14134 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 57 / Monday, March 26, 2007 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Notice of Availability for the Lost Pines 

Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft 

Environmental Assessment in Support 

of the County of Bastrop’s Permit 

Application for Incidental Take of the 

Houston Toad Resulting From a 

Variety of Development and Other 

Land Use Activities in a 124,000-Acre 

Plan Area in Bastrop County, TX 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 90-day 

public comment period. 

SUMMARY: The County of Bastrop 

(County) has applied to the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (Service) for an 

incidental take permit pursuant to 

Section 10(a) of the Endangered Species 

Act (Act). The applicant has been 

assigned permit number TE–113500–0. 

The requested permit, which is for a 

period of 30 years, would authorize the 

incidental take of the endangered 

Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis). The 

proposed take would occur as a result 

of new residential, commercial, and 

multi-family development; expansion of 

existing residential, commercial, and 

multi-family development; ongoing uses 

of previously developed lands; Bastrop 

County infrastructure maintenance and 

improvement; emergency services; 

conservation subdivision development; 

wildlife management activities; forestry 

management activities; and agricultural 

management activities in an 

approximately 124,000-acre Plan Area 

in Bastrop County, Texas. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be received on or before 

June 25, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review 

the application may obtain a copy by 

writing to the Regional Director, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 

1306, Room 4102, Albuquerque, New 

Mexico 87103. Persons wishing to 

review Bastrop County’s Lost Pines 

Habitat Conservation Plan (LPHCP) or 

the draft Environmental Assessment 

(EA) may obtain a copy by contacting 

Clayton Napier, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, 

Austin, Texas 78758 (512/490–0057). 

Documents will be available for public 

inspection by written request, by 

appointment only, during normal 

business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, 

Texas. Written data or comments 

concerning the application, LPHCP, or 

draft EA should be submitted to the 

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Austin, Texas, at the above 

address. Please refer to permit number 

TE–113500–0 when submitting 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Clayton Napier at the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, 10711 Burnet Road, 

Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78758 (512/ 

490–0057). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 

of the Act prohibits the ‘‘taking’’ of 

endangered species such as the Houston 

toad. However, the Service, under 

limited circumstances, may issue 

permits to take endangered wildlife 

species incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. 

Regulations governing permits for 

endangered species are at 50 CFR 17.22. 

A determination of jeopardy or nonjeopardy to the species and a decision 

pursuant to the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) will not be made 

until at least 90 days from the date of 

publication of this notice. This notice is 

provided pursuant to Section 10(c) of 

the Act and National Environmental 

Policy Act regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). 

Applicant: The Lost Pines Habitat 

Conservation Plan (LPHCP) was 

developed by the County of Bastrop for 

an approximately 124,000-acre Plan 

Area which encompasses the entire 

currently known habitat for the Houston 

toad in Bastrop County, Texas. 

The LPHCP supports the application 

for the issuance of an incidental take 

permit for the Houston toad within the 

Plan Area for specific land use and 

development activities over the next 30 

years. Participation by landowners in 

the plan would be voluntary. 

Landowners that choose to participate 

in the LPHCP could receive incidental 

take authorization through the LPHCP’s 

streamlined process, rather than seek 

individual authorization directly from 

the Service. The LPHCP proposes to 

implement measures to minimize and 

mitigate for adverse impacts to the toad 

and its habitat, and would apply an 

area-wide, habitat-based conservation 

approach, including financial incentives 

for voluntary conservation and public 

outreach, education, and research 

programs. 

Landowners, developers, and other 

local interests could participate in the 

LPHCP and receive authorization for 

incidental take resulting from certain 

types of construction activities, 

conservation subdivision development, 

low-impact land management practices, 

and public infrastructure activities. 

