DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 071098F]
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
AGENCY: 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
SUMMARY: As announced in the Federal Register on July 14, 1998 (FR, Vol. 63, No.134, p. 37900), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service 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, 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 Pacific Lumber Company and its subsidiaries, Scotia Pacific Holding, L.L.C. and Salmon Creek Corporation, have applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, 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 Habitat Conservation Plan and draft Implementation Agreement were submitted to the Services as part of the permit applications. The draft HCP covers approximately 211,700 acres of the Companiesí lands in Humboldt County, California. By Federal Register Notice dated July 14, 1998, 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, until the close of the public comment period on the soon to be released Draft EIS/EIR on the Headwaters Project. An upcoming Federal Register Notice announcing the availability of the Draft EIS/EIR for public review, which is expected in early October, will advise the public of the deadline for submitting comments on both the Draft EIS/EIR and the permit applications.
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 (Assembly Bill 1986) recently passed by the California State legislature regarding the Headwaters Forest and HCP. 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 U.S. 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 Stateís 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 (Public Law 105-83) in November 1997 to fund the federal governmentís share of the cost of acquiring the forest lands, A.B. 1986 provides that, among other things, incidental take permits covering the Companiesí lands must be issued 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 Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, 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 Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, 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 ìCorrected Version Draft - Interagency Federal-State Aquatic Strategy and Mitigation for Timber Harvest and Roads for the Pacific Lumber Companyî (which is 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 Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, 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 Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, 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 ìPre-Permit Application Agreement in Principleî;
8) A five 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 Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service 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 THPís 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 a finding by the State that the final HCP is no less protective of aquatic or avian species than the draft HCP as amended by the conditions in the state legislation.
Assemly Bill 1986 appropriates 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 tracts known as the ìElk River Propertyîand forestland within the Mattole River watershed. However, while such appropriations would not take effect unless the incidental take permits are issued and SYP approved, purchase of either Marbled Murrelet Conservation Area or other properties would be independent of the HCP, incidental take permits, and 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 Companyís 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 HCP may be further modified if the Pacific Lumber Company formally accepts the changes provided in Assembly Bill 1986, recently passed by the California Legislature. The corrections detailed below do not reflect the changes that would result from that legislation, but are confined to 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 ìnotî 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 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.
__________________________________ _____________________
Regional Director Date
Fish and Wildlife Service
Portland, Oregon
[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]