Receipt and Availability of Applications for Permits to Allow Incidental Take of Threatened and Endangered Species by The Pacific Lumber Company and its Subsidiaries, Scotia Pacific Holding, L.L.C., and Salmon Creek Corporation, on Lands in Humboldt County, California

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 071798F]

Receipt and Availability of Applications for Permits to Allow

Incidental Take of Threatened and Endangered Species by The Pacific

Lumber Company and its Subsidiaries, Scotia Pacific Holding, L.L.C.,

and Salmon Creek Corporation, on Lands in Humboldt County, California

AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Marine

Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period; request for public

comment on Potential incidental take permit provisions and draft

habitat conservation plan errata.

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SUMMARY: As announced in the Federal Register on July 14, 1998, the

Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service

(collectively, the Services) requested comments on the applications for

permits to allow incidental take of threatened and endangered species

submitted by the Pacific Lumber Company and its Subsidiaries, Scotia

Pacific Holding, L.L.C., and Salmon Creek Corporation (collectively,

the Companies), on lands in Humboldt County, California, including the

associated draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and draft

Implementation Agreement (IA) on or before October 13, 1998. By this

Notice, the Services announce an extension of the public comment period

on the permit applications, including the draft HCP and IA, and invite

public comment on new provisions which may be included in incidental

take permits that may be issued to the Companies, and provide

information clarifying language in the July 1998 draft HCP.

DATES: Written comments on the permit applications, draft HCP and draft

IA must be received on or before November 16, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the application, including the draft HCP

and IA, should be addressed to Mr. Bruce Halstead, Fish and Wildlife

Service, 1125 16th Street, Room 209, Arcata, California 95521-5582.

Written comments may be sent by facsimile to (707) 822-8411. Please

refer to permit number PRT-828950 and number 1157 when submitting

comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bruce Halstead, Fish and Wildlife

Service, (707) 822-7201, or Mr. Craig Wingert, National Marine

Fisheries Service,(562) 980-4020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Companies have applied to the Services

for incidental take permits pursuant to section 10(a) of the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The federally listed species for

which the Companies have requested permits are the northern spotted

owl, marbled murrelet, American peregrine falcon, bald eagle, western

snowy plover, and coho salmon. The Companies have also requested

inclusion in the permits of thirty currently unlisted species, which

could be listed in the future under the Act. A draft HCP and draft IA

were submitted to the Services as part of the permit applications. The

draft HCP covers approximately 211,700 acres of the Companies' lands in

Humboldt County, California. By a Federal Register Notice dated July

14, 1998 (63 FR 37900), the Services announced the availability of the

permit applications, including the draft HCP and IA for public review

and solicited comments on the documents for a 90-day period ending on

October 13, 1998. The Services are required to comply with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in determining whether to issue

incidental take permits and, in cooperation with the California

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, are in the process of

preparing a joint Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/

Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the permit applications and

related Federal and state actions.

By this Notice, the Services are extending the public review and

comment period on the permit applications, including the draft HCP and

IA, to November 16, 1998. It is anticipated that the close of the

public comment period on the soon to be released Draft EIS/EIR on the

Headwaters Project will close on the same date. A Federal Register

Notice announcing the availability of the Draft EIS/EIR for public

review is expected in early October. Should the deadline for comments

on the draft EIS/EIR be later than November 16, the comment period on

the permit application also will be extended.

By this Notice, the Services also advise the public that the

agencies are considering additional provisions for inclusion in the

incidental take permits that may be issued to the Company. These

provisions, which are summarized below, are included in legislation

regarding the Headwaters Forest and HCP (Assembly Bill 1986) recently

passed by the California State legislature and currently waiting

signature by the Governor. The full text of Assembly Bill 1986 may be

obtained through the California Environmental Resources Evaluation

System (CERES) website at http://www.ceres.ca.gov/ and through the Fish

and Wildlife Service website at http://www.r1.fws.gov/text/

species.html.