High-density or large-scale land 

developments would not be eligible for 

participation in this plan, nor would the 

plan cover the implementation of highimpact land management activities (e.g., 

the conversion of pastured woodland to 

improved pasture and clear-cutting 

timber). The following specific activities 

would be eligible for incidental take 

coverage under the LPHCP: single 

family residential construction and use 

on legal, non-platted lots, single family 

residential construction within existing 

platted lots, commercial and multifamily construction and use on up to 

one acre, conservation subdivision 

development, agricultural management, 

forest management, wildlife 

management; Bastrop County 

infrastructure maintenance and 

improvement, emergency services; and, 

ongoing use of previously developed 

land. 

Single family residential, commercial, 

and multi-family development activities 

on existing lots and existing unplatted 

lots would require potential LPHCP 

participants to obtain a Certificate of 

Participation from the County to receive 

incidental take authorization for these 

types of covered activities. Construction 

activities could receive incidental take 

coverage on up to one acre per project. 

Mitigation would be in the form of a fee 

paid to the LPHCP to fund the operation 

of conservation programs, or 

landowners with sufficient acreage 

could permanently protect acreage onsite to offset negative impacts from 

construction activities. 

Conservation subdivision developers 

would be required to obtain a 

Subdivision Certificate from the County 

that certifies that their proposed project 

meets the Conservation Subdivision 

Development Guidelines of the LPHCP. 

The subdivision guidelines require an 

evaluation of existing habitat resources 

on the property, limit the density of 

residential lots or dwelling units, and 

require the designation of at least 70 

percent of the subdivision for the 

permanent protection and management 

of the Houston toad. The two options 

available to subdivision applicants who 

wish to be eligible for incidental take 

coverage under the LPHCP are the lowdensity, large-lot design and higher 

density, clustered design. The 

guidelines address management and use 

standards for conservation areas within 

the subdivision and specify restrictive 

covenants for other areas that limit 

further subdivision of lots, encourage 

environmentally sensitive pesticide use, 

and encourage the use of native plants 

for landscaping. Efforts to minimize the 

impact of subdivision infrastructure 

would also be required under the 

guidelines. Mitigation for subdivision 

development impacts would be the 

preservation and management of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 57 / Monday, March 26, 2007 / Notices 14135 

conservation areas within the 

subdivision for the Houston toad. The 

application fees generated by the 

issuance of Subdivision Certificates 

would be used to fund the LPHCP and 

its conservation programs. 

The LPHCP includes guidelines for 

agricultural management, forest 

management, and wildlife management. 

Participation in the LPHCP and 

adherence to the guidelines would be 

voluntary; however, incidental take 

authorization under the LPHCP would 

be restricted to those activities that are 

in compliance with the guidelines. The 

purpose of the guidelines is to allow for 

reasonable land use practices while 

avoiding or minimizing negative or 

long-term impacts to the Houston toad. 

The agricultural management guidelines 

cover practices related to cultivated 

land, improved pasture or hayland, and 

rangeland/native grazing lands/grazable 

woodland/native pasture. The forest 

management guidelines would provide 

a framework for forest management 

activities such as management planning, 

road construction and maintenance, site 

preparation and planting, chemical 

applications, timber harvesting, and 

prescribed burning. The wildlife 

management guidelines describe the 

framework for activities such as 

management planning, brush 

management, reforestation, prescribed 

burning, providing supplemental food 

sources, restoring native grassland, 

constructing Houston toad breeding 

ponds, and controlling fire ants. The 

agriculture, wildlife and forestry 

guidelines are intended to be ‘‘selfmitigating.’’ This means that although 

there could be some short-term impacts 

to the toad or its habitat as a result of 

conducting activities included under 

the various guidelines, the applicant 

anticipates that there will be an overall 

net improvement in the quality or 

quantity of the toad habitat over the 

long-term. 

Public infrastructure activities, 

emergency services, and ongoing use of 

previously developed land would be 

offered automatic coverage under the 

County’s incidental take permit by 

following the guidelines outlined in the 

LPHCP. Low-impact land uses would be 

covered upon Bastrop County issuing a 

Notice of Receipt. No mitigation fees 

would be required for landowners 

seeking authorization for low-impact 

land uses. However, any incidental take 

that may occur as a result of land 

management practices that are not 

consistent with the applicable 

guidelines in the LPHCP are not 

covered. 

