[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55168-55170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22439]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2019-N133; FXES11140100000-190-FF01E00000]


Renewal of Safe Harbor Agreement for OX Ranch, Adams County, 
Idaho

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), have 
received a written request from Hixon Properties Incorporated to renew 
an existing Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA). The participants in the SHA 
are OX Ranch (Hixon Properties Incorporated and affiliated business 
entities doing business collectively), the Idaho Department of Fish and 
Game, and the Service. Continued implementation of the SHA is intended 
to benefit the recovery of the federally listed threatened northern 
Idaho ground squirrel in Adams County, Idaho. The Service is making the 
proposed SHA renewal and our draft environmental action statement (EAS) 
available for public review and comment.

DATES: All comments from interested parties must be received on or 
before November 14, 2019.

[[Page 55169]]


ADDRESSES: To request further information, obtain copies of documents, 
or submit written comments, please use one of the following methods. 
Please include your name and return address in your comments and refer 
to the ``Safe Harbor Agreement for Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel'':
     Internet: Documents may be viewed on the internet at 
http://www.fws.gov/Idaho.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``Safe Harbor Agreement for 
Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel'' in the subject line of the message.
     U.S. Mail: State Supervisor, Idaho Fish and Wildlife 
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1387 South Vinnell Way, Suite 
368, Boise, ID 83709.
     In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Documents will be 
available for public inspection, by appointment, between 8 a.m. and 5 
p.m. at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Idaho Fish and Wildlife 
Office.
     Fax: Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office, 208-378-5262, Attn: 
Safe Harbor Agreement for Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Burak, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office (see ADDRESSES), telephone 208-
378-5243, or email [email protected]. If you use a telecommunications device 
for the deaf, please call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received a written request dated May 30, 2019, from 
Hixon Properties Incorporated to renew an existing Safe Harbor 
Agreement (SHA) for an additional 5 years beyond its current expiration 
date of September 28, 2019. The existing enhancement of survival permit 
(permit) associated with the SHA was issued August 13, 2009, pursuant 
to the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and is in effect until September 
28, 2024. Renewing the SHA for an additional 5 years would make the 
expiration date the same as the expiration date of the permit. The SHA 
is between Hixon Properties Incorporated (owner), Rocky Comfort Cattle 
Company, LLC (lessee), and affiliated business entities doing business 
as the OX Ranch collectively, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game 
(IDFG), and the Service. Renewing the SHA is intended to benefit the 
recovery of the federally listed threatened northern Idaho ground 
squirrel (Urocitellus brunneus) on 7,783 acres (ac) of privately owned 
land in Adams County, Idaho. The SHA management actions to benefit the 
northern Idaho ground squirrel include habitat maintenance and 
enhancement, predator/competitor control, shooting prohibitions, 
outreach, surveys, monitoring, and research. The activities implemented 
under this SHA will aid in increasing the current range of the covered 
species, restoring this species to part of its historic range, and 
increasing the total population of the species, thus contributing to 
its overall recovery. The Service is making the proposed SHA renewal 
and our draft EAS available for public review and comment, including 
the submission of written data. The draft EAS supports our preliminary 
determination that the proposed SHA renewal is eligible for categorical 
exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the take of fish and wildlife 
species listed as endangered or threatened under section 4 of the ESA. 
Under the ESA, the term ``take'' means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage 
in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). The term ``harm,'' as defined 
in our regulations, includes significant habitat modification or 
degradation that results in death or injury to listed species by 
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including 
breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The term ``harass'' is 
defined in our regulations as an intentional or negligent act or 
omission which creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying 
it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral 
patterns, which include, but are not limited to, breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Under specified circumstances, however, we 
may issue permits that authorize take of federally listed species, 
provided the take is incidental to, but not the purpose of, an 
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing permits for threatened 
species are at 50 CFR 17.32.
    Under a SHA, participating landowners voluntarily undertake 
management activities on their property to enhance, restore, or 
maintain habitat benefiting species listed under the ESA. SHAs, and the 
subsequent permit issued to participating landowners pursuant to 
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, encourage private and other non-Federal 
property owners to implement conservation actions for federally listed 
species by assuring the landowners that they will not be subjected to 
increased property use restrictions as a result of their efforts to 
either attract listed species to their property, or to increase the 
numbers or distribution of listed species already on their property. 
Enrolled landowners may make lawful use of the enrolled property during 
the permit term and may incidentally take the listed species named on 
the permit. Application requirements and issuance criteria for permits 
associated with SHAs are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
at 50 CFR 17.22(c) and 17.32(c). As provided for in the Service's final 
Safe Harbor Policy (64 FR 32717; June 17, 1999), SHAs provide 
assurances that allow the property owner to alter or modify their 
enrolled property, even if such alteration or modification results in 
the incidental take of a listed species, to such an extent that the 
property is returned back to the originally agreed upon baseline 
conditions. Private landowners may voluntarily terminate an SHA at any 
time and in accordance with 50 CFR 13.26. If this occurs, landowners 
must relinquish the associated incidental take permit pursuant to 
section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA.

