[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 112 (Friday, June 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35565-35567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12507]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-ES-2022-N008; FXES11140800000-189-FF08EACT00]


Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Northern Spotted Owl, 
Mendocino County, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and receipt of application.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that registered professional 
foresters Craig and Christopher Blencowe have applied to the Fish and 
Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival

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(EOS) permit under the Endangered Species Act. If granted, the EOS 
permit would be in effect for a 40-year period in Mendocino County, 
California, and would authorize take of the threatened northern spotted 
owl (covered species) that is likely to occur incidental to managing 
the timber on properties under periodic (approximately 10-year harvest 
intervals) uneven-aged forestry management practices of single-tree and 
group selection. Owners of properties managed by the Blencowes would 
sign on to the Blencowe Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) 
through specific cooperative agreements and certificates of inclusion. 
The documents available for review and comment include the applicants' 
SHA; cooperative agreements and certificates of inclusion for the 
Bradford Ranch, Miller Tree Farm, and Weger Ranch properties; and our 
draft environmental action statements and low-effect screening form, 
which support categorical exclusions under the National Environmental 
Policy Act. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, 
State, and local governments.

DATES: Submitting Comments: To ensure consideration, we must receive 
written comments by 5 p.m. on July 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may obtain the applicants' SHA and our 
draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form by 
one of the following methods.
     U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1655 Heindon 
Road, Arcata, CA 95521;
     Electronic Mail: Contact [email protected] to 
request documents; indicate ``Blencowe SHA'' in subject line.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by any one of 
the following methods.
     U.S. Mail: Tanya Sommer, Field Supervisor, at our Arcata 
office (address above);
     Electronic mail: [email protected]; in the email 
subject line, please be specific about which documents your comments 
address;
     Fax: 707-822-8411.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill McIver, at our Arcata office 
(address above), or by telephone at 707-822-7201. Individuals in the 
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under safe harbor agreements (SHAs), participating landowners 
voluntarily undertake management activities on their properties to 
enhance, restore, or maintain habitat benefiting species listed under 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). SHAs, and the subsequent enhancement of survival (EOS) permits 
that are issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA, encourage 
private and other non-Federal property owners to implement conservation 
efforts for listed species, by assuring property owners that they will 
not be subject to increased land use restriction as a result of efforts 
to attract or increase the numbers or distribution of a listed species 
on their property. Application requirements and issuance criteria for 
EOS permits through SHAs are found in 50 CFR 17.22(c) and 17.32(c).
    This SHA is expected to promote the recovery of the covered species 
on non-Federal properties within Mendocino County. The proposed 
duration of the SHA and the associated enhancement of survival permit 
is 40 years. The proposed EOS permit would authorize the incidental 
taking of the covered species associated with the restoration, 
enhancement, and maintenance of suitable habitat for the covered 
species during routine and ongoing silvicultural activities and the 
potential future return of any property included in the SHA to baseline 
conditions. Under this SHA, individual landowners (cooperators) may 
include their properties by entering into a cooperative agreement with 
the applicants. Each cooperative agreement will specify the restoration 
and/or enhancement and management activities to be carried out on that 
specific property, and a timetable for implementing those activities. 
The Service will review all cooperative agreements to determine whether 
the proposed activities would result in a net conservation benefit for 
the covered species and meet all required standards of the Service's 
Safe Harbor Policy (June 17, 1999, 64 FR 32717). Upon Service approval, 
the Blencowes (applicants) will issue a certificate of inclusion to 
each of the cooperators. Each certificate of inclusion will extend the 
incidental take coverage conferred by the EOS permit to the cooperator.
    Baseline levels for the covered species will be determined by the 
cooperator, in coordination with the Service, and then the Service will 
review each baseline determination prior to the Blencowes' issuance of 
a certificate of inclusion to the cooperator. The SHA also contains a 
monitoring component that requires the applicant to ensure that the 
cooperators are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the SHA. 
Results of these monitoring efforts will be provided to the Service by 
the applicant in an annual report.
    Upon approval of this SHA, and consistent with the Service's Safe 
Harbor Policy, the Service would issue an EOS permit to the Blencowes. 
This permit would authorize cooperators who are issued a certificate of 
inclusion to take the covered species incidental to the implementation 
of the management activities specified in the SHA, incidental to other 
lawful uses of the property, including routine land management 
activities, and to return to baseline conditions if desired. An 
applicant would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises'' 
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(c)(5) and 17.32(c)(5)) for the covered 
species in the EOS permit. In addition to meeting other criteria, 
actions to be performed under an EOS permit must not jeopardize the 
existence of Federally listed fish, wildlife, or plants, and the 
Service is conducting a section 7 consultation.

Application

    The Service has worked with registered professional foresters Craig 
Blencowe and Christopher Blencowe to develop a programmatic SHA for the 
creation and enhancement of habitat for the northern spotted owl on 
three Mendocino County properties that the Blencowes manage for timber 
harvest using uneven-aged silviculture techniques. At the start of the 
permit term for the SHA, the Blencowes propose to include the following 
three properties under the SHA: Bradford Ranch, Miller Tree Farm, and 
Weger Ranch. The landowners associated with each property would sign a 
cooperative agreement with the Blencowes, and the Blencowes would sign 
a certificate of inclusion for each property, verifying that the 
landowners agree to implement the timber management activities 
described in the SHA and cooperative agreements. The term of the 
proposed SHA and associated EOS permit is 40 years. Any associated 
certificate of inclusion would be tied to permit term and not longer, 
unless the SHA is extended by agreement. Currently, the properties 
support approximately 6,606 acres of northern spotted owl nesting/
roosting habitat and 3 northern spotted owl territories (i.e., an 
activity center on property), as follows: Bradford Ranch (2,363 acres 
and 1 territory), Miller Tree Farm (1,849 acres and 2 territories), and

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Weger Ranch (2,394 acres and 0 territories). We anticipate that under 
the timber management prescriptions proposed in the programmatic SHA, 
at least 6,606 acres of nesting/roosting habitat will be enhanced on 
Blencowe-managed properties, and potentially up to 2 additional 
northern spotted owl territories could exist on each of the three 
properties at the end of the 40-year SHA term.
    For properties managed under the SHA, if any additional northern 
spotted owl territory becomes established on the property, take of 
northern spotted owls associated with the effects of timber harvest on 
such additional northern spotted owl territories would be authorized 
under the incidental take permit during the 40-year permit term. The 
Service anticipates that incidental take of a northern spotted owl 
would occur only if: (a) additional northern spotted owl territories 
were established on any of the enrolled properties; and (b) any of the 
enrolled properties were returned to baseline conditions after the term 
of the 40-year SHA has expired. The Service anticipates that no more 
than two additional northern spotted owl territories would be 
established on each property during the 40-year permit term. In other 
words, during the 40-year permit term, the Service anticipates that no 
more than 12 northern spotted owls (2 adult owls per territory and as 
many as 6 new territories) would be subject to take if habitat 
conditions were returned to baseline conditions. The development and 
maintenance of high-quality functional habitat employing uneven-aged 
timber management practices in a matrix of private timberland subject 
to even-aged management regimes will provide a relatively stable 
habitat condition that we believe will provide high productivity for 
multiple generations of northern spotted owls. Therefore, the 
cumulative impact of the SHA and the activities it covers, which are 
facilitated by the allowable incidental take, are expected to provide a 
net conservation benefit to the northern spotted owl.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the administrative 
record associated with this action. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in 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 request in your comment that we 
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 under section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32) 
and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR part 46).

Tanya Sommer,
Field Supervisor, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, Arcata, California.
[FR Doc. 2022-12507 Filed 6-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P