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Final Comal County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan

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Final Comal County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan FINAL COMAL COUNTY REGIONAL HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN Prepared for Comal County, Texas Comal County Commissioners Court Danny Scheel, County Judge Donna Eccleston, County Commissioner, Precinct 1 Jay Millikin, County Commissioner, Precinct 2 Gregory Parker, County Commissioner, Precinct 3 Jan Kennady, County Commissioner, Precinct 4 Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants 4407 Monterey Oaks Boulevard Building 1, Suite 110 Austin, Texas 78749 www.swca.com Smith, Robertson, Elliott, Glen, Klein & Bell, L.L.P. 221 West 6th Street, Suite 1100 Austin, Texas 78701 Prime Strategies, Inc. 1508 South Lamar Boulevard Austin, Texas 78704 Texas Perspectives, Inc. 1310 South 1st Street, Suite 105 Austin, Texas 78704 Capital Market Research, Inc. 605 Brazos Street #300 Austin, Texas 78701 SWCA Project Number 12659-139-AUS August 1, 2013 [THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK] TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ v CHAPTER 1 — BACKGROUND, PURPOSE, AND NEED .................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1.1.1 Species Included in the RHCP ......................................................................... 1-4 1.1.1.2 Other Listed and Rare Species That May Occur in Comal County ................. 1-4 1.1.2 The Concept and Benefits of a Regional Habitat Conservation Plan ................. 1-6 1.2 Legal Requirements Relevant to Regional Habitat Conservation Plans ...................... 1-9 1.2.1 Federal Law ........................................................................................................ 1-9 1.2.1.1 Endangered Species Act and Related Policy ................................................... 1-9 1.2.1.2 National Environmental Policy Act ................................................................. 1-9 1.2.2 Texas State Law Relevant to Regional Habitat Conservation Plans ................ 1-10 1.3 Purpose and Need for Action ..................................................................................... 1-11 1.4 Termination Statement ............................................................................................... 1-11 CHAPTER 2 – COVERED AND EVALUATION SPECIES .................................................... 2-1 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2-1 2.2 Covered Species ........................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2.1 Golden-cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) ........................................... 2-1 2.2.1.1 Golden-cheeked Warbler Natural History ....................................................... 2-1 2.2.1.2 Primary Threats to the Golden-cheeked Warbler ............................................ 2-6 2.2.1.3 Golden-cheeked Warbler Recovery Plan ......................................................... 2-7 2.2.1.4 Current Status of the Golden-cheeked Warbler and its Habitat in Comal County ............................................................................................................ 2-8 2.2.2 Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla) ............................................................ 2-16 2.2.2.1 Black-capped Vireo Natural History ............................................................. 2-16 2.2.2.2 Primary Threats to the Black-capped Vireo .................................................. 2-19 2.2.2.3 Black-capped Vireo Recovery Plan ............................................................... 2-19 2.2.2.4 Current Status of the Black-capped Vireo in Comal County ......................... 2-20 2.3 Evaluation Species ..................................................................................................... 2-21 2.3.1 Cagle’s Map Turtle ........................................................................................... 2-21 2.3.2 Eight Obligate Cave-Dwelling Invertebrate Species ........................................ 2-22 CHAPTER 3 – COVERED ACTIONS ....................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Authorized Actions ...................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Impacts of Covered Actions on Golden-cheeked Warbler ........................................... 3-4 3.2.1 Types of Impacts That May Result from Covered Actions ................................ 3-4 3.2.2 Estimating Levels of Take Resulting from Covered Actions ............................. 3-5 3.2.3 Estimated Loss of Golden-cheeked Warbler Habitat .......................................... 3-6 3.3 Impacts of Covered Actions on Black-capped Vireo ................................................. 3-12 3.4 Cumulative Impacts .................................................................................................... 3-12 3.4.1 Cumulative Impacts on Golden-cheeked Warbler ............................................ 3-12 3.4.2 Cumulative Impacts on Black-capped Vireo .................................................... 3-15 Comal County i Regional Habitat Conservation Plan Table of Contents, continued CHAPTER 4 – MINIMIZATION AND MITIGATION MEASURES ...................................... 4-1 4.1 Goals and Objectives of the Comal County RHCP ...................................................... 4-1 4.1.1 Biological Goals and Objectives of the RHCP ................................................... 4-2 4.1.1.1 Biological Goals .............................................................................................. 4-2 4.1.1.2 Biological Objectives and Conservation Measures ......................................... 4-2 4.2 RHCP Program Administration ................................................................................... 4-3 4.3 Golden-cheeked Warbler (Covered Species) ............................................................... 4-5 4.3.1 Conservation Plan Components .......................................................................... 4-5 4.3.1.1 Identifying and Minimizing Impact to Warbler Habitat .................................. 4-5 4.3.1.2 Minimizing Disturbance during the Nesting Season ....................................... 4-5 4.3.1.3 Mitigating Impacts to the Golden-cheeked Warbler ........................................ 4-6 4.4 Black-capped Vireo (Covered Species) ....................................................................... 4-8 4.4.1 RHCP Components ............................................................................................. 4-8 4.4.1.1 Minimizing Disturbance during the Nesting Season ....................................... 4-9 4.4.1.2 Mitigating Impacts to the Black-capped Vireo ................................................ 4-9 4.5 Evaluation Species ..................................................................................................... 4-10 4.6 Determining the Status of the RHCP Covered and Evaluation Species..................... 4-10 4.7 Research and Public Awareness ................................................................................. 4-11 4.7.1 Research ............................................................................................................ 4-11 4.7.2 Increasing Public Awareness ............................................................................ 4-11 4.8 RHCP Endowment and Contingency Fund ................................................................ 4-12 4.8.1 RHCP Endowment ............................................................................................ 4-12 4.8.2 Contingency Fund ............................................................................................. 4-12 CHAPTER 5 – PARTICIPATION PROCESS ............................................................................ 5-1 5.1 Eligibility Standards ..................................................................................................... 5-1 5.2 Participation Procedures ............................................................................................... 5-1 5.2.1 Golden-cheeked Warbler .................................................................................... 5-3 5.2.2 Black-capped Vireo ............................................................................................ 5-5 CHAPTER 6 – ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT, MONITORING, AND REPORTING............. 6-1 6.1 Adaptive Management ................................................................................................. 6-1 6.1.1 Adaptive Management Work Group ................................................................... 6-2 6.1.2 Adaptive Management Framework ..................................................................... 6-2 6.1.3 Species and Habitat Tracking Process ................................................................ 6-3 6.2 Monitoring and Reporting ............................................................................................ 6-4 6.2.1 Biological and Compliance Monitoring .............................................................. 6-4 CHAPTER 7 – FUNDING .......................................................................................................... 7-1 7.1 Overview
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