Contacts
Mark Ostwald, (360) 753-9564
Comments accepted until January 16, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement and draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for an enhancement of survival permit for the Port Blakely Tree Farm (PBTF). If approved, the permit would allow Port Blakely to carry out habitat management measures likely to benefit the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, both protected as threatened species by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The proposed agreement and associated 60-year permit would affect approximately 45,306 acres in eastern Lewis and Skamania counties in southwestern Washington. Notice of the documents' availability was published in today's Federal Register, and comments must be received by close-of-business January16, 2009.
Safe Harbor Agreements are designed to benefit federally listed endangered and threatened species by giving landowners assurances that future restrictions would not be imposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on their land as a result of their voluntary conservation actions. In other words, these agreements essentially relieve landowners of liability under the ESA if conservation practices on their land attract or perpetuate the covered federally listed species. To date, nearly three million acres of land nationwide have been enrolled in Safe Harbor Agreements, benefiting a variety of listed species.
While SHAs are often categorically excluded under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for this situation an EA was determined to best integrate federal and state public review processes. PBTF is applying to the Washington Department of Natural Resources for a Landowner Option Plan and a Cooperative Habitat Enhancement Agreement for evaluation of impacts to both species. The draft EA evaluates the potential impacts to the environment from the no-action alternative and the proposed SHA.
Portions of the lands covered by the proposed agreement are located within a conservation support area for northern spotted owls as identified in the 2008 Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan. The covered lands have been extensively managed and are not known to be currently occupied by either the northern spotted owl or the marbled murrelet. However, spotted owls have historically nested on adjacent federal lands and portions of the proposed SHA area lie within the Puget Sound Conservation Zone for marbled murrelets. Under the proposal, PBTF would be providing enhanced habitat for both species by extending the company's average harvest rotation from the industry standard of 45 years to a 60-year average, managing for wildlife trees and snags, identifying and retaining long-term special management areas and identifying and retaining set-aside areas to provide greater areas of older forest habitat than would be available under current forest practice rules. Under the proposed agreement, some of the tree stands within the covered areas will mature to an age of 136 to 173 years, with the potential to provide foraging and nesting habitat for spotted owls and nesting habitat for marbled murrelets. The terms of the proposed agreement would allow PBTF to return their lands to pre-established baseline conditions upon expiration of the proposed 60-year agreement.
Written comments concerning this notice should be addressed to: Mark Ostwald, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, 510 Desmond Drive SE, Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503. You may also submit written comments by electronic mail to FW1WWO_SHAPBTF@FWS.GOV.
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