[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10400-10401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4543]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and an Application 
for an Incidental Take Permit to Implement the Red-cockaded Woodpecker 
``Safe Harbor'' Program in the Sandhills Region of North Carolina

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) Red-cockaded 
Woodpecker Recovery Coordinator (Applicant) is seeking an incidental 
take permit pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit would authorize the take of 
the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker Picoides borealis 
(RCW) at some point in the future, incidental to such lawful activities 
as timber harvesting, residential development, etc., on private and 
other public land (excluding Federal land and the Sandhills Game Lands, 
which are managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission) 
in the six-county Sandhills Region of North Carolina. Specifically, the 
plan area boundary includes land south of N.C. Highway 24/27 in Moore 
County; east of U.S. Highway 220 and north of U.S. Highway 74 in 
Richmond County; north of U.S. Highways 74 and 401 in Scotland County; 
north of U.S. Highway 401 in Hoke County; west of Interstate 95 in 
Cumberland County; and south of N.C. Highway 27 and west of U.S. 
Highway 401 in Harnett County. The permit would authorize incidental 
take only on land that is enrolled in the proposed ``safe harbor'' 
program, which is described 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. This notice also advises 
the public that the Service has made a preliminary determination that 
issuing the incidental take permit is not a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the 
meaning of Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended. The Finding of No Significant Impact is based on 
information contained in the EA and HCP. The final determination will 
be made no sooner than 30 days from the date of this notice. 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 sent to the Regional Permit Coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia, at the 
address shown below and should be received on or before March 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may 
obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office, 1875 
Century Boulevard, Atlanta, Georgia 30345. Documents will also be 
available for public inspection by appointment during normal business 
hours at the Regional Office; the Sandhills Field Office in Southern 
Pines, North Carolina; or the Asheville, North Carolina, Field Office. 
Written data or comments concerning the application, EA, or HCP should 
be submitted to the Regional Office. Please reference permit number 
PRT-798839 in such comments.

Regional Permit Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875 
Century Boulevard, Suite 210, Atlanta, Georgia 30345 (Telephone 404/
679-7110, Fax 404/679-7280).
Sandhills RCW Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 119, 
225 N. Bennett Street, Southern Pines, North Carolina 28388 (Telephone/
Fax 910/695-3323).
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 330 Ridgefield Court, 
Asheville, North Carolina 28806 (Telephone 704/665-1195, Fax 704/665-
2782).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mark Cantrell at the Sandhills 
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Field Office in Southern Pines, North Carolina; 
Ms. Janice Nicholls at the Asheville Field Office, Asheville, North 
Carolina; or Mr. Rick G. Gooch at the Southeast Regional Office, 
Atlanta, Georgia.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Sandhills area of North Carolina 
supports one of the largest remaining populations of federally 
endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCWs) in the nation and is 
identified in the RCW recovery plan as 1 of the 15 populations across 
the species' range that must be viable in order to recover the species. 
Unlike the other 14 recovery populations, however, a significant 
portion (approximately 30 percent) of the Sandhills RCW groups known 
are on private land and could potentially contribute to a Sandhills 
recovery population. RCWs on private land in the Sandhills have 
declined significantly over the past decade. Thus, the recovery of the 
RCW in the Sandhills is likely to be influenced significantly by the 
land management decisions of private landowners.
    The Service and several other agencies/organizations are working 
cooperatively to develop an overall conservation strategy for the 
Sandhills RCW population and the longleaf pine ecosystem. One component 
of this strategy is a habitat conservation plan that will implement the 
proposed ``safe harbor'' program. The Service recognizes that 
landowners presently have no legal or economic incentive to undertake 
proactive management actions, such as hardwood midstory removal, 
prescribed burning, or protecting future cavity trees, that will 
benefit and help recover the RCW. Indeed, landowners actually have a 
disincentive to undertake these actions because of land use limitations 
that could result if their management activities attract RCWs. However, 
some Sandhills landowners may be willing to take or permit actions that 
would benefit the RCW on their property if the possibility of future 
land use limitations could be reduced or eliminated.
    Thus, the Service is proposing the ``safe harbor'' program, which 
is designed to encourage voluntary RCW habitat restoration or 
enhancement activities by relieving a landowner who enters into a 
cooperative agreement with the Service from any additional 
[[Page 10401]] responsibility under the Act beyond that which exists at 
the time he or she enters into the agreement; i.e., to provide a ``safe 
harbor.'' The cooperative agreement will identify any existing RCW 
clusters and will describe the actions that the landowner commits to 
take (e.g., hardwood midstory removal, cavity provisioning, etc.) or 
allows to be taken to improve RCW habitat on the property and the time 
period within which those actions are to be taken and maintained. 
Participating landowners who enter into cooperative agreements with the 
Service will be included within the scope of the incidental take permit 
by Certificates of Inclusion. A participating landowner must maintain 
the baseline habitat requirements on his/her property (i.e., any 
existing RCW groups and associated habitat) but will be allowed to 
incidentally take RCWs at some point in the future on other habitat on 
the property if they are attracted to the site by the proactive 
management measures undertaken by the landowner. No incidental taking 
of any existing RCW group is permitted under this program except under 
the special circumstances that are described in the HCP. Further 
details about this program are found in the HCP.

    The EA considers the environmental consequences of three 
alternatives, including the preferred alternative--to implement the 
``Safe Harbor'' program. The likely effects of the no-action 
alternative are the continued decline of the Sandhills RCW population 
on private land and the continued lack of management of many of the 
longleaf pine stands that remain in the Sandhills. The third 
alternative involves offering interested landowners financial, rather 
than regulatory, incentives to undertake the desired land management 
activities for RCWs. This alternative is not being pursued because the 
Service is presently unable at present to fund such a program. The 
proposed action alternative is the issuance of an incidental take 
permit and implementation of the ``Safe Harbor'' program.

    Dated: February 16, 1995.

Noreen Clough,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 95-4543 Filed 2-23-95; 8:45 am]

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