Private Forest Habit Conservation Plan Approved by Board in Oregon

Contents

1 Latest File Of Conservation Plan
2 Applicant Proposal
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Private Forest Habit Conservation: The Oregon Department of State Lands (ODSL; applicant) has submitted two distinct incidental take permit (ITP) applications to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in connection with ODSL’s Elliott State Research Forest habitat protection plan (HCP). The Endangered Species Act was the motivation for the submission of the applications, which includes the HCP.

In order to conduct research and manage the Elliott State Forest in Coos and Douglas Counties, Oregon, ODSL is requesting permission from the Services for the incidental capture of three species (two under FWS authority and one under NMFS jurisdiction).

This notification also indicates the availability of a draught environmental impact statement in line with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (DEIS). Under NEPA, FWS is the primary Federal agency, while NMFS is a cooperative agency. Federal, Tribal, State, and municipal agencies, as well as the general public, are invited to provide feedback on the HCP and DEIS.

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Latest File Of Conservation Plan

Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531) Section 9 Fish and wildlife species identified as endangered under section 4 are not allowed to be taken (16 U.S.C. 1538 and 16 U.S.C. 1533, respectively). Under some conditions, the ESA’s implementing rules extend the no-take policy to vulnerable species (50 CFR 17.31). The word “take” is defined as “harass, hurt, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or gather, or try to engage in any such behaviour” (16 USC 1532(19)) under section 3 of the ESA.

According to FWS rules, “damage” is defined as “an act which really kills or injures animals.” A severe habitat change or degradation that actually kills or harms animals by seriously interfering with key behavioural patterns, such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering, qualifies as such an act (50 CFR 17.3; see 50 CFR 222.102 for NMFS regulations).

The Services may issue permits to enable the incidental taking of listed fish and wildlife species under section 10(a) of the ESA. The ESA defines “incidental take” as a take that occurs incidentally to, rather than for the purpose of, engaging in an otherwise legal activity. In accordance with the following conditions, it may be issued to non-federal organisations for the taking of endangered and threatened species under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA:

Applicant Proposal

In compliance with the ESA’s regulations, ODSL is asking for permission to capture a vulnerable northern spotted owl incidentally. Threatened marbled murrelet (Strix occidentalis caurina), Brachyramphus marmoratus) and the endangered coho salmon of the Oregon Coast ( Known to occur in the Elliott State Forest are Oncorhynchus kisutch and Oncorhynchus kisutch (together, the covered species).

The FWS is in charge of issuing incidental take licences for the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet, while the NMFS is in charge of issuing incidental take permits for coho salmon from the Oregon Coast. For a range of research and management initiatives in the Elliott State Forest, which is situated in Coos and Douglas Counties in southwest Oregon, ODSL is looking for accidental take coverage.

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Research initiatives on forests and species, wood removal, supporting management operations, supporting infrastructure management, and actions noted in the conservation plan and monitoring programme that may have an impact on covered species are all included in the proposed covered activities. The draught HCP and the DEIS go into further detail about these activities. The planned 80-year permission period.

Analyses of the anticipated effects on covered species are included in the draught HCP and DEIS. ODSL predicts that habitat loss and change will likely result in the taking of northern spotted owls or murrelets. Due to this, as well as the fact that it is impractical to track down each northern spotted owl or marbled murrelet that has been taken, ODSL has produced modelled habitat units as a stand-in for use in take estimations.

Similar to how it constructed surrogate habitat units to estimate take for Oregon Coast coho salmon, ODSL estimated harvest levels within watersheds that overlapped each evolutionarily important unit and the per cent of each independent population inside the permit region.

The draught HCP contains further information on ODSL’s approach for calculating and measuring take and associated conservation effects over time. You may keep yourself up to date with all of the most recent news by visiting our website, Focus Hillsboro.