Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application Submitted by Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel for an Incidental Take Permit for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Association With Timber Harvesting Activities on Their Property in Orangeburg County, South Carolina

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an

Application Submitted by Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel for an

Incidental Take Permit for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Association With

Timber Harvesting Activities on Their Property in Orangeburg County,

South Carolina

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Ms. Suzanne Gasque and Ms. Jewel Felkel (Applicants) have

applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an incidental take

permit pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of

1973 (Act), as amended. The proposed permit would authorize the

incidental take of a federally endangered species, the red-cockaded

woodpecker Picoides borealis (RCW) known to occur on property owned by

the Applicants in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The Applicants

propose to harvest 106 acres of timber on their 446-acre property

located approximately 3.5 miles south of Elloree. The proposed permit

would authorize incidental take of RCWs on this property in exchange

for mitigation elsewhere as described further in the Supplementary

Information Section below.

The Service also announces the availability of an environmental

assessment (EA) and habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the incidental

take application. Copies of the EA or HCP may be obtained by making a

request to the Regional Office address below. Requests must be

submitted in writing to be processed. This notice is provided pursuant

to Section 10 of the Act and National Environmental Policy

Act Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, EA and HCP should be

sent to the Regional Permit Coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia, at the

address below and should be received on or before March 18, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may

obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office,

Atlanta, Georgia. Documents will also be available for public

inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Regional

Office; or the Asheville, North Carolina or Charleston, South Carolina

Field Offices. Written data or comments concerning the application, EA,

or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. Please reference

permit under PRT-810934 in such comments.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (AES/TE), 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite

200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345, Telephone: 404/679-7110, Fax: 404/679-7081

Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 160 Zillicoa Street,

Asheville, North Carolina 28801, Telephone: 704/258-3939

Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 217 Fort Johnson

Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29422-2559, Telephone: 803/727-4707.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Nicholls at the Asheville,

North Carolina Field Office, or Lori Duncan at the Charleston, South

Carolina, Field Office, or Rick G. Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia,

Regional Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RCW is a territorial, non-migratory

cooperative breeding bird species. RCWs live in social units called

groups which generally consist of a breeding pair, the current year's

offspring, and one or more helpers (normally adult male offspring of

the breeding pair from previous years). Groups maintain year-round

territories near their roost and nest trees. The RCW is unique among

the North American woodpeckers in

[[Page 6255]]

that it is the only woodpecker that excavates its roost and nest

cavities in living pine trees. Each group member has its own cavity,

although there may be multiple cavities in a single pine tree. The

aggregate of cavity trees is called a cluster. RCWs forage almost

exclusively on pine trees and they generally prefer pines greater than

10 inches diameter at breast height. Foraging habitat is contiguous

with the cluster. The number of acres required to supply adequate

foraging habitat depends on the quantity and quality of the pine stems

available.

The RCW is endemic to the pine forests of the Southeastern United

States and was once widely distributed across 16 States. The species

evolved in a mature fire-maintained ecosystem. The RCW has declined

primarily due to the conversion of mature pine forests to young pine

plantations, agricultural fields, and residential and commercial

developments, and to hardwood encroachment in existing pine forests due

to fire suppression. The species is still widely distributed (presently

occurs in 13 southeastern States), but remaining populations are highly

fragmented and isolated. Presently, the largest populations occur on

federally owned lands such as military installations and national

forests.

In South Carolina, there are an estimated 681 active RCW clusters

as of 1994; 67 percent are on Federal lands, 6 percent are on State

lands, and 27 percent are on private lands. The populations on public

lands are generally stable, and in some cases are increasing. The

overall population trend on private lands in South Carolina, on the

other hand, is downward. Most RCW populations on private lands are

relatively small and isolated.

The Applicant's land in Orangeburg County hosts a small and

isolated population of RCWs. As of 1995, there were 2 active RCW

clusters; 1 breeding group and 1 solitary adult male. The nearest known

RCW group occurs on private lands approximately 2.5 miles to the north

of the Gasque/Felkel tract near Elloree. The nearest known RCW

concentration (greater than 5 groups) occurs over 10-15 miles away on

the Manchester State Forest/Shaw Air Force Base to the north in Sumter

County, and on the privately-owned Norfolk Southern property located

south of the Gasque/Felkel tract in Dorchester County. The Applicants

propose to harvest timber on their property for supplemental income.

Timber harvesting activities may result in death of, or harm to, any

remaining RCWs through the loss of nesting and foraging habitat.

The EA considers the environmental consequences of three

alternatives, including the proposed action. The proposed action

alternative is issuance of the incidental take permit and

implementation of the HCP as submitted by the Applicants. The HCP will

provide for the provisioning of 4 clusters with artificial starts and

cavities on suitable habitat on the Sandhills State Forest in

Chesterfield County. The Sandhills State Forest is part of a designated

recovery population for the RCW in the South Carolina Sandhills

Physiographic Province. The State Forest has a total of 46,000 acres of

which 40,000 acres are manageable pine lands (predominately longleaf

pine). The State Forest currently has 55 active RCW groups with a long-

term goal of increasing the population to assist with the recovery of

the South Carolina Sandhills population. The HCP will also involve the

translocation of any juveniles produced by the breeding pair on the

Gasque/Felkel property to the provisioned sites at the Sandhills State

Forest. Finally, the HCP will involve monitoring the provisioned sites

for a specified time period at the State Forest to determine success of

the provisioning efforts. The HCP provides a funding source for the

mitigation measures.

Dated: January 9, 1996.

Noreen K. Clough,

Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 96-3566 Filed 2-15-96; 8:45 am]

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