the
significant overlap between the two covered
[[Page 53130]]
species' habitat requirements and the anticipated beneficial effects
from implementation of the voluntary conservation measures on both
species, we believe that it is appropriate to combine the CCAA/SHA
elements in a single Agreement for consideration in this notice.
The ARFO, AFGC, NRCS, and TNC's proposed watershed wide joint
Agreement is designed to encourage voluntary habitat restoration and/or
enhancement actions to benefit either or both of the covered species.
The geographic scope of the Agreement is approximately 558,615 acres of
the upper Little Red River watershed in north central Arkansas. Lands
potentially eligible for inclusion include all privately owned lands,
State lands, and public lands owned by cities, counties, and
municipalities, with potentially suitable habitat for the covered
species in the upper Little Red River watershed. Simultaneous to
implementation of voluntary management actions through the individual
landowner agreements (the POMA), the Agreement will provide specific
regulatory assurances.
Under the Agreement's CCAA program element (covering the YCD), the
landowner will not have any responsibility under the Act beyond that
which exists at the time he or she enters into the program, even if the
YCD becomes federally listed. The POMA will identify any existing YCD
habitat and will describe the actions that the landowner commits to
take (e.g., riparian revegetation, livestock fencing, etc.) or will
allow to be taken to improve YCD habitat on the property, and the time
period within which those actions are to be taken and maintained. When
combined with actions of other landowners throughout the watershed,
conservation actions taken by a specific landowner should preclude the
need to list the YCD as threatened or endangered under the Act.
Under the Agreement's SHA element (covering the SPB), each POMA
will identify any existing SPB habitat on the landowner's property and
will describe the actions that the landowner commits to take (e.g.,
riparian revegetation, livestock fencing, etc.) or will allow to be
taken to improve SPB habitat on the property, and the time period
within which those actions are to be taken and maintained. Under the
POMA, the landowner will have the option of returning the enrolled
lands to baseline conditions, even if such actions will result in the
incidental taking of SPB.
The proposed Agreement is being evaluated for Categorical Exclusion
from the NEPA process. As a result, no other alternatives have been
evaluated to implement conservation efforts for either the YCD or SPB
at this time. Entering into a POMA is strictly voluntary for
landowners. We do not foresee any detrimental effects to the human
environment resulting from approval and implementation of this
application and Agreement. We believe that the net effect of the
Agreement will be to increase the amount of habitat available for the
two covered species and improve overall water quality conditions
throughout the watershed. It is therefore likely that the Agreement
will meet the requirements to be categorically excluded from the NEPA
process.
We provide this notice pursuant to section 10(c) of the Endangered
Species Act and pursuant to implementing regulations for the National
Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR 1506.6). We will evaluate the proposed
Agreement, associated documents, and comments submitted thereon to
determine whether the requirements of section 10(a) of the Act and NEPA
regulations have been met. If we determine that the requirements are
met, we will issue a permit under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Act to the
Applicants in accordance with the applicable regulatory requirements.
We will not make our final decision until after the end of the 30-day
comment period and will fully consider all comments received during the
comment period.
Dated: August 30, 2006.
Ed Buskirk,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. E6-14867 Filed 9-7-06; 8:45 am]
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