Notice2026-11084
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for Green Diamond Resource Company, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA; Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment
Primary source
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Published
June 3, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Green Diamond Resource Company, LLC (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally threatened marbled murrelet incidental to timber harvest operations on lands owned by the applicant, in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, California. We request public comments on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan, and the Service's Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI NEPA Departmental Handbook. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33192-33193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11084]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2344; FXES11140800000-267-FF08EACT00]
Receipt of Incidental Take Permit Application and Proposed
Habitat Conservation Plan for Green Diamond Resource Company, Humboldt
and Del Norte Counties, CA; Availability of Draft Environmental
Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt
of an application from Green Diamond Resource Company, LLC (applicant)
for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act.
The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally threatened marbled
murrelet incidental to timber harvest operations on lands owned by the
applicant, in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, California. We request
public comments on the application, which includes the applicant's
proposed habitat conservation plan, and the Service's Environmental
Assessment (EA) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the
DOI NEPA Departmental Handbook. We invite comment from the public and
local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before July 6, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may obtain copies of the documents this
notice announces, along with any comments and other materials that we
receive, online in Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2026-2344 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submitting Comments: All submissions must include the docket number
[FWS-R8-ES-2026-2344] for this document. You must submit comments using
one of the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic submission: Federal eRulemaking Portal at:
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. In the Search box, enter FWS-R8-ES-2026-
2344, which is the docket number for this action. Then click the Search
button. On the resulting page, you may submit a comment by clicking on
``Comment.'' Please ensure that you have found the correct document
before submitting your comments.
<bullet> U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R8-ES-2026-2344, Policy and Regulations Branch, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church,
VA 22041-3803.
Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be
considered. We will not accept comments via email, fax, or hand
delivery. We are not required to consider comments that are submitted
after the comment period ends or that are submitted via a method
outside of these instructions. Comments containing profanity,
vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate content will not be
considered.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Papian, Deputy Field Supervisor,
Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3f51504d5e604f5e4f565e517f59484c11585049"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e10110c1f210e1f0e171f103e18090d50191108">[email protected]</span></a> (email) or 707-
825-5182 (telephone). Individuals in the United States who are deaf,
blind, 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 an application from Green Diamond Resource
Company, LLC (applicant) for a 50-year incidental take permit (ITP) for
one covered species 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
application addresses the potential ``take'' of the threatened marbled
murrelet (murrelet ; Brachyramphus marmoratus) associated with timber
harvest operations on lands owned by the applicant, in Humboldt and Del
Norte counties, California. We request
[[Page 33193]]
public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's
habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's Environmental
Assessment (EA) pursuant to the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA
regulations (43 CFR part 46), and the DOI's NEPA Departmental Handbook
(516 DM 1).
Background
The Service listed the murrelet as threatened on October 1, 1992
(57 FR 45328) and published a revised final rule designating critical
habitat on August 4, 2016 (81 FR 51348). Section 9 of the ESA prohibits
take of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered (16 U.S.C.
1538); pursuant to section 4(d) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533(d)), this
prohibition has been extended to the marbled murrelet by regulation in
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (50 CFR 17.31(a)). Under the ESA,
``take'' is defined to include the following activities: ``to harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1532). Under
section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), we may issue
permits to authorize take of listed fish and wildlife species that is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful
activity. Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened
species are at 50 CFR 17.32. Issuance of an ITP also must not
jeopardize the existence of federally listed fish, wildlife, or plant
species, pursuant to section 7 of the ESA and 50 CFR 402.02. The
permittee would receive assurances under our ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.32(b)(5)).
Proposed Project
The proposed project is timber harvest and land management across
the applicant's ownership in Humboldt and Del Norte counties,
California. The HCP Plan Area includes 380,554 acres (ac). The HCP also
identifies privately-owned timberlands in Humboldt and Del Norte
counties where the applicant may purchase lands in the future to be
added to the HCP. The HCP Covered Activities are timber harvest and
regeneration efforts, land management activities such as road
maintenance, and other silvicultural activities. The applicant requests
a 50-year ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. If we approve the
permit, the applicant anticipates taking 15 murrelets during the
harvest of 10,252 ac of modeled marginal suitable habitat. The take
would be incidental to the applicant's timber harvesting activities.
The applicant's proposed HCP contains measures to minimize and
mitigate the effects of timber harvest and land management activities
on the murrelet. Conservation measures include the establishment of
300-foot buffers around occupied murrelet habitat, the use of single-
tree selection harvest within buffers to accelerate the development of
murrelet suitable habitat, seasonal restrictions on certain activities
within buffers of occupied murrelet habitat, and the implementation of
best management practices to reduce threats such as predation.
Mitigation proposed by the applicant includes the protection of at
least 854 ac of Suitable Habitat Reserves during the permit term, and
the protection of the 76.2-ac Adaptive Management Reserve.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The proposed action consists of the issuance of an incidental take
permit and implementation of the proposed HCP, which includes measures
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to the murrelet. To comply
with the requirements for an HCP under ESA section 10(a), the applicant
evaluated two additional alternatives to the project. First, the
applicant considered what they described in the HCP as ``intensive take
avoidance;'' essentially, the process the applicant has utilized since
the federal listing of murrelet, whereby timber stands known to be
occupied by murrelets are not harvested including a 300-foot protective
buffer around the occupied stand. In addition, intensive take avoidance
includes implementation of protocol-level surveys for murrelets prior
to timber harvest in stands where suitable nesting habitat is present.
If murrelets are confirmed or suspected in a stand during surveys,
those stands are deemed to be occupied and unavailable to future timber
harvest. Timber harvest may proceed at stands where protocol-level
surveys have shown no occupancy by murrelets. Second, the applicant
considered what they described in the HCP as ``passive take
avoidance,'' whereby the applicant would avoid timber harvest in any
areas where there is a perceived risk of take of a murrelet due to
presence of suitable nesting habitat. The applicant considers passive
take avoidance as a financially non-viable timber management strategy
because it places their timberland investment on a trajectory of
progressive, cumulative set-asides of forest stands for conservation
without timber harvest.
Our Preliminary Determination
The Service has made a preliminary determination that the
applicant's proposed project may have effects on the murrelet and the
human environment. Therefore, we have preliminarily determined that the
proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP would individually or cumulatively
have effects on the murrelet and that development of an EA is
appropriate pursuant to DOI's NEPA regulations and the DOI NEPA
Departmental Handbook.
Next Steps
The Service will evaluate the application and comments received on
the HCP and EA to determine whether to issue the requested ITP. 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
preceding and other matters, we will determine whether the permit
issuance criteria of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA have been met. If
met, the Service will issue the permit to the applicant for incidental
take of the murrelet.
Public Availability of Comments
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 may
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the Endangered Species
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (50 CFR
17.22 and 17.32) and the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).
Vicky Ryan,
Field Supervisor, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office, Arcata, California.
[FR Doc. 2026-11084 Filed 6-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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