Availability of a Habitat Conservation Plan and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of The Dalles Municipal Watershed, Wasco County, Oregon

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of a Habitat Conservation Plan and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of The Dalles

Municipal Watershed, Wasco County, Oregon

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, DOI.

ACTION: Notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the City of The Dalles

(City) has applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an

incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The application has

been assigned permit number TE004366-0. The proposed permit would

authorize the incidental take, in the form of habitat modification

(i.e., harm), of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)

which is federally listed as threatened. The permit would be in effect

for up to 30 years.

We request comments from the public on the City's incidental take

permit application and the accompanying proposed City of The Dalles

Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan). The Plan fully describes the proposed

project and the measures the City will undertake to mitigate for

project impacts to the owl. These measures and associated impacts are

also described in the background and summary information that follow.

We also request comments from the public on our preliminary

determination that the City's Plan would qualify as a ``Low Effect''

Plan, eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National

Environmental Policy Act, as provided by the Department of the Interior

Manual (516 DM2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1). The basis for

this determination is discussed in an Environmental Action Statement,

which is also available for public review.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application and Plan should be

received on or before February 5, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Individuals wishing copies of the permit application, copies

of the Service's preliminary Low Effect Determination, or copies of the

full text of the Plan, which includes a map of the permit area,

references, legal descriptions of the permit area and an associated

Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Forest Service and the

City, should immediately contact the office and personnel listed below.

Documents also will be available for public inspection, by appointment,

during normal business hours at the address below. Comments regarding

the permit application or the Plan should be addressed to State

Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon State Office, 2600 S.E.

98th Avenue, Suite 100, Portland, Oregon 97266, fax number (503) 231-

6195. Please refer to permit number TE004366-0 when submitting

comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Joseph Zisa, Fish and Wildlife

Service, Oregon State Office, telephone (503) 231-6179.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Act and federal regulation

prohibits the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or

threatened. However, the Service, under limited circumstances, may

issue permits to ``take'' listed species, provided such take is

incidental to, and not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity.

Regulations governing permits for threatened species are promulgated in

50 CFR 17.32. Regulations governing permits for endangered species are

promulgated in 50 CFR 17.22.

Background

The proposed permit area encompasses 1,432 acres of City-owned land

in the South Fork Mill Creek Watershed of Wasco County, Oregon. It is

an access-restricted watershed that is managed for the purposes of

municipal water supply and quality. The City has determined that forest

management activities in the permit area are compatible with their

water supply and quality purposes. The permit area occurs in a narrow,

linear distribution along the upper South Fork Mill Creek and is nearly

surrounded by adjacent Forest Service land.

Much of the permit area is young or degraded Douglas Fir-White Fir

and Ponderosa Pine-White Fir stands that are unsuitable for use by

spotted owls. However, about 850 of the 1,432 forested acres are

classified as useable by spotted owls. Nearly 500 of the 850 acres are

lower quality habitat that may provide for owl dispersal opportunities

but are of limited value for owl foraging or nesting. The surrounding

Forest Service lands are designated as ``matrix'' under the Northwest

Forest Plan for the purpose of providing dispersal and connectivity

opportunities for the spotted owl.

The City-owned lands that provide spotted owl habitat occur within

the likely home ranges of two spotted owl activity centers: one is

occupied by a pair of owls, and the other is occupied by a territorial

single owl. Neither of these home ranges contain habitat quantities

sufficient to support the long-term viability and occupancy of the

resident owls. Currently, about 79 acres of the Plan area within these

likely home ranges function as suitable nesting, roosting, or foraging

habitat for owls. In addition, 270 acres of suitable nesting, roosting,

or foraging habitat is considered unoccupied by owls.

Summary of the Habitat Conservation Plan

The Plan would ensure that the City's timber harvest impacts to

spotted owls are minimized and mitigated to the maximum extent

practicable by coordinating City activities with the Forest Service to

manage the land on an ecosystem-wide basis. The City has entered into a

Memorandum of Understanding with the Forest Service, Mt. Hood National

Forest, to provide for coordinated and consistent management across the

watershed. Standards and

[[Page 908]]

guidelines established for management of federal lands designated as

matrix under the Northwest Forest Plan will be applied to the municipal

ownership for a period of 20 years. Under the Memorandum of

Understanding the City shall:

(1) Maintain riparian buffers along South Fork Mill Creek and Crow

Creek for a slope distance equal to or greater than the height of 2

site-potential trees from the edge of the stream channel in which 60 to

80 percent conifer canopy closure will be maintained.

