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.