Comments sought on critical habitat
From our weekly issue dated August 05, 2009
A proposal to designate 11,038 acres of land in 25 units in S.W. Oregon --including Illinois Valley -- as critical habitat was announced last week by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Involved are large-flowered woolly meadowfoam and Cook’s lomatium. Both are federally listed as endangered and native to two small areas in Jackson and Josephine counties.
The designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve, or other conservation area; and it does not allow government or public access to private land.
The proposed critical habitat designation comprises 4,521 acres in Josephine County and 6,517 acres in Jackson County. Approximately 8,058 acres of the total proposal (73 percent) is private land. The rest is federal, state, county or municipal ownership.
Nearly half the total, some 5,200 acres, has been designated critical habitat for the vernal pool fairy shrimp since 2003. Selection of the proposed critical habitat units were informed by the priority recovery areas identified in the draft recovery plan for the two plants published in 2006, with ground survey information, aerial imagery analysis, and mapped locations where the two plants occur.
“The Fish & Wildlife Service is proposing only those areas considered to contribute to the conservation and recovery of these endangered native plants,” said Paul Henson, state supervisor of the service’s Oregon Fish & Wildlife Office. “To ensure that the final critical habitat designation is as accurate as possible, we’re encouraging people to review our proposal and give us comments and additional information.
“We will consider all available information before making a final decision.”
Information and comments must be received on or before Sept. 28, and submitted by one of the following methods:
- *Federal eRulemaking Portal: hregulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS–R1–ES–2009–0046.
- *U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R1–ES–2009–0046; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
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A public hearing will be held on this proposal if it is requested by Sept. 11. If a hearing is scheduled it will be announced in the Federal Register and “local newspapers” near the proposed designation at least 15 days before it takes place. All comments received on this proposal will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
This generally means that any personal information provided with comments will be posted on the Website.
Large-flowered woolly meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora) occurs in the Agate Desert region of Jackson County in southwestern Oregon. Cook's lomatium (also known as Cook’s desert parsley, Lomatium cookii) occurs on the Agate Desert near Medford in Jackson County; and French Flat in Illinois Valley.
To meet the requirements of critical habitat protection, each of the areas proposed must be determined to include essential habitat elements. In the case of large-flowered woolly meadowfoam and Cook’s lomatium, the essential elements are vernal (seasonal) pools and seasonally wet meadows; soil moisture for growth, reproduction, and seed dispersal, and soils that provide nutritional and physiological requirements.
An analysis that considers the economic effects of the proposed critical habitat designation is being prepared and will be made available for public review and comment. In instances where economic consequences are deemed to outweigh the benefits of critical habitat, areas may be excluded from critical habitat.
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