The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced (pdf) that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposed application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP), including a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The application concerns the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicintus), which the Service has proposed to be listed as threatened under the ESA.
A group of stakeholders representing energy, agricultural, and conservation industries and organizations (Stakeholders) submitted the application. If issued, the ITP and HCP would provide sufficient “take” authorization to enable various regional construction, operation, and maintenance activities associated with multiple commercial energy facilities, agricultural activities, and conservation management activities within six states to continue in the event the Service ultimately lists the lesser prairie-chicken.
The HCP will include measures related to take avoidance, minimization of take through best management practices, and mitigation of the impacts of take through habitat preservation, restoration, and enhancement measures. The HCP’s planning area includes the occupied range of the lesser prairie-chicken in five states, including portions of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It also includes areas where the species’ populations could expand with appropriate conservation initiatives, which includes portions of Nebraska.
The Service originally received a petition to list the lesser prairie-chicken in October 1995. In July 1998, the Service determined that listing the species was warranted, but precluded by other higher priority species. In December 2012, the Service published a proposed rule to list the species as threatened.
