[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 66 (Monday, April 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19118-19120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07670]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

FWS-R6-ES-2014-N059; FF06E24000-145-FXES11150600000]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Incidental Take 
Permit Application; Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for 
the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse at the Kettle Creek Ranch in El Paso 
County, Colorado

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), received a 
permit application from Vintage Companies and are announcing the 
availability of a draft low-effect Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for 
review and comment by the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local 
governments. The proposed permit would authorize the incidental take of 
the federally threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse from Vintage 
Companies' proposed Kettle Creek Ranch residential development in El 
Paso County, Colorado. We request comments on the permit application, 
including the draft low-effect HCP.

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DATES: Written comments must be submitted by May 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments by U.S. mail to Susan Linner, Field 
Supervisor, Colorado Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 25486 (DFC MS 65412), Denver, Colorado 
80225-0486, or via email to [email protected]. You also may send 
comments by facsimile to 303-236-4005. For how to access the documents, 
see Availability of Documents in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Hansen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Colorado Ecological Services Field Office, telephone: 303-236-
4749 (see ADDRESSES). If you use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice advises the public that Vintage 
Companies has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) 
for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 
Endangered Species Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1538). The 
proposed permit would authorize the incidental take of the federally 
threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse, or PMJM (Zapus hudsonius 
preblei), from Vintage Companies' proposed Kettle Creek Ranch 
residential development in El Paso County, Colorado. The proposed 
incidental take permit would expire 20 years after the issuance date.

Availability of Documents

    The draft low-effect HCP is available for download from our Web 
site at http://www.fws.gov/coloradoES/KettleCreekHCP.html. You also may 
review a copy of this document during regular business hours at the 
Colorado Ecological Services Field Office (see ADDRESSES). If you do 
not have access to the Web site or cannot visit our office, you may 
request copies by telephone at 303-236-4773, by letter to the Colorado 
Field Office, or by email to [email protected].

Background

    Section 9 of the Act and its implementing regulations prohibit take 
of species listed as endangered or threatened. The definition of take 
under the Act includes to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect listed species or to attempt to engage 
in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). Section 10 of the Act (16 
U.S.C. 1539) establishes a program whereby persons seeking to pursue 
activities that are otherwise legal, but could result in take of 
federally protected species, may receive an incidental take permit 
(ITP). Applicants for ITPs must submit a HCP that meets the section 10 
permit issuance criteria. ``Low-effect'' incidental take permits are 
those permits that, despite their authorization of some small level of 
incidental take, individually and cumulatively have a minor or 
negligible effect on the species covered in the HCP.
    Vintage Companies' permit application includes a draft low-effect 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the PMJM at the Kettle Creek Ranch 
residential development. The low-effect HCP describes the proposed 
project and the measures Vintage Companies would undertake to minimize 
and mitigate impacts to the PMJM.
    We intend to process this application under a categorical exclusion 
from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 in accordance 
with our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 1996). We 
request comments on Vintage Companies' permit application and the draft 
low-effect HCP.

Proposed Action

    Vintage Companies proposes to develop approximately 38 acres of 
previously undeveloped land at the Kettle Creek Ranch into a 
residential development with single-family and multi-dwelling homes. 
The Kettle Creek Ranch is located at the northwest corner of Old Ranch 
Road and Chapel Ridge Drive to the north of the City of Colorado 
Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado (Section 21, Township 12 South, 
Range 66 West; Latitude: 38.985707[deg]; Longitude: -104.775375[deg]). 
Vintage Companies will construct the residential lots next to Kettle 
Creek and its tributaries, where trapping surveys verified that the 
PMJM occurs.
    Construction, loss of habitats, and increased human presence within 
the Kettle Creek Ranch project area could take PMJM. Developing the 
Kettle Creek Ranch into residential lots would permanently remove 0.262 
acre (0.106 hectare) of PMJM habitats along the southern tributary of 
Kettle Creek. Other development activities would temporarily affect 
0.118 acre (0.048 hectare) of PMJM habitat along Kettle Creek. 
Additionally, by increasing erosion, sedimentation, or introducing 
noxious weeds, the development may affect the composition, structure, 
or density of riparian vegetation along Kettle Creek and its 
tributaries, reducing habitat quality and the PMJM's ability to feed, 
breed, or shelter. Following construction, pets, such as house cats, 
could kill PMJM and increased pedestrian traffic along Kettle Creek and 
its tributaries could disturb PMJM.
    Vintage Companies' draft low-effect HCP outlines conservation 
measures, best management practices, habitat enhancement goals, and 
monitoring requirements in order to avoid, minimize, and mitigate 
potential impacts to the PMJM from the Kettle Creek Ranch development. 
To mitigate the 0.262 acres (0.106 hectares) of permanent habitat loss, 
Vintage Companies will enhance 1.601 acres (0.648 hectare) of PMJM 
habitat along Kettle Creek and its tributaries. Additionally, Vintage 
Companies will improve PMJM habitats and stream flow by planting native 
grasses, shrubs, and trees, managing noxious weeds, and removing faulty 
culverts. Vintage Companies will adaptively manage and monitor the 
success of the mitigation efforts and will provide annual reports to 
the Service until the success criteria are achieved. By improving the 
quality and connectivity of habitats at Kettle Creek and its 
tributaries, successful implementation of the low-effect HCP may 
benefit the PMJM.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that approval of 
the proposed HCP qualifies as a categorical exclusion under NEPA, as 
provided by the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1 
and 516 DM 6 Appendix 1) and as a ``low-effect'' habitat conservation 
plan as defined by our Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (November 
1996).
    We base our determination on the following information:
    (1) The size and scope of the incidental take of PMJM from the 
proposed project is relatively small and limited to a maximum of 0.262 
acres (0.106 hectares; 11,413 square feet) of permanent habitat loss 
and 0.118 acre (0.048 hectare; 5,140 square feet) of temporary habitat 
loss, or take of one PMJM over 20 years.
    (2) The total amount of take resulting from impacts to 0.380 acre 
(0.154 hectare; 16,553 square feet) equates to less than 0.01 percent 
of the PMJM's overall occupied range in Colorado.
    We base our determination that a HCP qualifies a low-effect plan on 
the following three criteria:
    (1) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible 
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their 
habitats;
    (2) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible 
effects on

[[Page 19120]]

other environmental values or resources; and
    (3) Impacts of the HCP, considered together with the impacts of 
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated 
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to 
environmental values or resources that would be considered significant.
    We conclude that implementation of the plan would result in overall 
minor or negligible effects on the PMJM and its habitats. We may revise 
this preliminary determination based on public comments submitted in 
response to this notice. We will evaluate the permit application, the 
draft low-effect HCP, and comments submitted herein to determine 
whether the application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the 
Act. If the application satisfies the requirements, we will issue a 
permit for the incidental take of the PMJM from the development of the 
Kettle Creek Ranch. We will make the final permit decision after 
considering the public comments.
    Based upon this preliminary determination, we do not intend to 
prepare further NEPA documentation. We will consider public comments in 
making the final determination on whether to prepare such additional 
documentation.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information with your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Authority

    We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: April 1, 2014.
Susan Linner,
Field Supervisor, Colorado Ecological Services Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-07670 Filed 4-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P