Determining Baseline Conditions. In order for a Malpai landowner to participate in this Agreement, the baseline conditions on his or her property must be determined. Under the Service’s Safe Harbor Agreement policy (64 FR 32717), baseline conditions are defined as “…population estimates and distribution and/or habitat characteristics and determined area of the enrolled property that sustain seasonal or permanent use by the covered species at the time the Safe Harbor Agreement is executed between the Service and the property owner.” The current distribution of Chiricahua leopard frogs in the covered area is highly limited (section 1.4); it is expected that baseline conditions for most properties enrolled under the Agreement will be zero, that is, that no Chiricahua leopard frogs will inhabit the property at the time of enrollment. Any Chiricahua leopard frog populations inhabiting a Malpai landowner’s property prior to the date of enrollment in this agreement will be considered part of a baseline greater than zero. As such, populations that are part of a baseline greater than zero are not covered by this Agreement and its associated assurances. Populations that are part of the baseline greater than zero have full protection under the prohibition of take in section 9 of the Act, and are not covered by the Agreement’s associated section 10(a)(1)(A) permit. The only exception to this may be 3 populations of frogs, it they currently exist, in Rosewood, Headquarters, and Bellency Tank on the Magoffin property. These populations exist due to the extraordinary efforts the Magoffins undertook beginning in 1994 to establish and maintain them (see Appendix E). The efforts included, but were not limited to, relocating the founder frogs to the property and hauling water to the frog habitats during times of low natural water to ensure the populations’ survival. The Magoffins subsequently provided frogs to establish additional populations on the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge and for use in the Douglas High School breeding facilities. The Service believes that excluding the two Magoffin populations from the baseline conditions will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild, and is consistent with the intent of the Safe Harbor Policy. Specific measures for determining baseline conditions under this Agreement are as follows:
Determining Baseline Conditions. The first step in determining the baseline conditions is to determine if suitable RCW habitat exists on the landowner’s property or if a known RCW group exists within one-half-mile of the property (landowner knowledge and LNHP database can be used to determine the distance to known sites). Suitable foraging habitat consists of pine or pine-hardwood (50 percent or more pine) stands thirty (30) years of age or older (USFWS 2003). If this type of habitat is not present, and there are no RCW groups within one-half-mile of the property, further assessment of the property is not necessary, and the landowner’s baseline will be zero. If a RCW group exists within one-half-mile of the landowner’s property and the landowner has the responsibility of maintaining a portion of the foraging habitat for the RCW cluster, as required by the RCW Recovery Plan, 2nd Revision (USFWS 2003), the portion of the foraging habitat that the landowner is required to maintain will be incorporated into the landowner’s baseline. If suitable nesting habitat is present on a property, the landowner will be required to determine whether RCW groups exist on the property by conducting surveys for cavity trees in stands that contain suitable nesting habitat. The RCW Recovery Plan, 2nd Revision (USFWS 2003), identifies the following as the types of forested stands that must be surveyed for RCW cavity trees:
Determining Baseline Conditions. (1) This clause establishes the process for determining the baseline conditions contributing to the movement of salt through land and water upstream of:
