Expected Conservation Benefits. As identified in the FWS’s Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Final Policy (USFWS and NMFS 1999), the FWS “must determine that the benefits of the conservation measures to be implemented, when combined with those benefits that would be achieved if it is assumed that conservation measures were also implemented on other necessary properties, would preclude or remove any need to list” the LPC and/or the SDL (64 FR 32726). Conservation benefits for the LPC and/or SDL from implementation of the CCAA are expected in the form of avoidance of negative impacts, enhancement, and restoration of habitat intended to contribute to establishing or augmenting, and maintaining viable populations of LPCs and/or SDLs in Lea, Eddy, De Baca, Curry, Roosevelt, Quay, and Xxxxxx counties. In addition, conservation of LPCs and/or SDLs would be enhanced by improving and encouraging cooperative management efforts between the CEHMM, FWS, and Participating Landowners who own and control LPC and/or SDL habitat. Also, this CCAA may be used as a model for CCAAs in other parts of the LPC’s range to encourage cooperative management and conservation. Under this CCAA, LPC and/or SDL conservation will be enhanced by providing ESA regulatory assurances such that, should Participating Landowners have or attract LPCs and/or SDLs to their property, the Participating Landowner will not incur additional land use restrictions. Without regulatory assurances, landowners may be unwilling to initiate conservation measures for these species. In addition to habitat conservation, release of captive-reared LPC that leads to establishment of viable populations in the Planning Area, or augmentation of existing LPC numbers by translocation and release of LPCs from other areas, will contribute to recovery and reduce the need for listing under the ESA.
Expected Conservation Benefits. A) Overview and Relationship to the Range-Wide Plan
1) Concentrate limited resources for species conservation in the most important areas, allowing for the restoration, enhancement, and maintenance of large blocks of habitat needed by LEPCs.
2) Identify areas where development should be avoided, which also helps identify areas where development is of less concern for LEPC. This provides oil and gas operators with the guidance they typically seek for their development planning purposes, and helps avoid conflicts over impacts to the species. This CCAA is intended to align with and complement the RWP and provide operators with certainty as to how oil and gas exploration and development may continue in the event the LEPC is listed. The CCAA provides incentives for oil and gas operators to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to LEPCs from their actions while providing oil and gas operators assurances regarding the effect, if any, that listing would have on their operations and development. Where avoidance and minimization of such impacts is not possible, the framework described in Appendix A of this CCAA and Exhibit 2 of the CI quantifies the impacts of development, quantifies the amount of mitigation necessary to offset the impacts, and then values these offsets. Participants contribute funds to WAFWA for the value of offsets, and WAFWA uses these funds to improve LEPC habitat on private and state-owned lands.
Expected Conservation Benefits. Overall, the Agreement will provide a net conservation benefit toward the conservation goal of increasing the abundance and distribution of Arctic grayling in historically occupied waters within the Centennial Valley watershed, even with the anticipated effects of the covered activities. We expect distribution of Arctic grayling to increase within the Centennial Valley, as connectivity is restored and habitat conditions improve on private lands. Similar to distribution and abundance increases of Arctic grayling observed in the Big Hole CCAA, we expect Arctic grayling to use historically occupied stream habitats in the Centennial Valley. We do not expect all restored stream habitats to be permanently occupied by Arctic grayling, but that streams used historically for various life history purposes be used again for those purposes.
Expected Conservation Benefits. This CCAA has been prepared in accordance with the standards and requirements for CCAAs established by the Service. The Service must determine that the benefits of the Conservation Measures implemented in this agreement, would provide a net conservation benefit to the Sonoran desert tortoise. Implementation of conservation measures will provide the following benefits:
1. Awareness training and annual refresher for operation and maintenance personnel will ensure that all workers in areas with tortoises are trained in procedures for reducing the risk of injury to tortoises, and will respond accordingly to avoid potential injury or fatality to tortoises they may encounter during their activities.
2. Examining the root cause of tortoise injuries provides the potential to modify the work process to further reduce the potential for injuries.
3. Developing standard clearance protocol and documentation standards will ensure all work areas are inspected for the presence of Sonoran desert tortoises prior to maintenance activities in order to avoid undue disturbance or injury to tortoises.
4. Providing rearview mirror placards provides a constant reminder to workers to be aware of the potential for tortoises to be present in work areas.
5. Through monitoring efforts, detect novel infestations of buffelgrass and report these to the Service for their coordination of treatment with the applicable landowner/manager. This action serves as an early detection/response that should minimize habitat degradation in the project area.
6. This CCAA limits impacts associated with facility and road repair and maintenance activities to an annual average impact limit of 6.5 acres or 162.5 acres over the next 25 years. The Service expects the conservation measures, when implemented, will result in a net conservation benefit to Sonoran desert tortoises within the CCAA area through the following: • Ongoing maintenance operations will be conducted in a manner that will reduce direct fatalities and injuries of tortoises. • Additional protection to adult females from injury/fatality emphasizes the importance of adult female tortoises to the population, ensuring their continued ability to reproduce and contribute to the local population. • The authorized work area will be limited to a small area (maximum 0.23 acre) to reduce new disturbances to tortoise habitat. • New buffelgrass infestations in the vicinity will be reported to the Service; otherwise, these would not likely be detected. • ...
Expected Conservation Benefits. As identified in the FWS’s Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Final Policy (FWS and NMFS 1999), the FWS must determine that the conservation measures and the expected benefits, when combined with those benefits that would be achieved if it is assumed that similar conservation measures were also implemented on other necessary properties, would preclude or remove the need to list southern Idaho ground squirrels. When making a decision to list a species under the ESA, the FWS is required to determine whether the species is threatened by any of the following factors: 1) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range, 2) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes, 3) disease or predation, 4) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, or 5) other natural or manmade factors affecting the species continued existence. There are threats to the southern Idaho ground squirrel related to each of these factors. These threats are discussed in part II of this Agreement and summarized below.
