[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63054-63055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29942]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the American Burying
Beetle by Weyerhaeuser Company for Timber Harvesting and Management in
Little River County, AR, and McCurtain County, OK
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Weyerhaeuser Company (Applicant) is seeking an incidental take
permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended.
The permit would authorize the take of the American Burying Beetle
(Nicrophorus americanus), an endangered species, in Little River
County, Arkansas, and McCurtain County, Oklahoma, for a period of 35
years. The proposed incidental take would result from normal forestry
and other operational and management practices performed on the
Applicant's lands.
The Service also announces the availability of a habitat
conservation plan (HCP) and environmental assessment (EA). The
Applicant's HCP describes conservation measures that will be taken to
minimize and mitigate coincidentally with incidental take of the
American burying beetle (ABB) by undertaking a research program into
the long-term conservation needs of the affected species and by
limiting certain ground-disturbing activities. Reporting and amendment
procedures are included to ensure that the Applicant's management
activities may continue to consider the latest scientific information
pertaining to distribution and habitat requirements of the ABB and to
address unforeseen circumstances. The EA prepared by the Service
describes the environmental consequences of issuing or denying the
incidental take permit. As stated in the EA, the Service proposes to
issue the requested permit. This proposal is based on a preliminary
determination that the Applicant has satisfied the requirements for
permit issuance and that the HCP provides conservation benefits to the
ABB that exceed the impact of the expected level of incidental take.
Copies of the EA and HCP may be obtained by making a written request to
the Regional Office [See ADDRESSES below]. This notice is provided
pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and National Environmental Policy
Act Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
DATES: Written comments on the permit application, EA, and HCP should
be received on or before January 8, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may
obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office,
Atlanta, Georgia. Requests for the documents must be in writing to be
processed. Documents will also be available for public inspection by
appointment during normal business hours at the Regional Office, or the
Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office. Written data or comments concerning
the application, EA, or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office.
Please reference permit under PRT-809072 in such comments:
Regional Permit Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875
Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia (404-679-7110, fax 404-
679-7081)
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood View
Parkway, Suite A, Jackson, Mississippi 39213 (601-965-4900, fax 601-
965-4340)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Will McDearman, Jackson, Mississippi
Field Office or Rick Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia Regional Office.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Act, and implementing
regulations, prohibits the take of RCWs. Take, in part, is defined as
an activity that kills, injures, harms, or harasses a listed endangered
or threatened species. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provides an
exemption, under certain circumstances, to the Section 9 prohibition if
the taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of an otherwise lawful
activity.
This application for incidental taking is associated with a three-
way land exchange proposed in Arkansas and Oklahoma. It involves the
Applicant, the Service, and the Forest Service. The proposed exchange
was formulated in consultation with State and local interests. The
Applicant's openness to the proposal is based on its interest in
consolidating ownership and obtaining land and timber more
strategically located to its sawmills. Additionally, some of its
existing lands with their associated non-timber values are better
suited for public ownership and management. The Applicant and the two
Federal agencies believe the proposed exchange satisfies the desire to
place these lands in public ownership and better aligns the highest and
best land uses with landowner interest and objectives.
The land exchange is approximately a 4 to 1 ratio, with the
Applicant contributing the larger share. The Applicant will transfer
approximately 150,000 acres to the Federal government. About 100,000
acres of this lies in southeast Oklahoma around Broken Bow Lake and
near the McCurtain County Wilderness Area, a site operated by the
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Other acreage consists of
sites totalling approximately 25,000 acres near areas of strong public
interest including Lake Ouachita, Little Missouri Wild and Scenic
River, Glover River, Lower Mountain Fork River, Flatside Wilderness
Area and other parts of the Ouachita National Forest. The Applicant
will also transfer some 25,000 acres of nationally significant wetland
habitat to the Service to be incorporated into the existing Cossatot
National Wildlife Refuge to be managed for public benefits associated
with wetland flora and fauna.
The Applicant will acquire approximately 40,000 acres from the
Federal government, including 27,000 acres of the Tiak Ranger District
of the Ouachita National Forest in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The
remaining acreage is in smaller, scattered tracts in Garland, Yell and
Perry Counties, Arkansas. As a result of the land exchange described
above, the Applicant will obtain ownership of land with known
populations of ABB. The ABB is known to occur on or near the Tiak
Ranger District, a substantial portion of which is to be received by
the Applicant in the land exchange. This species is a carrion beetle,
family Silphidae, and is also called the giant carrion beetle. It is
the largest member of a guild of beetles that breed and rear their
young on vertebrate carcasses. Like other burying beetles, the ABB is a
highly social species that provides biparental care to its young. Once
widely distributed throughout Eastern North America, this species is
believed to have disappeared from most of its historic range. Very
little is known
[[Page 63055]]
about the life history of the species, including how forest structures
affect population dynamics.
Potential taking incidental to the Applicant's proposed land
management activities is largely associated with forest management in
the permit area. There are, however, a variety of other potential
effects associated with ownership and management which could also
result in an incidental taking of the ABB. The following forest and
land management activities are included for permit coverage: (1) Timber
harvest, logging decks and pushout roads for access; (2) Site
preparation activities; (3) tree planting; (4) thinning and pruning of
trees; (5) pesticide use and prescribed burning; (6) food plot creation
and other wildlife management activities; (7) leasing, exploration, and
mining of minerals, oils, gas, and other natural resources; (8) right
of way, road easements, and pipelines; (9) livestock grazing and
fencing; (10) pond construction and maintenance; (11) road construction
and maintenance; (12) fire lanes and helicopter pads; (13) hunting/
recreational use activities; and, (14) miscellaneous activities which
may cause minor ground disturbances. To address the effects of these
activities on the ABB, the Applicant proposes to initiate a strategy
which focuses on addressing research and management needs of the ABB on
a landscape scale. This includes a baseline survey of ABB abundance and
distribution, a research and monitoring program, restrictions on
pesticide use, limiting ground disturbance activities during certain
periods of the year, and an adaptive management approach to forest
practices that incorporates new information on the ABB's needs and
requirements as elucidated by the aforementioned research/monitoring
plan. The Applicant will provide funding for the HCP over its 35-year
life.
The EA considers the environmental consequences of several
alternatives; issue the requested permit as conditioned by the HCP,
issue a permit predicated on a different mitigation/ minimization
strategy for the ABB, or take no action (deny permit). The Service
finds the greatest conservation benefits accompany the HCP and proposed
permit. The Service's proposed alternative is to issue the requested
incidental take permit, based upon the submitted HCP. The principal
environmental consequence of permit issuance, in the Service's
assessment, is to sustain or enhance the status of the ABB, via
implementation and funding the mitigation and minimization measures as
outlined above.
Dated: December 1, 1995.
Noreen K. Clough,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-29942 Filed 12-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
