The majestic Mount Diablo serves as a landmark for northern California. From its summit, eastern Contra Costa County extends out to the tidal Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Between the mountain and the delta is a wild region of steep-sided valleys and rumpled hills. Emerald green and flower-crowned in spring, they quickly turn a tawny brown in the arid summers. Dramatic local variations in soil, rainfall, and aspect give rise to striking habitat mosaics of grasslands, dense chaparral, and lush oak woodlands.
In 2007, when the representatives reached an agreement--with significant compromises by everyone--the Service issued the necessary incidental take permit.What is the landowner's role?"The key to me is to bring and keep everybody at the table," says Jim Gwerder, a real estate broker and consultant at Souza Realty. He serves as a board member of the Citizens Land Alliance, which represents many of the larger landowners.Patience and CompromiseWho can participate?What are the benefits?The HCP did not come easily. The various interests struggled for five years before they reached agreement on an almost 2,000-page comprehensive mitigation plan. Developers and landowners decided on a fee system to fund much of the HCP, and they accepted that certain high-value areas for development and conservation could not be covered under the HCP permits. Environmental groups conceded some lands they had hoped to keep undisturbed.In exchange, the cities and county locked in the right to urbanize 13,000 acres (5,300 ha). They also receive protection under the plan's "incidental take" permit. The permit gives developers assurance that they will not be liable under the Endangered Species Act for the unintentional take of listed species when it is incidental to otherwise lawful activities, assuming they implement the conservation measures defined in the plan and pay the established acquisition and restoration fees.An HCP that individual landowners can join may already exist in a given area. Such plans are known as programmatic HCPs and are often county- or even region-wide. HCPs can include conservation measures for vulnerable plant and animal species that are not listed federally as endangered or threatened.Today, however, eastern Contra Costa County provides an exceptional example of successful collaboration that protects important habitats for native species while enabling the region to meet the growing demands of its communities.Landowners who suspect that a federally listed species occurs on a project site can request information from the state wildlife agency or the nearest Service office. If a listed species is present, the applicant decides whether or not to seek an incidental take permit.John Kopchik, county planner and lead facilitator during negotiations for the HCP now also serves as Executive Director and overseer for implementing the plan. "It is very gratifying to see the community's hard work take root in thousands of acres of new conservation and a new locally-run system for regulating species impacts.""Service biologists respected the community's needs and collaborated with their diverse interests as co-equals," says Susan Moore, Field Supervisor in the Service's Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, which carried out the negotiations. "Our collaborative approach enabled everyone to agree on a plan that provides better protection for rare species and benefits the community."If the Service finds an HCP meets the specified criteria, it issues an incidental take permit. This allows the permit holder to proceed with an activity that could otherwise result in the unlawful take of a listed speciesCompleted in 2007 after five years of work, which followed five earlier years devoted to building trust, the plan encompasses 175,000 acres (more than 70,000 hectares), most of the county east of Mount Diablo. Within this region, the plan will protect about 30,000 acres (more than 12,000 ha) of habitat for 28 species. Ten of these species are protected under federal and state endangered species laws. The other 18, vulnerable species without a protected status, will benefit from habitat protection under the new regional plan.Four projects have already restored wetland habitats that are beginning to be used by species covered in the plan. The Service believes that the plan will be one of the nation's most successful examples of regional habitat protection. It shows how an ecosystem approach can work successfully in real life.Working with the Service, the landowner develops an HCP that assesses the likely impacts on target species from the proposed project, the steps that will be taken to minimize and mitigate those impacts, and how the steps will be funded. The plan also identifies any alternatives that could avoid the incidental take and the reasons why those alternatives are not being chosen. The landowner then applies to the Service for an incidental take permit.The rolling hills still stage spectacular spring wildflower displays. Tiny rare shrimp that come to life for just a few weeks each spring still have ephemeral vernal pools to live in, and the diminutive San Joaquin kit fox still roams the hills and valleys. These and other creatures have a brighter future thanks to a plan that looked at the big picture to save an ecosystem.For the landowner: After receiving an incidental take permit for activities that could result in the unlawful take of listed species, he or she can move forward with the assurance that their such take will not be in violation of the ESA.Any non-federal landowner is eligible to participate in the program.What are HCPs?One of the chief beneficiaries of the habitat conservation plan will be the nation's smallest fox, the endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica). Lands protected by the plan will link to 40,000 acres (more than 16,000 ha) of other protected lands--Mt. Diablo State Park, several regional parks, and a large reservoir watershed--giving the fox and other species the room they need to roam.What is the process for getting an incidental take permit?The habitat conservation plan already has received more than $30 million in competitive grants for implementation. Through a partnership with the East Bay Regional Park District, acreage is being acquired faster than anticipated.This ecological wonderland on the edge of the prosperous San Francisco Bay area has been under tremendous pressure in recent decades. Entire new cities of stucco houses have been spreading rapidly toward the hills.Being realistic about the availability of land and the cost of the plan was another key to success. "Each developer could look to their own costs," recalls Gwerder. "Ultimately, they concluded that this was a cleaner, more efficient way to go."The key is the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan, an agreement hammered out by a diverse group of interests, including ranchers, developers, environmentalists, cities, the county, and water and park districts. Encouraging the process were state and federal environmental agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.For the species: HCPs provide permanent protection and management of habitat for the species covered by the HCP. Incidental take permits make the elements of the HCP legally binding. While incidental take permits have expiration dates, the identified mitigation measures may extend into perpetuity. Violating the terms of an incidental take permit may constitute unlawful take under the ESA.Habitat Conservation PlansHCPs describe the anticipated effects of the proposed taking, how those impacts will be minimized or mitigated, and how the conservation measures included in the plan will be funded.
Landowners who suspect that a federally listed species occurs on a project site can request information from the state wildlife agency or the nearest Service office. If a listed species is present, the applicant decides whether or not to seek an incidental take permit.
No comments:
Post a Comment