Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit and Availability and Opening of Comment Period for an Environmental Assessment/Habitat Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) for the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker in Association With Mr. Owen Strickler's Timber Harvest of a 75-acre Tract of Forest on the Border of Sussex and Southampton Counties, Virginia

Zusammenfassung

This document advises the public that Mr. Owen Strickler (president and owner of Virginia-Carolina Properties) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit (ITP) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. The application has been assigned permit number (TE090858-0). The proposed permit would authorize the incidental take of a federally endangered species, the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) (Picoides borealis), known to occur on property owned by the applicant and located off of State Route 612 on the border of Sussex and Southampton Counties, Virginia. The proposed taking is incidental to the planned timber harvest of the 75-acre tract of land. The permit would be in effect for up to 5 years depending on the availability of donor RCWs at Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge to be translocated for mitigation. The Service announces the receipt of the Strickler ITP application and the availability of the proposed Strickler HCP, which accompanies the ITP application, for public comment. In addition, the Service also announces the availability of a draft EA for the proposed issuance of the I