Endangered and Threatened Species Permit Application

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Endangered and Threatened Species Permit Application

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of permit application and availability of

Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Department of Natural

Resources, State of Wisconsin (WDNR) 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). This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq.).

Permit Number TE 010064

Applicant: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, State of

Wisconsin, and Twenty-five Partners.

The applicant requests a permit to authorize the incidental take

associated with habitat modification (i.e., harm), of the Karner Blue

Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) which is federally listed as

endangered. The permit is requested for the State of Wisconsin, in its

entirety, for a period of 10 years.

The Service requests comments from the public on the incidental

take permit application and the accompanying Wisconsin Statewide

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

activities and the measures the WDNR and 25 HCP Partners will undertake

to conserve the species while conducting otherwise lawful land use

activities. 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 Draft Environmental

Impact Statement Number DES 99-9, prepared in accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act, and the Department of the Interior

Manual (516 DM 2, Appendix 1 and 516 DM 6, Appendix 1).

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

received on or before June 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Individuals wishing copies of the permit application,

Habitat Conservation Plan, or Draft Environmental Impact Statement, may

contact the office and personnel listed below. The Habitat Conservation

Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement may be accessed through

the internet at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Web Page (http://

www.fws.gov/r3pao) or the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Web

Page (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/publications/karner/

karner.htm). Documents also will be available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business hours at the address below.

Document Availability: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1015

Challenger Court, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54311, (920) 465-7440; FAX (920)

465-7410.

Three public information meetings are scheduled to provide the

public an additional forum to learn about the HCP/EIS and proposed

activities. Representatives from the U.S. Fish and

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Wildlife Service, the WDNR, and others will be available at these

meetings. Meetings will begin at 5:00 with question and answer period,

followed by presentations and gathering of comments at 6:00pm. Meeting

locations are as follows:

Tuesday, May 11, 1999--Siren, Wisconsin, at the Burnett County

Government Center, 7410 County Road K, Siren, WI 54872, (Room number to

be posted)

Wednesday, May 12, 1999--Black River Falls, at the County Courthouse,

307 Main Street, Black River Falls, WI 54615, (County Board Room)

Thursday, May 13, 1999--Wisconsin Rapids, at the Midstate Technical

College, 500 32nd Street, N, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494, (L Building

Auditorium)

Written comments regarding the permit application, the HCP or Draft

EIS should be addressed to the Regional Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111-4056.

Comments must be submitted to this address to be considered by the

Service in its final decision. Please refer to permit number TE 010064

when submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Mandell, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, telephone 612-713-5343.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under Section 9 of the Act and applicable

federal regulations, the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered

or threatened is prohibited. 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 endangered species are

promulgated in 50 CFR 17.22. Regulations governing permits for

threatened species are promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32.

Background

The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) was

federally-listed as endangered on December 14, 1992. Historically, the

Karner blue butterfly occurred in a narrow band extending from eastern

Minnesota, across portions of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Michigan, Ohio, Canada (Ontario), Pennsylvania, New York, Maine,

Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. At the time of listing, the butterfly

was considered to be extirpated from Illinois, Iowa, Maine,

Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. To date, recovery

efforts have included conservation of existing populations and

reintroduction of the Karner blue butterfly into Ohio. At the time of

listing, the primary threats to the Karner blue butterfly were habitat

loss due to modification and destruction, habitat loss due to the

absence of natural disturbances, silviculture and fragmentation of

remaining habitat.

The habitat of the Karner blue butterfly is characterized by the

presence of wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), a member of the pea family.

Wild lupine is the only known larval food plant for the species and is,

therefore, closely tied to the butterfly's ecology and distribution. In

the Midwest, the habitat is dry and sandy, including oak savanna and

jack pine areas, and dune/sandplain communities. It is believed that

the Karner blue butterfly originally occurred as shifting clusters of

populations, or metapopulations, across a vast fire-swept landscape

covering thousands of acres. While the fires resulted in localized

extirpation, post-fire vegetational succession promoted colonization

and rapid population buildups (Schweitzer 1989).

