BENTON COUNTY PRAIRIE SPECIES HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN DECEMBER 2010 For more information, please contact: Benton County Natural Areas & Parks Department 360 SW Avery Ave. Corvallis, Oregon 97333-1192 Phone: 541.766.6871 - Fax: 541.766.6891 http://www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp This document was prepared for Benton County by staff at the Institute for Applied Ecology: Tom Kaye Carolyn Menke Michelle Michaud Rachel Schwindt Lori Wisehart The Institute for Applied Ecology is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to conserve native ecosystems through restoration, research, and education. P.O. Box 2855 Corvallis, OR 97339-2855 (541) 753-3099 www.appliedeco.org Suggested Citation: Benton County. 2010. Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan. 160 pp plus appendices. www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp Front cover photos, top to bottom: Kincaid’s lupine, photo by Tom Kaye Nelson’s checkermallow, photo by Tom Kaye Fender’s blue butterfly, photo by Cheryl Schultz Peacock larkspur, photo by Lori Wisehart Bradshaw’s lomatium, photo by Tom Kaye Taylor’s checkerspot, photo by Dana Ross Willamette daisy, photo by Tom Kaye Benton County Prairie Species HCP Preamble The Benton County Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was initiated to bring Benton County’s activities on its own lands into compliance with the Federal and State Endangered Species Acts. Federal law requires a non-federal landowner who wishes to conduct activities that may harm (“take”) threatened or endangered wildlife on their land to obtain an incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. State law requires a non-federal public landowner who wishes to conduct activities that may harm threatened or endangered plants to obtain a permit from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. To receive an incidental take permit, a landowner must develop a HCP or Plan. Without this Plan, the County would not be able to continue its routine responsibilities, including road maintenance, without delays and added costs from habitat surveys and regulatory agency consultations prior to each action. With the HCP, the County will avoid and minimize impacts to threatened and endangered species of prairie habitats, but where impacts are unavoidable, the County will mitigate (complete habitat restoration to offset habitat damage) as required. During HCP development the County also fully recognized its own liability in issuing construction permits to rural private landowners in endangered butterfly habitat. The County also realized the liability and added burden that those landowners face when completing construction of a home, outbuilding, farm or forest structure on their property. Without an HCP, the County would be unable to issue building permits in endangered butterfly habitat until the landowner had received authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This authorization would involve having a butterfly habitat survey completed in May or June, and if habitat were present the landowner would either have to avoid the habitat, or complete their own HCP and any mitigation required. Waiting for the survey season and completing a survey, developing a HCP, and completing mitigation would frequently delay and add significant cost to a project. To reduce the burden to private landowners, the Benton County Board of Commissioners decided to offer HCP coverage, through this HCP, as an option to rural private landowners in endangered butterfly habitat. If landowners elect to use this coverage, it eliminates the requirement that they complete a survey, develop their own HCP, or complete or fund their own mitigation. Because the County already manages more than 1,100 acres of natural areas, including over 150 acres of prairie habitat, it can efficiently incorporate the required mitigation into its management of large and protected sites with existing habitat. This HCP helps the County and its citizens comply with endangered species regulations while protecting at-risk species through long-term planning, avoiding and minimizing impacts, and mitigating for losses. i Benton County Prairie Species HCP Acknowledgments This Habitat Conservation Plan is the result of collaboration among numerous individuals and organizations working to conserve prairie habitats in the Benton County. We appreciate the considerable time and effort expended by each individual in providing technical expertise, foresight, and/or community stewardship in the preparation of this HCP. The project relied on individuals sharing their knowledge about prairie habitats and the Covered Species dependent on these habitats for their survival. We would like to thank the Technical Advisory committee members and we hope these individuals will continue to provide Benton County with support as the County moves forward with implementation of the Habitat Conservation Plan. We wish to acknowledge the time, commitment, and resources of a major group that assisted in the development of the Habitat Conservation Plan – the Stakeholder Advisory Committee. This committee provided the HCP Planning Team with insight and direction in the development of the HCP. We are grateful for their dedication and participation in this important process. Without the assistance of Benton County staff members we would not have been able to complete the Plan. We would especially like to thank Laurie Starha, Al Kitzman, Mary Simpson, Jon Stratton, Doug Sackinger, Andrew Monaco and Lisa Grisham. We also wish to thank all those community members who participated at public meetings so far and who provided invaluable comments on the process to date. We wish to thank the ESRI Conservation Program for a generous GIS software grant that allowed us to create the maps for this project. Finally, we wish to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for providing a majority of the necessary funding needed for this project through the issuance of two USFWS Section 6 Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants. ii Benton County Prairie Species HCP Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Purpose and Need ..................................................................................... 5 1.3 Goals........................................................................................................ 6 1.4 Proposed Action ........................................................................................ 7 1.4.0 Scope................................................................................................. 7 1.4.0.0 Covered Entities and Lands ........................................................... 7 1.4.0.1 Covered Species ........................................................................... 7 1.4.0.2 Covered Activities ......................................................................... 8 1.4.0.3 Biological Goals and Conservation Measures ................................... 8 1.4.0.4 Prairie Conservation Strategy......................................................... 9 1.4.0.5 Reducing Disincentives for Conservation on Private Lands................ 9 1.4.0.6 Term of Incidental Take Permit.................................................... 12 1.5 Overview of Conservation Planning Process ............................................... 12 1.5.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 12 1.5.1 Evaluation Process ............................................................................ 12 1.5.2 County Board of Commissioners ......................................................... 12 1.5.3 Habitat Conservation Planning Team .................................................. 15 1.5.4 Technical Advisory Committee............................................................ 15 1.5.5 Stakeholder Advisory Committee ........................................................ 15 1.5.6 Public Outreach ................................................................................ 16 1.5.7 Public Meetings................................................................................. 16 1.5.8 Data Collection ................................................................................. 16 1.5.8.0 Botanical Surveys ....................................................................... 16 1.5.8.1 Streaked Horned Lark Surveys..................................................... 17 1.5.8.2 Butterfly Surveys ........................................................................ 17 1.6 Regulatory Framework ............................................................................. 18 1.6.0 Federal Endangered Species Act......................................................... 18 1.6.0.0 The Section 10(a)(1)(B) Process - Habitat Conservation Plan Requirements and Guidelines....................................................................... 19 1.6.1 National Environmental Policy Act....................................................... 20 1.6.2 National Historic Preservation Act ....................................................... 20 1.6.3 Oregon Endangered Species Act......................................................... 20 1.6.4 Other Introductory or Background Topics as Appropriate...................... 21 2 Covered Species ................................................................................................ 22 2.1 Fender’s blue