[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 99 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30981-30982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10923]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2020-N057]; [FXES11140100000-201-FF01E00000]


Proposed Site Plan Under a Candidate Conservation Agreement With 
Assurances for the Fisher in Oregon; Enhancement of Survival Permit 
Application

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 an 
application for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) pursuant to 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). If granted, the 
requested permit would authorize the applicant's take of the fisher, 
incidental to otherwise lawful activities should the species become 
federally listed under the ESA. The application is associated with a 
template candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) 
developed by the Service for the conservation of the fisher. The 
conservation measures in the CCAA are intended to provide a net 
conservation benefit to the fisher. We have also prepared a draft 
environmental action statement that the permit decision may be eligible 
for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. 
We provide this notice to open a public comment period and invite 
comments from all interested parties regarding the documents.

DATES: Submit written comments no later than June 22, 2020.

ADDRESSES: To request further information or submit written comments, 
please use one of the following methods:
     Internet: Documents may be viewed on the internet at 
http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``Chinook 
Fisher CCAA'' in the subject line of the message.
     U.S. Mail: State Supervisor, Oregon Fish and Wildlife 
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100; 
Portland, OR 97266.
     Fax: 503-231-6195, Attn: Fisher CCAA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Szlemp (see ADDRESSES); 
telephone: 503-231-6179; facsimile: 503-231-6195. 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), received an application for an enhancement of survival 
permit (permit) from Chinook Forest Partners, LLC (applicant) in Oregon 
pursuant to section 10(a)(l)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If granted, the requested 
permit would authorize take of the fisher (Pekania pennanti) incidental 
to the applicant's routine forest-related management activities should 
the species become federally listed under the ESA. The application 
includes a proposed individual site plan and is associated with a 
template candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) 
developed by the Service for the conservation of the fisher. We have 
prepared a draft environmental action statement (EAS) for our 
preliminary determination that the permit decision may be eligible for 
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). We provide this notice to open a public 
comment period

[[Page 30982]]

and invite comments from all interested parties regarding the documents 
referenced above.

Background

    A CCAA is a voluntary agreement whereby landowners agree to manage 
their lands to remove or reduce threats to species that may become 
listed under the ESA (64 FR 32726; June 17, 1999). CCAAs are intended 
to facilitate the conservation of proposed and candidate species, and 
species likely to become candidates in the near future, by giving non-
Federal property owners incentives to implement conservation measures 
for declining species by providing certainty with regard to land, 
water, or resource use restrictions that might be imposed should the 
species later become listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. 
In return for managing their lands to the benefit of the covered 
species, enrolled landowners receive assurances that additional 
regulatory requirements pertaining to the covered species will not be 
required if the covered species becomes listed as threatened or 
endangered under the ESA, so long as the CCAA remains in place and is 
being fully implemented.
    A CCAA serves as the basis for the Service to issue permits to non-
Federal participants pursuant to section 10(a)(l)(A) of the ESA. 
Application requirements and issuance criteria for permits under CCAAs 
are found in the Code of Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR 17.22(d) and 
17.32(d). The Service developed a template CCAA for the West Coast 
distinct population segment (DPS) of the fisher in Oregon and a draft 
EAS for future issuance of permits under the finalized template to 
comply with NEPA. The template CCAA and the EAS were noticed for 
comment in the Federal Register (81 FR 15737; March 24, 2016). The 
template CCAA and EAS were finalized and signed by the Service on June 
20, 2018.
    The CCAA template established general guidelines and identified 
minimum conservation measures for potential participants in the CCAA. 
Interested participants can voluntarily enroll their properties under 
the CCAA through development of individual site plans prepared in 
accordance with the provisions of the CCAA and that are submitted as 
part of their permit applications. The permits would authorize 
incidental take of the fisher with assurances to qualifying landowners 
who carry out conservation measures that would benefit the West Coast 
DPS of the fisher.

Proposed Actions

    We have received an application for an ESA section 10(a)(l)(A) 
permit under the template CCAA for the fisher from the applicant for 
their identified lands in Oregon. Chinook Forest Partners, LLC, 
including its subsidiary Chinook Forest Management, LLC, manages 
timberland on behalf of Siskiyou Timberlands, LLC, and is responsible 
for planning and carrying out forest management activities. Chinook 
Forest Partners, LLC seeks to enroll all of its managed Oregon 
timberlands in Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath counties. These 
lands total approximately 62,000 acres in many separate parcels.
    The requested permit would authorize incidental take of the fisher, 
should it become federally listed and affected by the applicant's 
routine forest-related management activities on their properties 
through June 20, 2048. Fisher are not currently known to occur on the 
applicant's proposed enrolled lands, but they have been located in the 
past on nearby lands.
    The permit application includes a proposed site plan that describes 
the lands covered by the permit and the conservation measures required 
under the template CCAA that will be implemented on covered lands. The 
primary conservation measures provided in the site plan include:
     Allowing access to covered lands to conduct fisher 
surveys;
     Protecting fisher dens and their young by limiting 
disturbance and impacts to denning structures;
     Limiting trapping/nuisance control for other animals that 
could pose a risk to the fisher (trapping of fishers is prohibited by 
State of Oregon law);
     Allowing the potential future translocation of fishers 
onto enrolled lands; and
     Promoting the development of habitat structures that would 
support the fisher.

Public Comments

    We are making the permit application package, including the 
individual site plan and draft EAS, available for public review and 
comment (see ADDRESSES). The final template CCAA and EAS that were 
finalized and signed by the Service on June 20, 2018, are also 
available for public information. 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, including on the adequacy of the site plan 
prepared in accordance with the template CCAA, pursuant to the 
requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 13 and 17.

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. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

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).

Mary Abrams,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-10923 Filed 5-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P