Safe Harbor Agreement

    The private lands covered under the existing SHA and permit consist 
of 7,783 ac on the OX Ranch, and are located just north of Bear, in 
Adams County, Idaho. Northern Idaho ground squirrels currently occupy 
610 ac of the covered area. The 610 ac is considered the baseline. When 
the existing permit expires on September 28, 2024, the OX Ranch is 
allowed to return their property to baseline.
    The expected net conservation benefit to the northern Idaho ground 
squirrel as a result of the SHA is the maintenance of the 610-ac 
baseline area, allowing researchers affiliated with the Service or IDFG 
to access OX Ranch property; requiring notification of the Service and 
IDFG prior to activities that will result in ``take'' of the species so 
that they may capture and relocate affected individuals if appropriate; 
allowing the Service and IDFG personnel access to the property to 
conduct ground squirrel conservation activities approved by the 
applicant such as habitat maintenance and enhancement, ground squirrel 
surveys, and translocation of ground squirrels; and establishing some 
limits on the conduct of chemical rodent control in the squirrel 
management area. In addition, the applicant may also work with the 
Service and others to implement timber-related habitat enhancement 
measures that will potentially increase habitat for squirrels within 
the covered area. The biological goal of northern Idaho ground squirrel

[[Page 55170]]

conservation measures in the SHA is to expand this species' population 
within and beyond the 610-ac baseline area by reducing threats and 
enhancing habitat for the species. The SHA is intended to contribute to 
the recovery of the northern Idaho ground squirrel by reducing threats, 
expanding and increasing the viability of the ground squirrel 
population at this site, improving habitat conditions, and potentially 
facilitating translocation of ground squirrels to other sites in need 
of population supplementation, as appropriate.
    The SHA management actions to benefit the northern Idaho ground 
squirrel include habitat maintenance and enhancement, predator/
competitor control, shooting prohibitions, outreach, surveys, 
monitoring, and research.
    The OX Ranch has met obligations outlined in the 2009 SHA. For 
example, they have carried out habitat enhancement projects on their 
land and have participated in multiple habitat enhancement studies by 
providing access to their property for research purposes (i.e., Suronen 
and Newingham 2013, Goldberg 2018). They have allowed the installation 
of no-shooting signs on their property, conducted outreach, allowed 
needed surveys and monitoring to be carried out on an annual basis by 
the IDFG (i.e., Wagner and Evans Mack 2019), and have allowed limited 
predator control to be carried out on their property on an as-needed 
basis. Renewing the SHA for an additional 5 years will provide 
continued conservation benefits on OX Ranch lands for the northern 
Idaho ground squirrel.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The renewal of the SHA is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA. The Service has made a preliminary 
determination that the proposed SHA renewal is eligible for categorical 
exclusion under NEPA, based on the following criteria: (1) 
Implementation of the SHA would result in minor or negligible adverse 
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their 
habitats; (2) implementation of the SHA would result in minor or 
negligible adverse effects on other environmental values or resources; 
and (3) impacts of the SHA, considered together with the impacts of 
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated 
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative adverse effects to 
environmental values or resources which would be considered 
significant. We explain the basis for this determination in more detail 
in an EAS that is also available for public review.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods 
listed in the ADDRESSES section. We request data, comments, new 
information, or suggestions from the public, other concerned 
governmental agencies, the scientific community, Tribes, industry, or 
any other interested party on our proposed Federal action.

Public Availability of Comments

    All comments and materials we receive become part of the public 
record associated with this action. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comments, 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. Comments and materials we 
receive, as well as supporting documentation we use in preparing the 
EAS, will be available for public inspection by appointment, during 
normal business hours, at our Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office (see 
ADDRESSES).

Authority

    We provide this notice in accordance with the requirements of 
section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and NEPA 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.) and their implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22, and 40 
CFR 1506.6, respectively).

Rolland G. White,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-22439 Filed 10-11-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P