The California legislation appropriates monies to the state

Wildlife Conservation Board to fund the State's share of the cost of

acquiring approximately 7,500 acres of private forest lands, including

the Headwaters Forest, in furtherance of an Agreement signed by the

United States, the State of California, The Pacific Lumber Company, and

its corporate parent on September 28, 1996. Like counterpart

legislation passed by Congress (Pub. L. 105-83) in November 1997 to

fund the Federal government's share of the cost of acquiring the forest

lands, Assembly Bill 1986 provides that, among other things, incidental

take permits covering the Companies' lands must be issued

[[Page 50884]]

before the appropriation becomes effective.

The state legislation further conditions the expenditure of state

funds for acquisition of the Headwaters Forest and adjacent lands on

the inclusion of several provisions in the final HCP intended to

strengthen protections for threatened and endangered species. Those

provisions include the following:

(1) Establishment of a 100-foot no-cut buffer on each side of each

Class I watercourse until, following completion of a watershed analysis

that has been reviewed by the Services, site specific prescriptions for

the watercourse have been established by the Fish and Wildlife Service

or National Marine Fisheries Service and implemented by the Companies;

(2) Establishment of a 30-foot no-cut buffer on each side of each

Class II watercourse until, following completion of a watershed

analysis that has been reviewed by the Services, site specific

prescriptions for the watercourse have been established by the Fish and

Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service and implemented

by the Companies;

(3) A requirement that the restrictions applicable to all Class I,

II and III watercourses contained in the January 7, 1998, document

entitled ``Corrected Version Draft - Interagency Federal-State Aquatic

Strategy and Mitigation for Timber Harvest and Roads for the Pacific

Lumber Company'' (located in the draft HCP in Volume 4, part D, section

3, under the heading ``Default Strategy for Lands not Assessed through

Watershed Analysis'') remain in effect until, following completion of a

watershed analysis for each watercourse that has been reviewed by the

Services, site specific prescriptions for the watercourse have been

established by the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine

Fisheries Service and implemented by the Companies;

(4) A requirement that the site specific prescriptions established

by the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service

result in no-cut buffers of not less than 30 feet and not more than 170

feet on each side of each Class I and Class II watercourse, except that

no-cut buffers of less than 30 feet on Class II watercourses (but no

less than allowed under the draft HCP) may be established where either

of the Services determines a smaller buffer would benefit aquatic

habitat or species;

(5) Development of a peer review process by the Services, in

consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Department of

Fish and Game, to evaluate on a spot-check basis the analyses and

prescriptions developed through the watershed analysis process;

(6) Establishment of a schedule that results in completion of the

watershed analysis process in five years;

(7) A prohibition on timber harvesting, including salvage logging

and other management activities detrimental to the marbled murrelet and

marbled murrelet habitat within the Marbled Murrelet Conservation Areas

identified in the draft HCP for the life of the incidental take permits

as defined in the February 27, 1998, document entitled ``Pre-Permit

Application Agreement in Principle'';

(8) A 5-year moratorium on timber harvesting, including salvage

logging and other management activities within the Grizzly Creek

Marbled Murrelet Conservation Area to provide an opportunity for the

purchase and permanent protection of the area;

(9) Inclusion of conditions on road-related activities that, on

balance, are no less protective of species and habitat than the

provisions contained in the Pre-Permit Application Agreement in

Principle; and

(10) A requirement that the Companies submit each timber harvesting

plan (THP) covering lands included in the HCP to the Services for

review and comment and a finding that the THP is consistent with the

final HCP at least 30 days prior to the earliest possible date of the

THP's approval by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Under the legislation, expenditure of the funds appropriated for

acquisition of the Headwaters Forest and adjacent lands also requires

that the final HCP be no less protective of aquatic or avian species

than the draft HCP as amended by the conditions in the state

legislation.

