Notice2022-12118
Port Blakely Company; John Franklin Eddy Forestlands Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment; Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 14, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), have received an incidental take permit (ITP) application from the Port Blakely Company, including a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the John Franklin Eddy Forestlands in Clackamas County, Oregon. Port Blakely submitted the ITP application and HCP pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also received an ITP application from Port Blakely and, concurrent with this notice, has also published a notice of availability for comment on the ITP application, the applicant's HCP, and, as the lead Federal agency under the National Environmental Policy Act, a draft environmental assessment (draft EA) analyzing the potential effects of issuance of the respective ITPs. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on these documents.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 114 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35991-35992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12118]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2022-N021; FXES11140100000-223-FF01E0000]
Port Blakely Company; John Franklin Eddy Forestlands Habitat
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment; Receipt of Incidental
Take 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 (FWS), have received an
incidental take permit (ITP) application from the Port Blakely Company,
including a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the John Franklin Eddy
Forestlands in Clackamas County, Oregon. Port Blakely submitted the ITP
application and HCP pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also received an ITP
application from Port Blakely and, concurrent with this notice, has
also published a notice of availability for comment on the ITP
application, the applicant's HCP, and, as the lead Federal agency under
the National Environmental Policy Act, a draft environmental assessment
(draft EA) analyzing the potential effects of issuance of the
respective ITPs. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and
Federal agencies to comment on these documents.
DATES: Written comments must be received by no later than 5 p.m.
Pacific Standard Time on July 14, 2022. Any comments received after the
closing date may not be considered in the final decision on these
actions.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining documents: The HCP and draft EA are available on the
internet at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/port-blakely-habitat-conservation-plan-john-franklin-eddy-forestlands">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/port-blakely-habitat-conservation-plan-john-franklin-eddy-forestlands</a>.
Submitting comments: Submit comments in writing via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#93e3fce1e7f1fff2f8f6ffeabdfbf0e3d3fdfcf2f2bdf4fce5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7808170a0c1a1419131d140156101b083816171919561f170e">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the following in the email subject
line: ``Comments on Port Blakely HCP/Draft EA.'' Please specify whether
your comments are associated with the HCP or the draft EA, and refer to
the specific page number and line number of the document on which you
are commenting. FWS and NMFS will consider all relevant comments
submitted in response to the respective notices of availability. There
is no need to submit identical comments in response to both notices
(please also see Public Availability of Comments).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Zisa, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#32785d576d685b4153725445411c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e0aa8f85bfba899381a0869793ce878f96">[email protected]</span></a>
or via phone at 503-231-6961. 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
(FWS), have received an incidental take permit (ITP) application from
the Port Blakely Company, including a habitat conservation plan (HCP)
for the John Franklin Eddy Forestlands in Clackamas County, Oregon.
Port Blakely submitted the ITP application and HCP pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The permit, if issued, would authorize incidental
take of species under FWS jurisdiction resulting from the timber
harvest, silviculture, road management, and conservation activities
described in the HCP, for a permit term of 50 years.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also received an ITP
application and, concurrent with this notice, has also published a
notice of the availability for comment on that ITP application, the HCP
and, as the lead Federal agency under the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a draft
environmental assessment (draft EA) analyzing the potential effects of
issuance of the respective ITPs. FWS is a cooperating agency under NEPA
for this proposed action. Both notices are soliciting public comments
through a single process, described below.
Species Included in the Habitat Conservation Plan
Port Blakely's habitat conservation plan (HCP) includes three ESA-
listed species that are under the jurisdiction of FWS, and three ESA-
listed species that are under the jurisdiction of NMFS. The HCP also
includes 14 species not listed under the ESA.
ESA-Listed Species Under FWS Jurisdiction:
<bullet> Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus): threatened
<bullet> Gray wolf (Canis lupus): endangered
<bullet> Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina):
threatened
ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction:
<bullet> Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened
Lower Columbia River (LCR) evolutionarily significant unit (ESU);
threatened Upper Willamette River (UWR) ESU
<bullet> Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): threatened LCR ESU
<bullet> Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): threatened LCR distinct
population segment (DPS); threatened UWR DPS
Non-ESA-Listed Species:
<bullet> Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata)
<bullet> Cascades frog (Rana cascadae)
<bullet> Coastal tailed frog (Ascaphus truei)
<bullet> Cascade torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae)
<bullet> Oregon slender salamander (Batrachoseps wright)
<bullet> Western/North Pacific pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata
marmorata)
<bullet> Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
[[Page 35992]]
<bullet> Pacific fisher (Pekania pennanti)
<bullet> Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii spp.)
<bullet> Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus)
<bullet> Silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)
<bullet> Fringed myotis bat (Myotis thysanodes)
<bullet> Long-eared myotis bat (Myotis evotis)
<bullet> Long-legged myotis bat (Myotis volans)
Background
Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the taking of a species listed as
endangered or threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' to mean to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct. The FWS may issue permits,
under limited circumstances, to take listed species incidental to
otherwise lawful activities pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA
and implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b) and 17.32(b)).
On August 16, 2020, NMFS and FWS received separate applications
from Port Blakely for ITPs to authorize take of the above species that
may occur incidental to Port Blakely's timber harvest, silviculture,
road management, and conservation activities on approximately 30,000
acres of its John Franklin Eddy Forestlands in the Clackamas River and
Molalla River Basins of Oregon. In association with the applications,
the applicant submitted a HCP, which specifies the impacts to the
species that will likely result from implementing the covered
activities, steps that Port Blakely will take to minimize and mitigate
such impacts, procedures to account for unforeseen or changed
circumstances, a plan for monitoring and adaptive management, and a
description of funding assurances. Authorization for take of the
species not currently listed under the ESA addressed by the HCP would
be included in the ITP proposed for issuance by FWS; the take
authorization would be in effect for one or more of the species if the
FWS lists the species during the permit term.
The proposed issuance of the ITPs is considered a Federal action
under NEPA, and NMFS prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) to
analyze the potential impacts on the human environment in accordance
with the requirements of NEPA, with input from FWS as a cooperating
agency. Further information regarding the Draft EA is described in the
NMFS notice of availability.
Next Steps
After the public comment period ends (see DATES), FWS and NMFS will
each evaluate the permit applications, associated documents, and any
comments received to make their permit decisions based on the statutory
and regulatory criteria of the ESA. Each agency will document its
determination independently, in separate ESA section 10 findings
documents and ESA Section 7 biological opinions. NMFS will also
finalize the EA and determine whether the proposed action warrants a
finding of no significant impact, or whether an environmental impact
statement should be prepared pursuant to NEPA.
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. Moreover, 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
Section 10(c) of the ESA and its implementing regulations (50 CFR
17.22, and 50 CFR 17.32).
Hugh Morrison,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-12118 Filed 6-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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