[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63054-63055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29942]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an 
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the American Burying 
Beetle by Weyerhaeuser Company for Timber Harvesting and Management in 
Little River County, AR, and McCurtain County, OK

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Weyerhaeuser Company (Applicant) is seeking an incidental take 
permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), pursuant to 
Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. 
The permit would authorize the take of the American Burying Beetle 
(Nicrophorus americanus), an endangered species, in Little River 
County, Arkansas, and McCurtain County, Oklahoma, for a period of 35 
years. The proposed incidental take would result from normal forestry 
and other operational and management practices performed on the 
Applicant's lands.
    The Service also announces the availability of a habitat 
conservation plan (HCP) and environmental assessment (EA). The 
Applicant's HCP describes conservation measures that will be taken to 
minimize and mitigate coincidentally with incidental take of the 
American burying beetle (ABB) by undertaking a research program into 
the long-term conservation needs of the affected species and by 
limiting certain ground-disturbing activities. Reporting and amendment 
procedures are included to ensure that the Applicant's management 
activities may continue to consider the latest scientific information 
pertaining to distribution and habitat requirements of the ABB and to 
address unforeseen circumstances. The EA prepared by the Service 
describes the environmental consequences of issuing or denying the 
incidental take permit. As stated in the EA, the Service proposes to 
issue the requested permit. This proposal is based on a preliminary 
determination that the Applicant has satisfied the requirements for 
permit issuance and that the HCP provides conservation benefits to the 
ABB that exceed the impact of the expected level of incidental take. 
Copies of the EA and HCP may be obtained by making a written request to 
the Regional Office [See ADDRESSES below]. This notice is provided 
pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and National Environmental Policy 
Act Regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, EA, and HCP should 
be received on or before January 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may 
obtain a copy by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office, 
Atlanta, Georgia. Requests for the documents must be in writing to be 
processed. Documents will also be available for public inspection by 
appointment during normal business hours at the Regional Office, or the 
Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office. Written data or comments concerning 
the application, EA, or HCP should be submitted to the Regional Office. 
Please reference permit under PRT-809072 in such comments:

Regional Permit Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875 
Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia (404-679-7110, fax 404-
679-7081)
Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6578 Dogwood View 
Parkway, Suite A, Jackson, Mississippi 39213 (601-965-4900, fax 601-
965-4340)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Will McDearman, Jackson, Mississippi 
Field Office or Rick Gooch at the Atlanta, Georgia Regional Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Act, and implementing 
regulations, prohibits the take of RCWs. Take, in part, is defined as 
an activity that kills, injures, harms, or harasses a listed endangered 
or threatened species. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provides an 
exemption, under certain circumstances, to the Section 9 prohibition if 
the taking is incidental to, and not the purpose of an otherwise lawful 
activity.
    This application for incidental taking is associated with a three-
way land exchange proposed in Arkansas and Oklahoma. It involves the 
Applicant, the Service, and the Forest Service. The proposed exchange 
was formulated in consultation with State and local interests. The 
Applicant's openness to the proposal is based on its interest in 
consolidating ownership and obtaining land and timber more 
strategically located to its sawmills. Additionally, some of its 
existing lands with their associated non-timber values are better 
suited for public ownership and management. The Applicant and the two 
Federal agencies believe the proposed exchange satisfies the desire to 
place these lands in public ownership and better aligns the highest and 
best land uses with landowner interest and objectives.
    The land exchange is approximately a 4 to 1 ratio, with the 
Applicant contributing the larger share. The Applicant will transfer 
approximately 150,000 acres to the Federal government. About 100,000 
acres of this lies in southeast Oklahoma around Broken Bow Lake and 
near the McCurtain County Wilderness Area, a site operated by the 
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Other acreage consists of 
sites totalling approximately 25,000 acres near areas of strong public 
interest including Lake Ouachita, Little Missouri Wild and Scenic 
River, Glover River, Lower Mountain Fork River, Flatside Wilderness 
Area and other parts of the Ouachita National Forest. The Applicant 
will also transfer some 25,000 acres of nationally significant wetland 
habitat to the Service to be incorporated into the existing Cossatot 
National Wildlife Refuge to be managed for public benefits associated 
with wetland flora and fauna.
    The Applicant will acquire approximately 40,000 acres from the 
Federal government, including 27,000 acres of the Tiak Ranger District 
of the Ouachita National Forest in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The 
remaining acreage is in smaller, scattered tracts in Garland, Yell and 
Perry Counties, Arkansas. As a result of the land exchange described 
above, the Applicant will obtain ownership of land with known 
populations of ABB. The ABB is known to occur on or near the Tiak 
Ranger District, a substantial portion of which is to be received by 
the Applicant in the land exchange. This species is a carrion beetle, 
family Silphidae, and is also called the giant carrion beetle. It is 
the largest member of a guild of beetles that breed and rear their 
young on vertebrate carcasses. Like other burying beetles, the ABB is a 
highly social species that provides biparental care to its young. Once 
widely distributed throughout Eastern North America, this species is 
believed to have disappeared from most of its historic range. Very 
little is known 

[[Page 63055]]
about the life history of the species, including how forest structures 
affect population dynamics.
    Potential taking incidental to the Applicant's proposed land 
management activities is largely associated with forest management in 
the permit area. There are, however, a variety of other potential 
effects associated with ownership and management which could also 
result in an incidental taking of the ABB. The following forest and 
land management activities are included for permit coverage: (1) Timber 
harvest, logging decks and pushout roads for access; (2) Site 
preparation activities; (3) tree planting; (4) thinning and pruning of 
trees; (5) pesticide use and prescribed burning; (6) food plot creation 
and other wildlife management activities; (7) leasing, exploration, and 
mining of minerals, oils, gas, and other natural resources; (8) right 
of way, road easements, and pipelines; (9) livestock grazing and 
fencing; (10) pond construction and maintenance; (11) road construction 
and maintenance; (12) fire lanes and helicopter pads; (13) hunting/
recreational use activities; and, (14) miscellaneous activities which 
may cause minor ground disturbances. To address the effects of these 
activities on the ABB, the Applicant proposes to initiate a strategy 
which focuses on addressing research and management needs of the ABB on 
a landscape scale. This includes a baseline survey of ABB abundance and 
distribution, a research and monitoring program, restrictions on 
pesticide use, limiting ground disturbance activities during certain 
periods of the year, and an adaptive management approach to forest 
practices that incorporates new information on the ABB's needs and 
requirements as elucidated by the aforementioned research/monitoring 
plan. The Applicant will provide funding for the HCP over its 35-year 
life.
    The EA considers the environmental consequences of several 
alternatives; issue the requested permit as conditioned by the HCP, 
issue a permit predicated on a different mitigation/ minimization 
strategy for the ABB, or take no action (deny permit). The Service 
finds the greatest conservation benefits accompany the HCP and proposed 
permit. The Service's proposed alternative is to issue the requested 
incidental take permit, based upon the submitted HCP. The principal 
environmental consequence of permit issuance, in the Service's 
assessment, is to sustain or enhance the status of the ABB, via 
implementation and funding the mitigation and minimization measures as 
outlined above.

    Dated: December 1, 1995.
 Noreen K. Clough,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 95-29942 Filed 12-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P