Green Diamond Resource Company, California Timberlands Division, Forest Management Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take Permit, Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, California

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We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regarding an expected application from the Green Diamond Resource Company, California Timberlands Division (Green Diamond), for an incidental take permit (ITP, or permit) authorizing incidental take of federally threatened wildlife species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). Green Diamond is preparing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and application for an ITP related to forest management and timber operations on its lands in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, California. The HCP and ITP will cover the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) (NSO or spotted owl) and may also cover the Pacific fisher (Martes pennanti) (fisher), a currently unlisted species which has the potential to become listed during the term of the HCP. We are furnishing this notice to announce the initiation of a public scoping period during which we invite other agencies, Tribes, and the public to submit written comments providing suggestions and information on the scope of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS