[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 184 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50883-50885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25459]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 071798F]
Receipt and Availability of Applications for Permits to Allow
Incidental Take of Threatened and Endangered Species by The Pacific
Lumber Company and its Subsidiaries, Scotia Pacific Holding, L.L.C.,
and Salmon Creek Corporation, on Lands in Humboldt County, California
AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period; request for public
comment on Potential incidental take permit provisions and draft
habitat conservation plan errata.
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SUMMARY: As announced in the Federal Register on July 14, 1998, the
Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service
(collectively, the Services) requested comments on the applications for
permits to allow incidental take of threatened and endangered species
submitted by the Pacific Lumber Company and its Subsidiaries, Scotia
Pacific Holding, L.L.C., and Salmon Creek Corporation (collectively,
the Companies), on lands in Humboldt County, California, including the
associated draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and draft
Implementation Agreement (IA) on or before October 13, 1998. By this
Notice, the Services announce an extension of the public comment period
on the permit applications, including the draft HCP and IA, and invite
public comment on new provisions which may be included in incidental
take permits that may be issued to the Companies, and provide
information clarifying language in the July 1998 draft HCP.
DATES: Written comments on the permit applications, draft HCP and draft
IA must be received on or before November 16, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the application, including the draft HCP
and IA, should be addressed to Mr. Bruce Halstead, Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1125 16th Street, Room 209, Arcata, California 95521-5582.
Written comments may be sent by facsimile to (707) 822-8411. Please
refer to permit number PRT-828950 and number 1157 when submitting
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bruce Halstead, Fish and Wildlife
Service, (707) 822-7201, or Mr. Craig Wingert, National Marine
Fisheries Service,(562) 980-4020.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Companies have applied to the Services
for incidental take permits pursuant to section 10(a) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The federally listed species for
which the Companies have requested permits are the northern spotted
owl, marbled murrelet, American peregrine falcon, bald eagle, western
snowy plover, and coho salmon. The Companies have also requested
inclusion in the permits of thirty currently unlisted species, which
could be listed in the future under the Act. A draft HCP and draft IA
were submitted to the Services as part of the permit applications. The
draft HCP covers approximately 211,700 acres of the Companies' lands in
Humboldt County, California. By a Federal Register Notice dated July
14, 1998 (63 FR 37900), the Services announced the availability of the
permit applications, including the draft HCP and IA for public review
and solicited comments on the documents for a 90-day period ending on
October 13, 1998. The Services are required to comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in determining whether to issue
incidental take permits and, in cooperation with the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, are in the process of
preparing a joint Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the permit applications and
related Federal and state actions.
By this Notice, the Services are extending the public review and
comment period on the permit applications, including the draft HCP and
IA, to November 16, 1998. It is anticipated that the close of the
public comment period on the soon to be released Draft EIS/EIR on the
Headwaters Project will close on the same date. A Federal Register
Notice announcing the availability of the Draft EIS/EIR for public
review is expected in early October. Should the deadline for comments
on the draft EIS/EIR be later than November 16, the comment period on
the permit application also will be extended.
By this Notice, the Services also advise the public that the
agencies are considering additional provisions for inclusion in the
incidental take permits that may be issued to the Company. These
provisions, which are summarized below, are included in legislation
regarding the Headwaters Forest and HCP (Assembly Bill 1986) recently
passed by the California State legislature and currently waiting
signature by the Governor. The full text of Assembly Bill 1986 may be
obtained through the California Environmental Resources Evaluation
System (CERES) website at http://www.ceres.ca.gov/ and through the Fish
and Wildlife Service website at http://www.r1.fws.gov/text/
species.html.
The California legislation appropriates monies to the state
Wildlife Conservation Board to fund the State's share of the cost of
acquiring approximately 7,500 acres of private forest lands, including
the Headwaters Forest, in furtherance of an Agreement signed by the
United States, the State of California, The Pacific Lumber Company, and
its corporate parent on September 28, 1996. Like counterpart
legislation passed by Congress (Pub. L. 105-83) in November 1997 to
fund the Federal government's share of the cost of acquiring the forest
lands, Assembly Bill 1986 provides that, among other things, incidental
take permits covering the Companies' lands must be issued
[[Page 50884]]
before the appropriation becomes effective.
