[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52807-52809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18496]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0091; FXES11140300000-223]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Receipt of Habitat 
Conservation Plan and Applications for Incidental Take Permits for Bat 
Species in MI, MN, and WI; Availability of Draft Environmental 
Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments and information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received three 
separate applications for incidental take permits (ITPs) under the 
Endangered Species Act from the Michigan Department of Natural 
Resources (DNR), Minnesota DNR, and Wisconsin DNR. If approved, the 
permits would authorize incidental take of the Indiana bat, northern 
long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat. The applicants 
also have jointly submitted the Lake States Forest Management Bat 
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). We make available for public comment 
the applicants' HCP and announce the availability of a draft 
environmental assessment, which has been prepared in response to the 
permit applications in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. We invite the public and local, State, 
Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on these documents.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
September 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES: 
    Document availability: Electronic copies of the documents this 
notice announces, along with public comments received, will be 
available online in Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0091 at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Comment submission: In your comment, please specify whether your 
comment addresses the proposed HCP, draft EA, any combination of the 
aforementioned documents, or other supporting documents. You may submit 
written comments by one of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit 
comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-ES-2022-0091.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R3-ES-2022-0091; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg 
Pike, MS: PRB/3W; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    For more information, see Availability of Public Comments in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Hicks, Field Supervisor, 
Michigan Ecological Services Field Office, by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 517-351-2555; or Andrew Horton, 
Regional HCP Coordinator, by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 612-713-5337.
    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: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service), have received three separate applications from the Michigan 
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota DNR, and Wisconsin DNR 
for incidental take permits (ITPs) under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The applicants also 
have jointly submitted the Lake States Forest Management Bat Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP) in support of each of their ITP applications. 
We make available for public comment the applicants' HCP and announce 
the availability of a draft environmental assessment, which has been 
prepared in response to the permit applications, in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. We request 
public comment on the application and associated documents.
    All three State DNRs have requested 50-year ITPs. The Michigan DNR 
is applying for an ITP for take of Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), 
northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), tricolored bat 
(Perimyotis subflavus), and little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), while 
the Minnesota DNR and Wisconsin DNR are each applying for ITPs that 
include take coverage for the northern long-eared bat, tricolored bat, 
and little brown bat. For each State, implementation of the habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) would be specific for their respective 
incidental take for the Indiana bat,

[[Page 52808]]

northern long-eared bat, tricolored bat, and little brown bat (covered 
species).
    The applicants conduct habitat and forest management activities 
statewide within their jurisdictions, and the requested ITPs will cover 
the continuation of the following activities: timber harvest and 
related forest management practices; forest-related road and trail 
construction, maintenance, and use; prescribed fire; and implementation 
of the HCP conservation strategy. Covered lands for the Lake States HCP 
include all forestlands occurring within the States of Michigan, 
Minnesota, and Wisconsin that are not owned or managed by the Federal 
government. Collectively, covered lands consist of approximately 46 
million acres (ac), which include forested State DNR lands (9 million 
ac), county and municipal forestlands (5 million ac), and other non-
Federal lands (32 million ac). The applicants jointly have prepared a 
habitat conservation plan that describes the continued habitat and 
forest management operations and measures that the applicants would 
implement to avoid, minimize, and mitigate incidental take of the 
covered species. The HCP proposes to protect and sustainably manage 9.2 
million ac of covered species habitat over the course of the requested 
50-year permit term, and has dedicated annual enhancement of 15,460 ac 
of Indiana bat summer habitat in Michigan; 146,400 ac of northern long-
eared bat summer habitat in the Lake States; 92,367 ac of tricolored 
bat summer habitat in the Lake States; and 146,400 ac of little brown 
bat summer habitat in the Lake States. In addition, management and 
enhancement activities will occur annually on other non-Federal 
forestlands located on private or county/municipal lands through 
certificates of inclusion. For Indiana bats, these activities are 
anticipated on 23,011 ac in Michigan; for northern long-eared bats, on 
370,354 ac in the Lakes States; for tricolored bats, on 206,139 ac in 
the Lake States; and for little brown bats, on 372,427 acres in the 
Lake States. We also announce the availability of a draft environmental 
assessment (EA), which has been prepared in response to the permit 
applications in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA and its implementing regulations prohibit the 
``take'' of animal species listed as endangered or threatened. Take is 
defined under the ESA as to ``harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect [listed animal species,] or to attempt 
to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 
10(a) of the ESA, we may issue permits to authorize incidental take of 
listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the ESA as take that 
is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise 
lawful activity (16 U.S.C. 1539). Regulations governing incidental take 
permits for endangered and threatened species, respectively, are found 
in the Code of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR 17.22 and 50 CFR 17.32. 
Impacts to plants do not fall under the definition of ``take''; 
therefore, the Service cannot authorize incidental take of plants. 
However, the Service cannot issue an ITP that would jeopardize the 
continued existence or adversely modify the designated critical habitat 
of any listed species.