Assembly Bill 1986 appropriates, conditioned on issuance of the

incidental take permits and approval of the Sustained Yield Plan (SYP),

additional funding for the future purchase of the Owl Creek and Grizzly

Creek Marbled Murrelet Conservation Areas and, to the extent funds are

available, purchase of tracts known as the ``Elk River Property''and

forest land within the Mattole River watershed. These purchases would

not be a component of the HCP, incidental take permits, or SYP. The

state legislation also appropriates an additional $15,000,000 in

economic assistance to Humboldt County conditioned on the approval of

the incidental take permits and SYP.

Because the provisions of the state legislation identified in

numbered paragraphs 1 through 10 above are being considered for

inclusion in a final HCP and any incidental take permits that may be

issued, the Services invite public comment on the provisions. The

provisions will also be analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR scheduled to be

released for public review and comment in early October 1998.

Draft Habitat Conservation Plan Errata

Several inaccurate statements have been identified in the Pacific

Lumber Company's Public Review Draft, Sustained Yield Plan/Habitat

Conservation Plan, dated July, 1998. These statements describe the

effects of the action as proposed by the Pacific Lumber Company at that

time. Corrections are needed to provide an accurate portrayal of that

proposal. The corrections detailed below relate to the description of

the action as proposed in the July 1998 Public Review Draft.

The following corrections or clarifications are needed within the

Marbled Murrelet Habitat Conservation Plan, Volume IV, Part B, and

within the Summary, Volume I, Part G.3.

1. Correction of erroneous statement regarding protected acreage

of residual timber stands.

In Volume IV, Part B, page 1, last paragraph, the next to the

last sentence should be replaced with the following sentence: A

substantial amount (at least 3,300 acres, 27%) of the lower density

residual old growth will not be available for harvest.

The original sentence in the Public Review Draft contained two

errors. The errors derived from direct incorporation of language

provided by Thomas Reid & Associates in page 2 of a memorandum to

members of the Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team, dated June 5, 1998.

That memorandum is attached to the HCP/SYP at Volume IV, Part B,

Section 14. As a result of a typographical error, the word ``not''

was omitted from a corresponding sentence in that memorandum. Also,

the amount of residual old-growth that would be protected was

incorrectly calculated.

2. Clarification regarding aggregate and protected acreages for

MMCAs.

In the Public Review Draft HCP, 12 separate MMCAs are aggregated

into 8 contiguous areas, one of which would be harvested under the

provisions of the HCP (either Owl Creek or Grizzly Creek, see e.g.,

paragraph 4, Volume IV, Part B, Page 1). In aggregate, all 8 of the

contiguous MMCAs comprise approximately 8,500 acres. This number is

reported in Volume I, Part B, at two locations on page 24: the last

sentence of the 4th paragraph, and the first sentence of the sixth

paragraph. It also is reported in Volume IV, Part B, Section 9.a,

page 31; and on page 35 in the last sentence of the first paragraph

under Section II. It is also reported the Summary, Volume I, page

50, in the last sentence of the first paragraph under Section d.

For clarification, it should be understood that while the MMCAs

in aggregate would

[[Page 50885]]

total approximately 8,500 acres, either the Owl Creek MMCA or the

Grizzly Creek MMCA would be harvested, and thus, total acreage

protected within the remaining MMCAs would actually amount to

approximately 7,500 acres (i.e., if the Owl Creek MMCA were

harvested total MMCA protection will be 7,586 acres), not 8,500

acres.

Similarly, total acreage of Headwaters Reserve and MMCAs would

equal approximately 15,000 acres, not 17,000 acres, as stated in

Volume IV, Part B, in the final sentence on page 1, and on page 31,

sec. 9.a, second sentence. This error also emanates from the Reid

memo to members of the Recovery Team dated June 5, 1998, attached to

the HCP at Volume IV, Part B, Section 14. The total had been

incorrectly calculated.

Dated: September 9, 1998.

Anne C. Badgley,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service,

Portland, Oregon.

Dated: September 14, 1998.

Kevin Collins,

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98-25459 Filed 9-22-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F