Land Use and Ownership. Under both Action Alternatives, land use and land-ownership patterns would not change relative to current conditions. Because there would be no change to existing conditions, and because managed timberland is an encouraged use in many of the counties that contain Enrolled Lands, the Action Alternatives are not anticipated to have any major negative or positive impacts on land-use patterns, land ownership, or nearby communities. However, under the No Action Alternative, no provisions for incidental take would be available, and Applicant could potentially become subject to land-use restrictions imposed by the ESA regarding marbled murrelets. As stated in the FPHCP FEIS Section 4.2 (USFWS and NMFS 2006), long-term regulatory certainty and stability are key factors in retaining forestlands. Under the two Action Alternatives, Applicant would receive regulatory protection with respect to the ESA and marbled murrelets, encouraging the retention of forest lands and the stability of land use in the area. Therefore, the Action Alternatives may provide slightly greater protection to land use by providing take assurances and increasing the likelihood of forestland retention; however, no significant differences in the effect to land use is expected between any of the alternatives under consideration. See FPHCP FEIS Section 4.2 for an in-depth analysis of the effects on land ownership and use.
Land Use and Ownership. Applicant’s Enrolled Lands are situated in western Washington State. The largest portion of Enrolled Lands are clustered in three zones on the northwestern point of the Olympic Peninsula in Clallam and Jefferson Counties; north of Grays Harbor in Grays Harbor County; and in the southwestern corner of Washington State in Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties. Additional Enrolled Lands are clustered on the Kitsap Peninsula and along the Hood Canal in Jefferson and Kitsap Counties. Finally, a scattering of Enrolled Lands are located in Pierce, Lewis, and Xxxxxxxx Counties to the west of the Cascades Range. Details of land use and ownership by county are provided in Appendix A.
Land Use and Ownership. The Covered Area, which encompasses approximately 287,327 acres of modeled potential DSL Habitat, includes portions of Andrews, Crane, Ector, Gaines, Ward, and Xxxxxxx counties (Figure 1). Lands within the Covered Area include approximately 102,610 acres of Permanent University Fund (PUF) Lands and 21,365 acres of State lands, with the remaining areas (approximately 163,352 acres) being privately owned. There is no Federal regulatory authority to implement a comprehensive land management program for the conservation benefit of the Covered Species on private property in West Texas. Permanent University Fund lands within the Covered Area are university endowments established to support educational and health institutions across the University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System (University Lands 2020). Surface use agreements are administered by University Lands for a variety of activities including grazing, hunting, and recreational leases; pipeline, power line, and utility easements; business and commercial site leases; churches, schools, and municipal sites; roads, highways, and highway rest stops; groundwater sales and management; wind farms; and vineyards and wineries (University Lands 2020). State managed lands within the Covered Area include approximately 17,567 acres of State Trust Lands managed by the Texas General Land Office and approximately 3,798 acres of State park lands managed by the TPWD. All of the State park lands within the Covered Area are associated with the Monahans Sandhills State Park, which is located in the Llano Estacado, also known as the “Staked Plains,” region of West Texas in Xxxx and Xxxxxxx Counties. The park offers outdoor recreational activities, including hiking of the park’s sand dunes, camping, and picnicking (TPWD 2020b). Mineral estates are present in the Covered Area. In some cases, the ownership of the surface estate and mineral estate are severed (i.e., the surface owner has no rights to the underlying mineral estate that is owned by a different individual); these cases are referred to as “split estates.” In Texas, owners or lessees of the mineral portion of a split estate have the right to access and use the amount of surface that is reasonably necessary to produce and remove minerals. As described in the 2020 DSL CCAA, there was a total of 291 xxxxx on TCP-enrolled properties in the TCP permit area, which is the same as the Covered Area in the 2020 DSL CCAA, during the 2012 to 2017 period; 55 of thes...
Land Use and Ownership. The Applicant’s Enrolled Lands are situated in western Washington State. The largest portion of Enrolled Lands are clustered in four zones on the southwest portion of Washington State spanning the central portion of Grays Harbor and Pacific County and the northwest corner of Xxxxx County; the southeast corner of Pacific County across to the southwest corner of Xxxxx County; the western half of Cowlitz County and crossing into Xxxxx County to the north; and the central northern portion of Xxxxx County crossing into the southeastern portion of Xxxxxxxx County. Additional Enrolled Lands are clustered on the southeast corner of King County; the central portion of Skagit County, the northwest portion of Snohomish County, and the southwest portion of Whatcom County. Finally, a scattering of Enrolled Lands are located in southern Snohomish County; across King County and Wahkiakum County; in northern Xxxxxx County; and along the southern coast in Pacific County. The most common land cover types found within the Enrolled Lands are Evergreen Forest (94.23%) and Deciduous Forest (4.52%) (Table 3-1). See Appendix A for a county-specific discussion of land use and ownership on the Enrolled Lands.
Land Use and Ownership
