Contacts
Tim Romanski (360) 753-5823
OLYMPIA – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the NOAA Fisheries announced today the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) proposed by J.L. Storedahl and Sons, Inc., of Kelso, Washington. The documents are related to gravel mining and proposed habitat conservation measures at Storedahl’s Daybreak Mine near LaCenter, and focus on potential effects to species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The documents, published today in the Federal Register, are available for a 60-day public comment period ending January 21, 2003.
Under the Federal Endangered Species Act, non-federal entities may enter into Habitat Conservation Plans to obtain a permit to incidentally "take" federally listed species while conducting otherwise lawful activities. As long as the impact of the incidental take is appropriately minimized and mitigated so the long term survival of the species is not compromised, the permit holder is not liable for "incidental take" associated with the activities covered in the HCP. In exchange, the permit holder helps protect elements of healthy ecosystems important to species covered in the HCP, such as river flows, streams, and streamside riparian zones.
Storedahl’s proposal would allow potential take of steelhead, bull trout, chum salmon, and chinook salmon. The company is also seeking coverage for five other species not currently listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Storedahl’s proposed conservation measures are intended to enhance aquatic, wetland, and floodplain habitats and to address ecosystem functions such as channel migration. If approved, the HCP would be in effect for 25 years.
"Take" is defined by the Endangered Species Act to include, among other things, harm. The U.S. Supreme Court has defined harm to mean any act that kills or injures protected fish or wildlife. Activities that have the potential to kill or injure fish or wildlife can include, but are not limited to, habitat modification or degradation that significantly impairs essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, and sheltering.
Written comments and requests for documents should be sent to Tim Romanski, Storedahl DEIS Comments, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive, S.E., Suite 102, Lacey, Washington 98503-1263, telephone (360)753-5823.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge system comprised of more than 500 National Wildlife Refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state wildlife agencies.
The Western Washington Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is based in Lacey, Washington and addresses Federal fish and wildlife issues from the crest of the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Canadian border to the Columbia River. The Office is responsible for the listing, recovery and consultation on species protected under the Endangered Species Act; the development of Habitat Conservation Plans; implementation of the USFWS portion of the Northwest Forest Plan within the range of the Northern Spotted Owl in Washington (implementation includes a satellite office in Wenatchee, Washington); issues involving migratory birds and other species protected by Federal laws; environmental contaminants assessment and spill response; fish and wildlife habitat restoration; review of proposed Federal projects, including Clean Water Act activities, and technical assistance on fishery resource issues. The Western Washington Office is the lead USFWS point of contact for issues with Statewide implications.
NOAA Fisheries is the principal steward of the nation’s living marine resources. It protects marine and anadromous species under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. An Agency of the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Fisheries also regulates the nation’s commercial and recreational fisheries. It manages species under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act throughout federal waters, which extend 200 miles from the coastline.
The NOAA FIsheries, Northwest Region, administers programs off the coast of Oregon and Washington, and in the vast inland watershed habitats of Pacific salmon and steelhead in those two states, and Idaho and Montana. The region’s principal responsibility is implementing the Endangered Species Act for 25 populations of listed salmonids, covering more than 40 percent of the land base of three states. It also manages the West Coast groundfish fishery, a complex comprising more than 80 species.
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