General Conservation Plan for the Alabama beach mouse; Categorical Exclusion; Baldwin County, AL

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of application from each of Randy G. Carter, James W. Vladuchek, Joseph J. Smith, and Four Mile Marker, LLC (applicant/applicants) for four respective incidental take permits (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act under the Service's approved General Conservation Plan (GCP) and final environmental impact statement for the Alabama beach mouse (ABM). A GCP is a mechanism that meets the definition of a conservation plan in the ESA and enables the programmatic permitting and conservation process to address a defined suite of proposed activities over a defined planning area. Each applicant requests an ITP to take the federally listed ABM incidental to the construction associated with residential development. We request public comment on these applications, which include the applicants' proposed habitat conservation plan, as well as on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may qualify under the terms of the ABM GCP. We certify that each of the applications received are statutorily complete and include the necessary information to enroll in the GCP.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 161 (Friday, August 21, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 161 (Friday, August 21, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54366-54367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17152]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2026-2608; FXES11140400000-267-FF04AL4000]


General Conservation Plan for the Alabama beach mouse; 
Categorical Exclusion; Baldwin County, AL

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt 
of application from each of Randy G. Carter, James W. Vladuchek, Joseph 
J. Smith, and Four Mile Marker, LLC (applicant/applicants) for four 
respective incidental take permits (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered 
Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act under the 
Service's approved General Conservation Plan (GCP) and final 
environmental impact statement for the Alabama beach mouse (ABM). A GCP 
is a mechanism that meets the definition of a conservation plan in the 
ESA and enables the programmatic permitting and conservation process to 
address a defined suite of proposed activities over a defined planning 
area. Each applicant requests an ITP to take the federally listed ABM 
incidental to the construction associated with residential development. 
We request public comment on these applications, which include the 
applicants' proposed habitat conservation plan, as well as on the 
Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action 
may qualify under the terms of the ABM GCP. We certify that each of the 
applications received are statutorily complete and include the 
necessary information to enroll in the GCP.

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or before September 21, 2026. 
Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
(see ADDRESSES, below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the closing date.
    To ensure your comment is received and considered, you must submit 
it using one of the methods identified in the ADDRESSES section of this 
document. Comments submitted through any method not authorized in this 
document, or sent to an address not listed here, will not be 
considered.

ADDRESSES: Comment submission: All submissions must include the docket 
number [FWS-R4-ES-2026-2608] 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-R4-ES-2026-
2608, 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-R4-ES-2026-2608; 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.
    We will post all comments at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You may 
request that we withhold personal identifying information from public 
review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. See 
Public Availability of Comments for more information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Lynn, by U.S. mail (see 
ADDRESSES), by telephone at 1-251-538-2065, or via email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a3d4cacfcfcac2cefccfdacdcde3c5d4d08dc4ccd5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0176686d6d68606c5e6d786f6f416776722f666e77">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. 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), announce receipt of applications under the approved General 
Conservation Plan (GCP) for the Alabama beach mouse from Randy G. 
Carter, James W. Vladuchek, Joseph J. Smith, and Four Mile Marker, LLC 
for an ITP under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Each applicant requests an ITP to take the 
federally listed Alabama beach mouse (ABM; Peromyscus polionotus 
ammobates). One applicant will take ABM incidental to the construction 
of a single-family home, one will take ABM due to the construction of a 
garage with driveway, one will take ABM due to a deck with pool 
addition to an existing house, and one will take ABM incidental to the 
tear down and reconstruction of a single-family home in Baldwin County, 
Alabama. We request public comment on the applications, the applicants' 
HCPs, and on the Service's preliminary determination that these 
proposed ITPs may qualify for a categorical exclusion under the GCP and 
final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Alabama beach mouse 
published on March 28, 2012 (77 FR 18857).

Proposed Projects

Permit Number: PER26827056

    Randy G. Carter, applicant, requests a 50-year ITP to take ABM via 
the conversion of 0.147 acres (ac) of occupied nesting, foraging, and 
sheltering ABM habitat incidental to the construction of a single-
family home on a 0.99-ac parcel located at 2772 W. Beach Blvd., in Gulf 
Shores, Alabama. The applicant proposes to mitigate for the take of ABM 
through an in-lieu fee of $14,690.79 to the Alabama Coastal Heritage 
Trust's ABM conservation fund.

Permit Number: PER31663748

    James W. Vladuchek, applicant, requests a 50-year ITP to take ABM 
via the conversion of 0.02 ac of occupied nesting, foraging, and 
sheltering ABM habitat incidental to the construction of a garage with 
driveway on a 0.212-ac parcel located at 369 Kinzalow Lane in Gulf 
Shores, Alabama. The applicant proposes to mitigate for the take of ABM 
through an in-lieu fee of $1,968.80 to the Alabama Coastal Heritage 
Trust's ABM conservation fund.

Permit Number: PER31737155 (Originally TE42768C-0)

    Joseph J. Smith, applicant, requests a modification of an existing 
50-year ITP (TE42768C-0) to take Alabama beach mice via the additional 
conversion of 0.01 ac of occupied nesting, foraging, and sheltering ABM 
habitat incidental to the construction of a deck with pool

[[Page 54367]]

addition to an existing house on a 0.460-ac parcel located at 5645 
Pizarro Avenue in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The applicant proposes to 
mitigate for the take of ABM through an in-lieu fee of $1,000.50 to the 
Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust's ABM conservation fund.

Permit Number: PER32083666

    Four Mile Marker, LLC, applicant, requests a 50-year ITP to take 
ABM via the additional conversion of 0.034 ac of occupied nesting, 
foraging, and sheltering ABM habitat incidental to the tear down and 
reconstruction of a single family home on a 0.723 ac lot located at 
3802 Ponce de Leon Court, Gulf Shores, Alabama. The applicant proposes 
to mitigate for the take of ABM through an in-lieu fee of $3,399.40 to 
the Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust's ABM conservation fund.

Our Preliminary Determination

    The Service has made a preliminary determination that reasonably 
foreseeable effects of the applicants' proposed projects, including the 
construction of a single-family home, garage, deck with a pool addition 
and the tear down and reconstruction of a single-family home, would 
have a minor effect on ABM and the human environment. Therefore, we 
have preliminarily determined that the proposed ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) 
permit would meet the requirements of the GCP and FEIS.

Next Steps

    The Service will evaluate the application and the comments to 
determine whether to issue the requested ITP. We also will 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 ITP number PER26827056 to Randy G. Carter, ITP number 
PER31663748 to James W. Vladuchek, ITP Number PER31737155 to Joseph J. 
Smith, and ITP number PER32083666 to Four Mile Marker, LLC.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be aware that 
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, 
may be made available to the public. If you submit a comment at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, your entire comment, including any personal 
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a 
hard copy comment that includes personal identifying information, such 
as your address, phone number, or email address, you may request at the 
top of your document that we withhold this information from public 
review. However, 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

    The Service provides this notice under section 10(c) of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.,) and its implementing 
regulations (50 CFR 17.22), National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.,) as amended, and the Department of the 
Interior's implementing regulations (43 CFR part 46).

Jeffrey Powell,
Field Supervisor, Alabama Ecological Service Field Office, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-17152 Filed 8-20-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P


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