Applicants' Proposed Project

    The applicants request a 50-year ITP to take the four bat species. 
The applicants determined that take is reasonably certain to occur 
incidental to enactment of forest and habitat management activities in 
their respective States within 47 million ac of covered species 
habitat. The proposed conservation strategy in the applicants' proposed 
HCP is designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of habitat 
and forest management on the covered species. The biological goals and 
objectives are to minimize potential take of the four covered species 
through minimization measures and to provide habitat conservation 
measures for the covered species to offset any impacts from 
implementation of habitat and forest management activities. Based on 
estimated annual take rates, the estimated level of lethal take from 
the proposed permit term for Michigan is 2 Indiana bats, 99 northern 
long-eared bats, 386 little brown bats, and 1 tricolored bat. For 
Minnesota, the estimated level of lethal take from the proposed permit 
term is 40 northern long-eared bats, 78 little brown bats, and 1 
tricolored bat. For Wisconsin, the estimated level of lethal take from 
the proposed permit term is 21 northern long-eared bats, 320 little 
brown bats, and 3 tricolored bats. To offset the impacts of the taking 
of the covered bat species, the applicants propose to avoid habitat 
loss-related impacts from habitat and forest management by instituting 
avoidance measures during the management process, such as avoiding 
certain activities during the active maternity season, and to implement 
species habitat protection, enhancement, or restoration. Beneficial and 
net effects of the conservation strategy include the successful 
management of forests, which protect potential habitat for bats; site-
level maintenance and promotion of roost trees and foraging habitat; 
the protection and management of covered species' habitat; the 
protection and enhancement of caves; and other specific measures that 
minimize or avoid effects to the covered species.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The issuance of an ITP is a Federal action that triggers the need 
for compliance with NEPA. We prepared a draft EA that analyzes the 
environmental impacts on the human environment resulting from two 
alternatives: a no-action alternative and the applicants' proposed 
action.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the permit applications and the comments 
received to determine whether the applications meet the requirements of 
section 10(a) of the ESA. We will also conduct an intra-Service 
consultation pursuant to section 7 of the ESA to evaluate the effects 
of the proposed take. After considering the above findings, we will 
determine whether the permit issuance criteria of section 10(a)(l)(B) 
of the ESA have been met. If met, the Service will issue the requested 
ITPs to the applicants.

Request for Public Comments

    The Service invites comments and suggestions from all interested 
parties on the proposed HCP, draft EA, and supporting documents during 
a 30-day public comment period (see DATES). In particular, information 
and comments regarding the following topics are requested:
    1. The effects that implementation of any alternative could have on 
the human environment;
    2. Whether or not the significance of the impact on various aspects 
of the human environment has been adequately analyzed;
    3. Any threats to the Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, little 
brown bat, and tricolored bat that may influence their populations over 
the life of the ITP that are not addressed in the proposed HCP or EA;
    4. Whether the conservation measures outlined in the HCP are 
sufficient to offset impacts over a 50-year duration; and
    5. Any other information pertinent to evaluating the effects of the 
proposed action on the human environment.

[[Page 52809]]

Availability of Public Comments

    You may submit comments by one of the methods shown under 
ADDRESSES. We will post on https://www.regulations.gov all public 
comments and information received electronically or via hardcopy. All 
comments received, including names and addresses, will 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 the 
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6; 43 CFR 46).

Lori Nordstrom,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-18496 Filed 8-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P