(2) Cooperatively maintain, with the Forest Service, 100 acres of

the best spotted owl habitat as close as possible to identified

activity centers for all known spotted owl activity centers located on

City-owned or Forest Service lands. City-owned habitat within activity

centers on City-owned lands must be maintained until it is determined

through accepted protocol survey efforts that the sites have been

vacated by spotted owls for a period of 3 years.

(3) Timber management within retained 100-acre areas will be

consistent with the guidelines for Late-Successional Reserves as

defined in the Northwest Forest Plan.

(4) Provide for maintenance of adequate levels of coarse woody

debris during timber harvest activities on City-owned lands based upon

a target (where present and practicable) of 120 linear feet of logs per

acre, 16 inches in diameter or greater and 16 feet long, for

regeneration harvests, and appropriately modified for partial-cut

harvests (modified targets to be developed jointly with the Forest

Service).

Phase I of this Plan is a commitment by the City to abide by the

terms of the Memorandum of Understanding for a period of 20 years.

Phase II of the Plan will last for a period of 10 years, during which

the City would either continue conditions set forth in the Memorandum

of Understanding or ensure that the following conditions are met:

(1) Either 79 acres of owl nesting, roosting, or foraging habitat

and an additional 730 acres of dispersal or better habitat is

maintained on the permit lands or 100 acres of nesting, roosting, or

foraging habitat and an additional 590 acres of dispersal or better

habitat is maintained on the permit area. The above habitat

requirements must be within the permit area, but need not be the same

habitat currently existing on the permit area.

(2) Impacts to any known owl-occupied sites on or adjacent to the

ownership would be minimized through: the avoidance of the 70-acre core

area surrounding site centers until the sites have been determined by

the Service to be vacant for 3 years; and no harvest activities within

1/4 mile of a known, active nest site between 01 March and 30 June.

The Service has made a preliminary determination that the City Plan

qualifies as a ``Low-Effect'' Plan as defined by the Service's Habitat

Conservation Planning Handbook. Low-Effect Plans are those involving:

(1) minor or negligible effects on federally listed and candidate

species and their habitats; and (2) minor or negligible effects on

other environmental values or resources. As more fully explained in the

Service's Environmental Action Statement, the City Plan qualifies as a

Low Effect Plan for the following reasons:

(1) Approval of the Plan will result in minor or negligible effects

on the owl and other listed or proposed species. Due to the low quality

of this area for habitat suitability and occupation by owls and the

minimization measures contained in the Plan, the amount of take likely

to occur is low. The Service anticipates the take of approximately two

owl sites over the entire 30-year permit duration. This level of loss

would likely have occurred absent this proposed action due to

management actions undertaken on adjacent federal land.

(2) The Plan will not have adverse effects on unique geographic,

historic or cultural sites, or involve unique or unknown environmental

risks.

(3) Approval of the Plan will not result in any cumulative or

growth-inducing impacts and, therefore, will not result in significant

adverse effects on public health or safety.

(4) The project does not require compliance with Executive Order

11988 (Floodplain Management), Executive Order 11990 (Protection of

Wetlands), or the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, nor does it

threaten to violate a Federal, state, local or tribal law or

requirement imposed for the protection of the environment.

(5) Approval of this Plan will not establish a precedent for future

action or represent a decision in principle about future actions with

potentially significant environmental effects.

The Service has therefore made a preliminary determination that

approval of the City Plan qualifies as a categorical exclusion under

the National Environmental Policy Act, as provided by the Department of

the Interior Manual (516 DM2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1).

Based upon this preliminary determination, we do not intend to prepare

further National Environmental Policy Act documentation. The Service

will consider public comments in making its final determination on

whether to prepare such additional documentation.

This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act. The

Service will evaluate the permit application, Plan, and comments

submitted thereon to determine whether the application meets the

requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. If it is determined that the

requirements are met, a permit will be issued for the incidental take

of the northern spotted owl. The final permit decision will be made no

sooner than 30 days from the date of this notice.

Dated: December 29, 1998.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 99-40 Filed 1-5-99; 8:45 am]

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