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# Sustainable Forest Management Tools for the Northern long-eared Bat and Tricolored bat

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Private forest owners play a critical and beneficial role in the conservation of species and their habitats through sustainable forest management within the framework for forest certification. Sustainable forest management results in healthy forests that are essential for long-term conservation of bats. Private forest owners are proud stewards of their land, invest heavily in conservation efforts, and actively partner with the Service and other conservation groups to conserve species such as the Northern Long-eared Bat (NLEB) and Tricolored Bat (TCB).

**What are some ways private forest owners can obtain regulatory certainty while maintaining sustainable forestry operations?**

The Service understands that private forest owners may be concerned that Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for listed bats may affect how they conduct their forestry operations.

The Service has a variety of ways private forest owners can obtain ESA regulatory predictability, based on their specific situation. These tools include:

**1. Technical Assistance**: Technical assistance can be obtained by the private forest owner through the use of the Service’s Information for Planning and Consultation ( IPaC **IPaC**** Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) is a project planning tool that streamlines the USFWS environmental review process  Learn more about IPaC ) tool. IPaC is a digital project planning tool that can provide information to private forest owners to help determine whether a listed species may be present on their land . The range-wide determination key for the northern long-eared bat and tricolored bat is targeted towards development projects, not sustainable forest management practices. It may be helpful as a screening tool; however, if the user receives a letter from IPaC indicating the project may affect the northern long-eared bat or tricolored bat, it does not mean take is reasonably certain to occur. Technical assistance can also be obtained through the private forest owner contacting the Service’s local field office. Through the technical assistance process, the Service might be able to provide information that either indicates incidental take is not reasonably certain to occur, or the Service might be able to provide recommendations to the private forest owner that enable their operations to be conducted in a way that avoids the likelihood of incidentally taking listed bats.

**2. Habitat Conservation Plans and Incidental Take Permits**: The ESA allows the Service to issue section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permits to private forest owners, provided the private forest owner has developed an approved habitat conservation plan (HCP). An incidental take permit is only needed when the project is reasonably certain to “take” a listed species. This is an entirely voluntary process, and it is the applicant’s decision whether or not to pursue a take permit. HCPs include an assessment of the likely impacts on the species from the proposed action, the steps that the permit holder will take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts, and the funding available to carry out the steps. HCPs may benefit not only landowners but also species by securing and managing important habitat and by addressing economic development with a focus on species conservation.

**3. Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements (Conservation Benefit Agreements):** The ESA allows the Service to issue section 10(a)(1)(A) permits that provide regulatory assurances for private forest owners who voluntarily aid in the recovery of listed species by improving or maintaining wildlife habitat. This is also an entirely voluntary process, and it is the applicant’s decision whether or not to pursue permit. Under these Agreements, forest owners manage the enrolled property and may return it to originally agreed-upon “baseline” conditions for the species and its habitat at the end of the agreement, even if this means incidentally taking the species.

**4. Section 7 **Section 7**** Section 7 ConsultationThe Endangered Species Act (ESA) directs all Federal agencies to work to conserve endangered and threatened species and to use their authorities to further the purposes of the Act. Section 7 of the Act, called "Interagency Cooperation," is the mechanism by which Federal agencies ensure the actions they take, including those they fund or authorize, do not jeopardize the existence of any listed species.  Learn more about Section 7  Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement involving a Federal Agency:** If the private forest owner is conducting forestry operations that are authorized, funded, or carried out, in whole or in part, by a federal agency, then that federal agency is required to consult with the Service under Section 7 of the ESA to ensure that effects of actions they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat. Through the section 7 consultation process, the Service may issue a biological opinion and incidental take statement to the federal agency and the incidental take statement would provide incidental take authorization to the federal agency that is involved and to the private forest owner for their covered activities.

**5. Wildlife Cooperative Extension Agreement (WCEA) and Section 7 Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement:** The Service’s Endangered Species Recovery Program and Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program are authorized to work with private forest owners in a voluntary manner to advance the conservation of listed species through a Wildlife Cooperative Extension Agreement (WCEA). A WCEA is simply a cooperative agreement that enables a private forest owner and the Service to cooperatively carry out bat conservation activities on the private forest owner’s land for a minimum period of 10 years. Bat conservation activities that would be cooperatively implemented may include, but are not limited to: presence and absence surveys for bats; monitoring of bats; research and experiments to better understand bat biology and ecology on private forests; and cooperating in the implementation of bat-friendly forest management practices that support self-sustaining bat populations The Service would determine if any research permits (e.g., ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) permits) may be required to conduct any bat research activities included in the WCEA, and the Service would insure that any required research permits were obtained prior to conducting bat research on the private forest owner’s land.

Because the Service would be substantially involved in the carrying out of the activities in the WCEA, the Service would be required to conduct an intra-Service section 7 consultation to ensure that implementation of the WCEA’s activities would not likely jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat. In the event the Service determines that incidental take is reasonably certain to occur as a result of implementing the activities in the WCEA, the Service would issue a biological opinion and incidental take statement that would exempt any take caused by the covered bat conservation activities. When take is exempted it is no longer considered prohibited take. In this way, private forest owners and the Service can work together to implement recovery through bat conservation activities and achieve regulatory predictability.

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