The state legislation further conditions the expenditure of state
funds for acquisition of the Headwaters Forest and adjacent lands on
the inclusion of several provisions in the final HCP intended to
strengthen protections for threatened and endangered species. Those
provisions include the following:
(1) Establishment of a 100-foot no-cut buffer on each side of each
Class I watercourse until, following completion of a watershed analysis
that has been reviewed by the Services, site specific prescriptions for
the watercourse have been established by the Fish and Wildlife Service
or National Marine Fisheries Service and implemented by the Companies;
(2) Establishment of a 30-foot no-cut buffer on each side of each
Class II watercourse until, following completion of a watershed
analysis that has been reviewed by the Services, site specific
prescriptions for the watercourse have been established by the Fish and
Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service and implemented
by the Companies;
(3) A requirement that the restrictions applicable to all Class I,
II and III watercourses contained in the January 7, 1998, document
entitled ``Corrected Version Draft - Interagency Federal-State Aquatic
Strategy and Mitigation for Timber Harvest and Roads for the Pacific
Lumber Company'' (located in the draft HCP in Volume 4, part D, section
3, under the heading ``Default Strategy for Lands not Assessed through
Watershed Analysis'') remain in effect until, following completion of a
watershed analysis for each watercourse that has been reviewed by the
Services, site specific prescriptions for the watercourse have been
established by the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine
Fisheries Service and implemented by the Companies;
(4) A requirement that the site specific prescriptions established
by the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service
result in no-cut buffers of not less than 30 feet and not more than 170
feet on each side of each Class I and Class II watercourse, except that
no-cut buffers of less than 30 feet on Class II watercourses (but no
less than allowed under the draft HCP) may be established where either
of the Services determines a smaller buffer would benefit aquatic
habitat or species;
(5) Development of a peer review process by the Services, in
consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Department of
Fish and Game, to evaluate on a spot-check basis the analyses and
prescriptions developed through the watershed analysis process;
(6) Establishment of a schedule that results in completion of the
watershed analysis process in five years;
(7) A prohibition on timber harvesting, including salvage logging
and other management activities detrimental to the marbled murrelet and
marbled murrelet habitat within the Marbled Murrelet Conservation Areas
identified in the draft HCP for the life of the incidental take permits
as defined in the February 27, 1998, document entitled ``Pre-Permit
Application Agreement in Principle'';
(8) A 5-year moratorium on timber harvesting, including salvage
logging and other management activities within the Grizzly Creek
Marbled Murrelet Conservation Area to provide an opportunity for the
purchase and permanent protection of the area;
(9) Inclusion of conditions on road-related activities that, on
balance, are no less protective of species and habitat than the
provisions contained in the Pre-Permit Application Agreement in
Principle; and
(10) A requirement that the Companies submit each timber harvesting
plan (THP) covering lands included in the HCP to the Services for
review and comment and a finding that the THP is consistent with the
final HCP at least 30 days prior to the earliest possible date of the
THP's approval by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Under the legislation, expenditure of the funds appropriated for
acquisition of the Headwaters Forest and adjacent lands also requires
that the final HCP be no less protective of aquatic or avian species
than the draft HCP as amended by the conditions in the state
legislation.
Assembly Bill 1986 appropriates, conditioned on issuance of the
incidental take permits and approval of the Sustained Yield Plan (SYP),
additional funding for the future purchase of the Owl Creek and Grizzly
Creek Marbled Murrelet Conservation Areas and, to the extent funds are
available, purchase of tracts known as the ``Elk River Property''and
forest land within the Mattole River watershed. These purchases would
not be a component of the HCP, incidental take permits, or SYP. The
state legislation also appropriates an additional $15,000,000 in
economic assistance to Humboldt County conditioned on the approval of
the incidental take permits and SYP.
Because the provisions of the state legislation identified in
numbered paragraphs 1 through 10 above are being considered for
inclusion in a final HCP and any incidental take permits that may be
issued, the Services invite public comment on the provisions. The
provisions will also be analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR scheduled to be
released for public review and comment in early October 1998.
Draft Habitat Conservation Plan Errata
Several inaccurate statements have been identified in the Pacific
Lumber Company's Public Review Draft, Sustained Yield Plan/Habitat
Conservation Plan, dated July, 1998. These statements describe the
effects of the action as proposed by the Pacific Lumber Company at that
time. Corrections are needed to provide an accurate portrayal of that
proposal. The corrections detailed below relate to the description of
the action as proposed in the July 1998 Public Review Draft.
The following corrections or clarifications are needed within the
Marbled Murrelet Habitat Conservation Plan, Volume IV, Part B, and
within the Summary, Volume I, Part G.3.
1. Correction of erroneous statement regarding protected acreage
of residual timber stands.
In Volume IV, Part B, page 1, last paragraph, the next to the
last sentence should be replaced with the following sentence: A
substantial amount (at least 3,300 acres, 27%) of the lower density
residual old growth will not be available for harvest.
The original sentence in the Public Review Draft contained two
errors. The errors derived from direct incorporation of language
provided by Thomas Reid & Associates in page 2 of a memorandum to
members of the Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team, dated June 5, 1998.
That memorandum is attached to the HCP/SYP at Volume IV, Part B,
Section 14. As a result of a typographical error, the word ``not''
was omitted from a corresponding sentence in that memorandum. Also,
the amount of residual old-growth that would be protected was
incorrectly calculated.
2. Clarification regarding aggregate and protected acreages for
MMCAs.
In the Public Review Draft HCP, 12 separate MMCAs are aggregated
into 8 contiguous areas, one of which would be harvested under the
provisions of the HCP (either Owl Creek or Grizzly Creek, see e.g.,
paragraph 4, Volume IV, Part B, Page 1). In aggregate, all 8 of the
contiguous MMCAs comprise approximately 8,500 acres. This number is
reported in Volume I, Part B, at two locations on page 24: the last
sentence of the 4th paragraph, and the first sentence of the sixth
paragraph. It also is reported in Volume IV, Part B, Section 9.a,
page 31; and on page 35 in the last sentence of the first paragraph
under Section II. It is also reported the Summary, Volume I, page
50, in the last sentence of the first paragraph under Section d.
For clarification, it should be understood that while the MMCAs
in aggregate would
[[Page 50885]]
total approximately 8,500 acres, either the Owl Creek MMCA or the
Grizzly Creek MMCA would be harvested, and thus, total acreage
protected within the remaining MMCAs would actually amount to
approximately 7,500 acres (i.e., if the Owl Creek MMCA were
harvested total MMCA protection will be 7,586 acres), not 8,500
acres.
Similarly, total acreage of Headwaters Reserve and MMCAs would
equal approximately 15,000 acres, not 17,000 acres, as stated in
Volume IV, Part B, in the final sentence on page 1, and on page 31,
sec. 9.a, second sentence. This error also emanates from the Reid
memo to members of the Recovery Team dated June 5, 1998, attached to
the HCP at Volume IV, Part B, Section 14. The total had been
incorrectly calculated.
Dated: September 9, 1998.
Anne C. Badgley,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Portland, Oregon.
Dated: September 14, 1998.
Kevin Collins,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-25459 Filed 9-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F