[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18440-18442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9247]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Endangered and Threatened Species Permit Application
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of permit application and availability of
Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Department of Natural
Resources, State of Wisconsin (WDNR) has applied to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant to
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act). This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq.).
Permit Number TE 010064
Applicant: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, State of
Wisconsin, and Twenty-five Partners.
The applicant requests a permit to authorize the incidental take
associated with habitat modification (i.e., harm), of the Karner Blue
Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) which is federally listed as
endangered. The permit is requested for the State of Wisconsin, in its
entirety, for a period of 10 years.
The Service requests comments from the public on the incidental
take permit application and the accompanying Wisconsin Statewide
Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan). The Plan fully describes the proposed
activities and the measures the WDNR and 25 HCP Partners will undertake
to conserve the species while conducting otherwise lawful land use
activities. These measures and associated impacts are also described in
the background and summary information that follow.
We also request comments from the public on our Draft Environmental
Impact Statement Number DES 99-9, prepared in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act, and the Department of the Interior
Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1).
DATES: Written comments on the permit application and Plan should be
received on or before June 14, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Individuals wishing copies of the permit application,
Habitat Conservation Plan, or Draft Environmental Impact Statement, may
contact the office and personnel listed below. The Habitat Conservation
Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement may be accessed through
the internet at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Web Page (http://
www.fws.gov/r3pao) or the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Web
Page (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/publications/karner/
karner.htm). Documents also will be available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business hours at the address below.
Document Availability: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1015
Challenger Court, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54311, (920) 465-7440; FAX (920)
465-7410.
Three public information meetings are scheduled to provide the
public an additional forum to learn about the HCP/EIS and proposed
activities. Representatives from the U.S. Fish and
[[Page 18441]]
Wildlife Service, the WDNR, and others will be available at these
meetings. Meetings will begin at 5:00 with question and answer period,
followed by presentations and gathering of comments at 6:00pm. Meeting
locations are as follows:
Tuesday, May 11, 1999--Siren, Wisconsin, at the Burnett County
Government Center, 7410 County Road K, Siren, WI 54872, (Room number to
be posted)
Wednesday, May 12, 1999--Black River Falls, at the County Courthouse,
307 Main Street, Black River Falls, WI 54615, (County Board Room)
Thursday, May 13, 1999--Wisconsin Rapids, at the Midstate Technical
College, 500 32nd Street, N, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494, (L Building
Auditorium)
Written comments regarding the permit application, the HCP or Draft
EIS should be addressed to the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111-4056.
Comments must be submitted to this address to be considered by the
Service in its final decision. Please refer to permit number TE 010064
when submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Mandell, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, telephone 612-713-5343.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under Section 9 of the Act and applicable
federal regulations, the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered
or threatened is prohibited. However, the Service, under limited
circumstances, may issue permits to ``take'' listed species, provided
such take is incidental to, and not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing permits for endangered species are
promulgated in 50 CFR 17.22. Regulations governing permits for
threatened species are promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32.
Background
The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) was
federally-listed as endangered on December 14, 1992. Historically, the
Karner blue butterfly occurred in a narrow band extending from eastern
Minnesota, across portions of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Michigan, Ohio, Canada (Ontario), Pennsylvania, New York, Maine,
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. At the time of listing, the butterfly
was considered to be extirpated from Illinois, Iowa, Maine,
Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. To date, recovery
efforts have included conservation of existing populations and
reintroduction of the Karner blue butterfly into Ohio. At the time of
listing, the primary threats to the Karner blue butterfly were habitat
loss due to modification and destruction, habitat loss due to the
absence of natural disturbances, silviculture and fragmentation of
remaining habitat.
The habitat of the Karner blue butterfly is characterized by the
presence of wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), a member of the pea family.
Wild lupine is the only known larval food plant for the species and is,
therefore, closely tied to the butterfly's ecology and distribution. In
the Midwest, the habitat is dry and sandy, including oak savanna and
jack pine areas, and dune/sandplain communities. It is believed that
the Karner blue butterfly originally occurred as shifting clusters of
populations, or metapopulations, across a vast fire-swept landscape
covering thousands of acres. While the fires resulted in localized
extirpation, post-fire vegetational succession promoted colonization
and rapid population buildups (Schweitzer 1989).