The LPHCP conservation program and 

administration would be funded by a 

combination of fees collected from Plan 

participants and general revenue from 

the County. Collected fees would be 

used primarily to fund the biological 

monitoring, landowner incentive, and 

community outreach and education 

programs of the LPHCP. The County 

would provide funds sufficient to hire a 

LPHCP administrator, whose duties 

would include much of the actual 

operation of the LPHCP. Part of the job 

description for the LPHCP administrator 

would be to regularly apply for outside 

grants to increase funding for the Plan. 

Grants could be used to purchase land, 

easements, or development rights on 

Houston toad habitat from willing 

partners. 

Rather than provide for the purchase 

and management of a publicly-owned, 

interconnected, habitat preserve system 

for the Houston toad, the LPHCP 

proposes to focus resources on strategic 

land protection and encourage 

voluntary conservation efforts by private 

landowners. This conservation program 

would use mitigation fees from 

participants seeking incidental take 

permits to help fund conservation and 

management activities that have broad 

community support. Using this method, 

a large portion of the active management 

for the Plan Area would be through the 

voluntary efforts of private landowners. 

A key to maintaining quality toad 

habitat between designated conservation 

areas is the participation of private 

landowners in conservation efforts. The 

LPHCP would seek the help of private 

landowners by encouraging use of new 

and existing landowner incentive 

programs and by forming partnerships 

with community organizations to 

manage habitat. These initiatives would 

include: management of open space in 

existing residential subdivisions, 

supporting wildlife management 

associations, supporting the conversion 

of agricultural use land to a wildlife 

management use, private landowner 

partnerships and grant funding; and, 

expanding access to existing assistance 

programs. 

In addition to encouraging and 

supporting the voluntary management 

of private lands for the Houston toad, 

the LPHCP would also support the 

acquisition of development rights, 

conservation easements, or land from 

willing partners, if sufficient funds 

become available. Because funds are 

limited, the LPHCP would prioritize the 

use of funds for acquiring development 

rights, easements, and land. A set of 

minimum and preferred criteria to 

evaluate tracts in the Plan Area that may 

be available to benefit the Houston toad 

have been established. These criteria 

would ensure that funds would be used 

on the properties that provide the most 

desirable characteristics for Houston 

toad conservation. 

The LPHCP would also offer 

mitigation in the form of community 

education and public outreach. 

Activities would include: distribution of 

LPHCP guidelines; distribution of a fact 

sheet about the ESA and LPHCP to 

septic permit applicants in Bastrop 

County; conducting an annual Houston 

toad community education workshop; 

and, developing a county-wide 

Integrated Pest Management Plan. 

Support for Houston toad monitoring 

and research programs would also be 

included in the LPHCP. The LPHCP 

administrator would maintain a 

database of Houston toad surveys and 

known locations, distribute spatial data 

for use in conservation planning, and 

help researchers team with private 

landowners willing to provide access to 

Houston toad habitat on their property. 

The County expects that by creating a 

fair, simple, and certain process for 

obtaining incidental take authorization, 

the burden on individual landowners is 

reduced and it facilitates desired 

economic development in the Plan Area 

while preserving Houston toad habitat 

and supporting conservation research. 

Larry G. Bell, 

Acting Regional Director, Region 2, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

[FR Doc. E7–5464 Filed 3–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[OR–130–1020–ML; GP7–0092] 

Notice of Public Meeting, Eastern 

Washington Resource Advisory 

Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management Eastern Washington 

Resource Advisory Council will meet as 

indicated below. 

DATES: The Eastern Washington 

Resource Advisory Council will meet 

Friday, April 13, 2007 at the Spokane 

District Office, Bureau of Land 

Management, 1103 North Fancher Road, 

Spokane Valley, Washington 99212–

1275. 


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