[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69676-69677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26564]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096; FF06E11000-212-FXES11130600000]


Incidental Take Permit Application; Habitat Conservation Plan 
Amendment for Montana Department of Natural Resources Lazy-Swift 
Addition and Wolf Creek Land Exchange; Flathead and Lincoln Counties, 
Montana

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of documents related to an application to amend an 
existing incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. 
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has applied 
for an amendment to their existing ITP, which, if granted, would add 
lands for coverage under their Forest Management Habitat Conservation 
Plan (HCP), and which would effectively extend the permit take coverage 
to these lands for three federally listed species, the grizzly bear,

[[Page 69677]]

Canada lynx, and bull trout, and two unlisted species, the westslope 
cutthroat trout and Columbia redband trout. We invite comments from the 
public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
January 7, 2022. Comments submitted online at Regulations.gov (see 
ADDRESSES) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing 
date.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well 
as associated background documents and any comments and other materials 
that we receive, will be available for public inspection online in 
Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096 at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Online: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R6-ES-2021-0096; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, MS: 
PERMA; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We request that you send comments by only the methods described 
above. We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see the Public Comments section below for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Conard, by phone at 406-758-6882, 
by email at [email protected], or via the Federal Relay Service at 
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received an application from the Montana Department of 
Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to amend their incidental 
take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The amendment would add lands for 
coverage under the existing forest management habitat conservation plan 
(HCP) and extend the permit take coverage to these lands for species 
covered by the HCP: Three federally listed species, the grizzly bear, 
Canada lynx, and bull trout, and two unlisted species, the westslope 
cutthroat trout and Columbia redband trout. Take authorization of an 
unlisted species only becomes effective upon a final listing 
determination.
    The new document available for review and comment is the 
applicant's requested amendment to the habitat conservation plan (HCP), 
which is part of their ITP amendment application. The previously 
finalized HCP and the Service's 2018 final supplemental environmental 
impact statement (SEIS) and record of decision (ROD) included analysis 
of potential permit amendments to add lands to the HCP under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), are also available online for 
reference (see ADDRESSES, above). We have reviewed the prior NEPA 
analysis and determined that the 2018 final SEIS and associated ROD 
include the appropriate analysis necessary for this ITP amendment, and 
that no further NEPA documentation is needed.

Applicant's Proposed Amendment

    The additional lands include 14,642 acres of acquired forested land 
now part of the Stillwater State Forest near Olney, Montana, and in the 
Wolf Creek watershed on DNRC Libby Unit. A 2018 final SEIS considered 
the environmental effects of amending the HCP and permit as a result of 
adding acquired lands within the HCP planning area, and addressed 
public comments received on the 2017 draft SEIS. The DNRC proposes to 
add 14,642 acres into the HCP planning area for ESA incidental take 
coverage for DNRC's forest management activities on these lands. Prior 
to DNRC acquisition, private entities conducted forest management 
activities on the 14,642 acres of forested lands.
    In general, all conservation commitments would be applied 
specifically as stated in the HCP (as amended in 2018), and all lands 
that would be added to the HCP fall within the bounds of the original 
HCP planning area. Some modifications are necessary to accommodate the 
Lazy-Swift acquisition lands and existing conservation constraints 
associated with established conservation easements on the properties 
(e.g., create a new Lynx Management Area, incorporate associated road 
systems into the existing transportation plan, and accommodate some 
areas permanently deferred from commercial logging). However, these 
modifications do not result in a substantial change from conservation 
commitments made in the HCP and analyzed in the 2018 FEIS.

Background

    In 2012, we issued an ITP to DNRC for take of the grizzly bear, 
Canada lynx, bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, and Columbia 
redband trout incidental to forest management activities covered in 
their HCP (75 FR 57059). The grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and bull trout 
are listed as threatened under the ESA, while the westslope and 
Columbia redband trout are not federally listed species. The original 
permit covered approximately 548,500 acres of forested State trust 
lands in western Montana. The HCP addressed the process and 
contingencies for DNRC to transfer, exchange, or add lands for their 
forest management activities in the future. Thus, the Service had 
considered in the 2011 final EIS the potential effects of amending the 
HCP and permit to cover such actions, but was not able to analyze 
effects from adding specific lands that had not yet been identified.
    The 2018 final SEIS (83 FR 24335) analyzed potential effects to the 
human and natural environment from the preferred alternative to amend 
the permit to cover take from DNRC's forest management activities on an 
additional 81,416 acres and the potential future addition of lands 
within the HCP planning area, including the current amendment request 
for the addition of 14,642 acres.

Public Comments

    If you submit information via http://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire submission--including any personal identifying information--will 
be posted on the website. If your submission is made via a hardcopy 
that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the 
top of your document that we withhold this information from public 
review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We 
will post all hardcopy submissions on http://www.regulations.gov.
    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 under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations for incidental take 
permits (50 CFR 17.32) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR part 46).

Stephen Small,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services, Mountain-Prairie 
Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-26564 Filed 12-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P