96-3566. Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application Submitted by Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel for an Incidental Take Permit for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Association With Timber Harvesting Activities on ...

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6254-6255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3566]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an 
Application Submitted by Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel for an 
Incidental Take Permit for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Association With 
Timber Harvesting Activities on Their Property in Orangeburg County, 
South Carolina

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel (Applicants) have 
applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an incidental take 
permit pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (Act), as amended. The proposed permit would authorize the 
incidental take of a federally endangered species, the red-cockaded 
woodpecker Picoides borealis (RCW) known to occur on property owned by 
the Applicants in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The Applicants 
propose to harvest 106 acres of timber on their 446-acre property 
located approximately 3.5 miles south of Elloree. The proposed permit 
would authorize incidental take of RCWs on this property in exchange 
for mitigation elsewhere as described further in the Supplementary 
Information Section below.
    The Service also announces the availability of an environmental 
assessment (EA) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the incidental 
take application. Copies of the EA or HCP may be obtained by making a 
request to the Regional Office address below. Requests must be 
submitted in writing to be processed. This notice is provided pursuant 
to Section 10 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 
sent to the Regional Permit Coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia, at the 
address below and should be received on or before March 18, 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. Documents will also be available for public 
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Regional 
Office; or the Asheville, North Carolina or Charleston, South Carolina 
Field Offices. Written data or comments concerning the application, EA, 
or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. Please reference 
permit under PRT-810934 in such comments.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (AES/TE), 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 
200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345, Telephone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 160 Zillicoa Street, 
Asheville, North Carolina 28801, Telephone: [phone]
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 217 Fort Johnson 
Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29422-2559, Telephone: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Nicholls at the Asheville, 
North Carolina Field Office, or Lori Duncan at the Charleston, South 
Carolina, Field Office, or Rick G. Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia, 
Regional Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RCW is a territorial, non-migratory 
cooperative breeding bird species. RCWs live in social units called 
groups which generally consist of a breeding pair, the current year's 
offspring, and one or more helpers (normally adult male offspring of 
the breeding pair from previous years). Groups maintain year-round 
territories near their roost and nest trees. The RCW is unique among 
the North American woodpeckers in 

[[Page 6255]]
that it is the only woodpecker that excavates its roost and nest 
cavities in living pine trees. Each group member has its own cavity, 
although there may be multiple cavities in a single pine tree. The 
aggregate of cavity trees is called a cluster. RCWs forage almost 
exclusively on pine trees and they generally prefer pines greater than 
10 inches diameter at breast height. Foraging habitat is contiguous 
with the cluster. The number of acres required to supply adequate 
foraging habitat depends on the quantity and quality of the pine stems 
available.
    The RCW is endemic to the pine forests of the Southeastern United 
States and was once widely distributed across 16 States. The species 
evolved in a mature fire-maintained ecosystem. The RCW has declined 
primarily due to the conversion of mature pine forests to young pine 
plantations, agricultural fields, and residential and commercial 
developments, and to hardwood encroachment in existing pine forests due 
to fire suppression. The species is still widely distributed (presently 
occurs in 13 southeastern States), but remaining populations are highly 
fragmented and isolated. Presently, the largest populations occur on 
federally owned lands such as military installations and national 
forests.
    In South Carolina, there are an estimated 681 active RCW clusters 
as of 1994; 67 percent are on Federal lands, 6 percent are on State 
lands, and 27 percent are on private lands. The populations on public 
lands are generally stable, and in some cases are increasing. The 
overall population trend on private lands in South Carolina, on the 
other hand, is downward. Most RCW populations on private lands are 
relatively small and isolated.
    The Applicant's land in Orangeburg County hosts a small and 
isolated population of RCWs. As of 1995, there were 2 active RCW 
clusters; 1 breeding group and 1 solitary adult male. The nearest known 
RCW group occurs on private lands approximately 2.5 miles to the north 
of the Gasque/Felkel tract near Elloree. The nearest known RCW 
concentration (greater than 5 groups) occurs over 10-15 miles away on 
the Manchester State Forest/Shaw Air Force Base to the north in Sumter 
County, and on the privately-owned Norfolk Southern property located 
south of the Gasque/Felkel tract in Dorchester County. The Applicants 
propose to harvest timber on their property for supplemental income. 
Timber harvesting activities may result in death of, or harm to, any 
remaining RCWs through the loss of nesting and foraging habitat.
    The EA considers the environmental consequences of three 
alternatives, including the proposed action. The proposed action 
alternative is issuance of the incidental take permit and 
implementation of the HCP as submitted by the Applicants. The HCP will 
provide for the provisioning of 4 clusters with artificial starts and 
cavities on suitable habitat on the Sandhills State Forest in 
Chesterfield County. The Sandhills State Forest is part of a designated 
recovery population for the RCW in the South Carolina Sandhills 
Physiographic Province. The State Forest has a total of 46,000 acres of 
which 40,000 acres are manageable pine lands (predominately longleaf 
pine). The State Forest currently has 55 active RCW groups with a long-
term goal of increasing the population to assist with the recovery of 
the South Carolina Sandhills population. The HCP will also involve the 
translocation of any juveniles produced by the breeding pair on the 
Gasque/Felkel property to the provisioned sites at the Sandhills State 
Forest. Finally, the HCP will involve monitoring the provisioned sites 
for a specified time period at the State Forest to determine success of 
the provisioning efforts. The HCP provides a funding source for the 
mitigation measures.

    Dated: January 9, 1996.
Noreen K. Clough,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 96-3566 Filed 2-15-96; 8:45 am]
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