Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan – FAQ

To "take" means to harm, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct. The word "harm" means an act that actually kills or injures wildlife. Such an act may include significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering. The word "harass" is defined as an intentional or negligent act or omission which creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns, such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering.

The plan covers a variety of activities, including those activities performed by Benton County, as well as activities performed by private landowners and other public agencies.

• Home, Farm and Forest Construction on private lands
• Public Service Facility Construction
• Transportation Activities and Authorized Work in Rights-of-Way
• Utility (including natural gas and telephone)
• Construction and Maintenance
• Water and Wastewater Management
• Parks/Natural Areas/Open Space Management
• Agriculture on City of Corvallis Land
• HCP Implementation Activities
• Emergency Response Activities

No. Some of the other listed species present in Benton County include the Bald Eagle, Northern Spotted Owl, the Oregon chub, and several salmonid species. The USFWS is currently looking to delist the Bald Eagle. The Bald Eagle has already been downlisted from endangered to threatened status. This is truly a success story where the federal Endangered Species Act has worked to save a species. Why aren't all listed species in the county included in the habitat conservation plan? The County has limited resources and has chosen to concentrate its conservation efforts on rare prairie species.

Candidate species are species that could be listed as either threatened or endangered, but due to the USFWS' limited resources, they are unable to list the species at the present time. There is no "take" prohibition for candidate species.

Yes, the Federal Endangered Species Act take prohibition applies only to animal species. The taking of a listed animal species can result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties. There is no prohibition under federal law for the taking of a listed plant species on non-federal lands, unless taking of those plants would result in the likelihood of injury or death to an animal species. For example, the Fender's blue butterfly is dependent on Kincaid's lupine for its survival. If the lupine is destroyed, the Fender's blue butterfly may perish. Therefore, even though the Kincaid's lupine is a plant species, its destruction may result in the take of the Fender's blue butterfly, in violation of the law. Under the state endangered species act, the County is required to avoid impacts to state listed plant species on County lands. The state endangered species act does not apply to private lands. The County's goal is balancing conservation of rare plants with essential public services in the County. By including the species in the habitat conservation plan the County can better direct its conservation efforts. Also, their inclusion in the habitat conservation plan may open doors for federal funding to assist in conservation of these species.

There is no law requiring the County to prepare the plan. The federal endangered species act (ESA), however, is not voluntary. Everyone is required to comply with the Act. This means activities cannot "take" listed animal species, unless special authorization to take the species is obtained from the USFWS (or NMFS for marine and salmonid species). Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the federal ESA allows the USFWS to issue a permit to a non-federal agency or private individual to impact a listed animal species. In return the non-federal agency or private individual agrees to minimize and mitigate for those impacts. Benton County's prairie species habitat conservation plan outlines how the County will avoid impacts to seven prairie species and where impacts are unavoidable, how it will minimize and mitigate for impacts. In return, the USFWS issues an incidental take permit to the County allowing for a certain amount of take. The habitat conservation plan only applies to those species and activities covered in the plan. One of the benefits of this type of plan is that the County does not have to go to the USFWS every time it undertakes an action that could affect a listed animal species.

You can hire a qualified biologist to come to your property and conduct a survey. These surveys are generally performed in the spring and early summer. The County's permitting department can also help you determine if your property is located within Fender's blue butterfly habitat.

A certification of inclusion is a document issued by the County. The landowner agrees to abide by the terms of the County's incidental take permit and to perform certain conservation measures spelled out in the habitat conservation plan and/or in a cooperative agreement that is specific to the property on which proposed activities are going to occur.

If you will impact Fender's blue butterfly and/or its habitat and you do not want to get a certificate of inclusion, then you will need to get your own incidental take permit from the USFWS. This also means you will need to prepare your own habitat conservation plan. If time and cost are an issue, this process could slow down the activity you wish to perform on your property. If you get a certificate of inclusion from Benton County then you do not have to get your own permit or prepare your own habitat conservation plan, saving you both time and money. However, the certificate of inclusion only applies to impacts to Fender's blue butterfly or its habitat and only those activities covered in the County's incidental take permit and habitat conservation plan.

No. The state Endangered Species Act applies only to non-federal publicly owned or managed lands, including those lands owned or managed by county, city, or other municipal governments. Benton County is prohibited from impacting these species on its property or on property it manages.

If the species recover so that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were to "delist" the species, Benton County would no longer have a need for an incidental take permit and habitat conservation plan for those species as far as ESA compliance. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would have to verify that there are no outstanding mitigation requirements before the permit would be relinquished. Outstanding mitigation would occur in situations where activities involving take have not yet been mitigated through conservation measures that sometimes require years of development and maintenance. Prior to delisting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would need to evaluate if the management actions in place under the habitat conservation plan would ensure that the species continued to thrive and would not need to later be relisted.