[Federal Register: October 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 190)]
[Notices]
[Page 56082-56083]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02oc07-51]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Receipt of an Application for Extension of an Incidental Take
Permit for the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker by the Woodlands Group, LLC, in
Livingston Parish, LA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On July 21, 2003, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
issued an incidental take permit (ITP) associated with a habitat
conservation plan (HCP) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1539), as amended, for the
incidental take of the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker
(Picoides borealis) (RCW) to the Woodlands Group, LLC (Permittee). The
permit (TE037661-0) was for a period of four years and expired on July
31, 2007. The requested permit extension by the Permittee will extend
the permit expiration date nine years.
DATES: Written comments should be sent to the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Regional Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be received on or
before November 1, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Persons interested in reviewing the permit extension
application or other related documents may obtain a copy by submitting
a written request to James Boggs, Acting Field Office Supervisor, Fish
and Wildlife Service, 646 Cajundome Boulevard, Suite 400, Lafayette,
Louisiana 70506. Documents will be available for public inspection by
appointment during normal business hours at the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,
Georgia 30345 (Attn: Aaron Valenta).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Valenta, Regional HCP
Coordinator (see ADDRESSES), telephone: 404/679-4144, or James Boggs
(see ADDRESSES), telephone 337/291-3115.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We specifically request information, views,
and opinions from the public via this notice on the Federal action,
including the identification of any other aspects of the human
environment not already identified in the Environmental Assessment
(EA). Further, we specifically solicit information regarding the
adequacy of the HCP as measured against our ITP issuance criteria found
in 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.
The permit authorizes take of RCWs on approximately 99 of 971 acres
owned by the Permittee in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The proposed
take would be incidental to otherwise lawful activities, including
timber harvest and typical forest management activities on the
Permittee's property. The extension request covers the same activities
covered by the HCP and existing permit. There will be no increase in
take beyond that anticipated in the original permit.
The previously prepared HCP specifies the impacts that are likely
to result from the taking and the measures the Permittee has taken to
minimize and mitigate such impacts. The ITP authorized take of three
RCW groups on the Permittee's property incidental to timber management
activities. The mitigation and minimization measures in the HCP
include: No take of RCWs during the breeding season; establishment of
three replacement groups on Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
by provisioning recruitment territories; translocating juveniles
fledged on the Permittee's property; monitoring the formation of
breeding pairs; funding an endowment for habitat management (prescribed
burning); and, translocating adult RCWs from the Permittee's property
to Fort Polk Military Reservation in Louisiana prior to harvesting
timber. The Permittee successfully completed the required minimization
and mitigation measures outlined in the HCP by July 2004.
RCW nesting and foraging habitat were removed in one cluster
incidental to the timber harvest that was completed in that cluster.
Due to poor market conditions, the Permittee had not harvested timber
in the remaining two RCW clusters by the time the ITP expired and thus
requests extension of the ITP. If renewed, annual reporting will no
longer be required because the Permittee has completed the specified
minimization and mitigation requirements. However, all other permit
terms and conditions will remain the same, and no additional take will
be authorized. The existing HCP satisfies all statutory issuance
criteria and is therefore applicable to the extension of this ITP.
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by any one of
several methods. Please reference permit number TE037661-0, The
Woodlands Group, LLC, in such comments. You may mail comments to the
Fish and Wildlife Service's Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). You may
also comment via the internet to aaron_valenta@fws.gov. Please include
your name and return address in your internet message. If you do not
receive a confirmation from us that we have received your internet
message, contact us directly at either telephone number listed
previously (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to either Fish and Wildlife
Service office listed (see ADDRESSES). Our practice is to make
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents
may request that we withhold their home address from the administrative
record. We will honor such requests to the extent allowable by law.
There may also be other circumstances in which we would
[[Page 56083]]
withhold from the administrative record a respondent's identity, as
allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and address, you
must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments. We will
not, however, consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions
from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
We will evaluate whether the extension of the section 10(a)(1)(B)
ITP complies with section 7 of the Act by reviewing our previously
prepared intra-Service section 7 consultation. The results of the
biological opinion, in combination with the above findings, will be
used in the final analysis to determine whether or not to issue an
extension of this ITP.
Dated: August 30, 2007.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. E7-19402 Filed 10-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P