In Wisconsin, Karner blue butterfly populations are concentrated

across the central counties and in the northwest. The populations occur

primarily on sandy soil areas that support wild lupine, although

presence of this habitat alone does not indicate presence of Karner

blue butterflies. It appears that other climatic and biological factors

also influence suitability of habitat. Currently, abandoned

agricultural fields, transportation corridors, rights-of way, managed

forests, managed barrens, savannas, and prairies are areas where one

might find Karner blue butterflies in Wisconsin.

Following the listing of the butterfly, the Wisconsin Department of

Natural Resources recognized the need to address take of the butterfly

while conducting otherwise lawful land use activities, including forest

management, savanna management, etc. A coalition was formed, and the

result of the effort is the Habitat Conservation Plan summarized below,

which is currently under consideration for an incidental take permit.

Summary of the Habitat Conservation Plan

The WDNR is interested in administering the Incidental Take Permit

for lands throughout the state. Twenty-six partners are included in the

application. The WDNR has developed a Species and Habitat Conservation

Agreement (SHCA) for state lands and twenty-five partners to the HCP

have entered into an SHCA with the WDNR. New partners to the HCP that

enter into the process after the proposed permit is issued will be

provided with Certificates of Inclusion by the Service once they have

signed an SHCA that meets Service and State criteria.

The WDNR and partners have identified a variety of conservation

activities that will be undertaken to minimize harm to the butterfly

and mitigate unavoidable permanent take during otherwise lawful land

use activities. Strategies are included for conservation in forestry

management, right-of-way management, barrens management, transportation

corridor management, and management of areas to benefit recovery of the

species. WDNR proposes to be responsible to ensure compliance and

supervise monitoring of take activities.

The WDNR, in the HCP and application, is proposing a statewide

Participation Plan that identifies the roles and responsibilities of

the current partners and describes: (a) The process for incorporating

new partners into the Permit, (b) articulates when and what activities

require a separate, individual permit or authorization, and (c)

encourages private landowner participation in conservation of the

Karner blue butterfly throughout Wisconsin on a voluntary basis. The

latter strategy involves encouraging conservation of the Karner blue

butterfly through a geographically focused education and outreach

program implemented by partners with no regulatory mandate attached to

this group of landowners (conservation by this group is optional). This

is an extremely innovative approach, but has been proposed based on an

extensive, biologically justified analysis of the risk involved in

terms of potential to take the butterfly, a rigorous outreach program,

and conservation commitments by the WDNR and 25 partners. The WDNR

developed the risk assessment associated with implementation of the

Participation Plan, which graphically demonstrates (by county) the

biological risk and mitigation potential associated with implementation

of the Participation Plan. The expectation is that the combination of

mitigation by the DNR and Partners, realized through their conservation

and recovery commitments and efforts to maximize outreach in the areas

most critical to survival and conservation of the species, will provide

a net benefit to the species. The Service proposes to condition

approval of this Participation Plan on a three year trial period for

implementation of this strategy, along with a detailed and extensive

reporting requirement

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designed to monitor the success of its implementation.

The monitoring program includes three components: (1) An

effectiveness monitoring protocol implemented yearly to detect

statewide trends of the Karner blue butterfly habitat, presence and

relative abundance, (2) self-monitoring to integrate partner survey and

management information, and (3) an adaptive management approach. As

part of an adaptive management approach, the partners have agreed that

modified conservation measures and alternative management regimes will

be implemented if monitoring indicates that conservation efforts do not

produce the anticipated, desirable result for the butterfly.

The stated biological goal of this HCP is no-net-loss of habitat

for the Karner blue butterfly over the life of the plan. A primary

objective is to maintain a shifting mosaic of habitat across the

Wisconsin landscape over time, which will provide for the ecological

needs of the species.

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

Service will evaluate the permit application, HCP, Implementation

Agreement, Partners' Species and Habitat Conservation Agreements, and

comments submitted relative to the proposed action 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 Karner blue butterfly.

Reference Cited

Schweitzer, D.F. 1989. Fact sheet for the Karner blue butterfly with

special reference to New York. The Nature Conservancy, internal

document, 7 pp.

Dated: April 6, 1999.

Marvin E. Moriarty,

Acting Regional Director, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

[FR Doc. 99-9247 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]

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