In Wisconsin, Karner blue butterfly populations are concentrated
across the central counties and in the northwest. The populations occur
primarily on sandy soil areas that support wild lupine, although
presence of this habitat alone does not indicate presence of Karner
blue butterflies. It appears that other climatic and biological factors
also influence suitability of habitat. Currently, abandoned
agricultural fields, transportation corridors, rights-of way, managed
forests, managed barrens, savannas, and prairies are areas where one
might find Karner blue butterflies in Wisconsin.
Following the listing of the butterfly, the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources recognized the need to address take of the butterfly
while conducting otherwise lawful land use activities, including forest
management, savanna management, etc. A coalition was formed, and the
result of the effort is the Habitat Conservation Plan summarized below,
which is currently under consideration for an incidental take permit.
Summary of the Habitat Conservation Plan
The WDNR is interested in administering the Incidental Take Permit
for lands throughout the state. Twenty-six partners are included in the
application. The WDNR has developed a Species and Habitat Conservation
Agreement (SHCA) for state lands and twenty-five partners to the HCP
have entered into an SHCA with the WDNR. New partners to the HCP that
enter into the process after the proposed permit is issued will be
provided with Certificates of Inclusion by the Service once they have
signed an SHCA that meets Service and State criteria.
The WDNR and partners have identified a variety of conservation
activities that will be undertaken to minimize harm to the butterfly
and mitigate unavoidable permanent take during otherwise lawful land
use activities. Strategies are included for conservation in forestry
management, right-of-way management, barrens management, transportation
corridor management, and management of areas to benefit recovery of the
species. WDNR proposes to be responsible to ensure compliance and
supervise monitoring of take activities.
The WDNR, in the HCP and application, is proposing a statewide
Participation Plan that identifies the roles and responsibilities of
the current partners and describes: (a) The process for incorporating
new partners into the Permit, (b) articulates when and what activities
require a separate, individual permit or authorization, and (c)
encourages private landowner participation in conservation of the
Karner blue butterfly throughout Wisconsin on a voluntary basis. The
latter strategy involves encouraging conservation of the Karner blue
butterfly through a geographically focused education and outreach
program implemented by partners with no regulatory mandate attached to
this group of landowners (conservation by this group is optional). This
is an extremely innovative approach, but has been proposed based on an
extensive, biologically justified analysis of the risk involved in
terms of potential to take the butterfly, a rigorous outreach program,
and conservation commitments by the WDNR and 25 partners. The WDNR
developed the risk assessment associated with implementation of the
Participation Plan, which graphically demonstrates (by county) the
biological risk and mitigation potential associated with implementation
of the Participation Plan. The expectation is that the combination of
mitigation by the DNR and Partners, realized through their conservation
and recovery commitments and efforts to maximize outreach in the areas
most critical to survival and conservation of the species, will provide
a net benefit to the species. The Service proposes to condition
approval of this Participation Plan on a three year trial period for
implementation of this strategy, along with a detailed and extensive
reporting requirement
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designed to monitor the success of its implementation.
The monitoring program includes three components: (1) An
effectiveness monitoring protocol implemented yearly to detect
statewide trends of the Karner blue butterfly habitat, presence and
relative abundance, (2) self-monitoring to integrate partner survey and
management information, and (3) an adaptive management approach. As
part of an adaptive management approach, the partners have agreed that
modified conservation measures and alternative management regimes will
be implemented if monitoring indicates that conservation efforts do not
produce the anticipated, desirable result for the butterfly.
The stated biological goal of this HCP is no-net-loss of habitat
for the Karner blue butterfly over the life of the plan. A primary
objective is to maintain a shifting mosaic of habitat across the
Wisconsin landscape over time, which will provide for the ecological
needs of the species.
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act. The
Service will evaluate the permit application, HCP, Implementation
Agreement, Partners' Species and Habitat Conservation Agreements, and
comments submitted relative to the proposed action to determine whether
the application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. If
it is determined that the requirements are met, a permit will be issued
for the incidental take of Karner blue butterfly.
Reference Cited
Schweitzer, D.F. 1989. Fact sheet for the Karner blue butterfly with
special reference to New York. The Nature Conservancy, internal
document, 7 pp.
Dated: April 6, 1999.
Marvin E. Moriarty,
Acting Regional Director, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
[FR Doc. 99-9247 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
