🦋Incidental Take Permit Application for Quino Checkerspot Butterfly
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from the County of San Diego for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. If granted, the permit would authorize take of the Quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino), federally listed as endangered, and the western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), an amphibian species federally proposed as threatened, incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with construction and operation of a 25-acre active recreation park and habitat restoration and management within mitigation areas associated with the project. We invite comments from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies on the applicant's draft habitat conservation plan and the draft environmental assessment, which we have prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We will take comments into consideration before deciding whether to issue an incidental take permit.
Learn More🌱Incidental Take Permit Application for Solar Energy Project
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Overnight Solar, LLC for an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act. The permit would authorize take of the federally threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) incidental to otherwise lawful activities associated with construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the Overnight Solar Energy Project. We invite comments on the applicant's draft habitat conservation plan and the draft environmental assessment, which we have prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. We will take comments into consideration before deciding whether to issue an incidental take permit.
Learn More🐟Proposed Rule for Clear Lake Hitch
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Clear Lake hitch (Lavinia exilicauda chi), a freshwater fish subspecies in the North American minnow family that is restricted to the Clear Lake watershed in Lake County, California, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the Clear Lake hitch. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the Clear Lake hitch is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Clear Lake hitch as a threatened species with protective regulations issued under section 4(d) of the Act ("4(d) rule"). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add the Clear Lake hitch to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to this subspecies.
Learn More🐻New Grizzly Bear Listing
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or FWS), propose to revise the listing of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower-48 States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act or ESA). After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we affirm that the currently listed grizzly bear population meets our requirements for consideration as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the Act and that the population remains likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. However, we find that clarification of the geographic areas included within the DPS is warranted. Therefore, we propose to revise the listing by defining the boundaries of the contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS. The revised entity would include all geographic portions of the currently listed lower-48 entity that contain suitable habitat and where grizzly bears are currently found or are likely to be found in the future as populations recover. This area includes all of Washington and portions of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS would retain threatened species status. This proposed rule would promote conservation of the grizzly bear by ensuring that the listing under the Act explicitly reflects the areas where grizzly bears currently occur and are likely to occur in the future. Clarifying that the listing does not include areas outside of the grizzly bear's historical range will assist as recovery proceeds. We are also proposing to revise protective regulations for the grizzly bear issued under section 4(d) of the Act.
Learn More🌿Notice of Incidental Take Permit Application for Skink Species
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from ADH Rollins Court, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed sand skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) incidental to the construction of a residential development in Polk County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
Learn More🦚Draft Amendments Notice for Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation Plans
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received applications from LPC Conservation LLC (applicant) for amended incidental take permits (permits) supported by proposed amendments to the "Oil and Gas and Renewable (Wind and Solar) Energy, Power Line, and Communication Tower Habitat Conservation Plans for the Lesser Prairie-chicken; Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas" (HCPs). With this notice, we announce the availability for public comment of the permit applications, the proposed HCP amendments, and the draft environmental assessments (EAs). Currently, we are only accepting comments on the amended portions of the HCPs and EAs. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.
Learn More🌱Final Environmental Impact Statement for Elliott State Forest
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announces the availability of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the evaluation of incidental take permit applications and a supporting habitat conservation plan (HCP) developed by the Oregon Department of State Lands (ODSL; applicant). The applicant seeks incidental take permits from FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the Services) to authorize the incidental take of three species expected to result from research and management activities on the Elliott State Research Forest in Coos and Douglas Counties, Oregon. With this notice, we also make available the final Elliott State Research Forest Habitat Conservation Plan submitted by the applicant.
Learn More🌱Notice of Incidental Take Permit Application for Coastal California Gnatcatcher
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Angie Harbin, Director--Natural Resources, Rincon Consultants, Inc., on behalf of Comstock Homes (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) incidental to residential development in the City of Moorpark, in Ventura County, California. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a low-effect screening form. The HCP and low-effect screening form are available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
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