Habitat Conservation Plans

Question 1

What percentage of habitats will remain outside protected areas?

Answer 1

80%
- many species and communities will occur outside protected areas

Question 2

What percentage of species on Endangered Species Act in the USA are on private lands?

Answer 2

70%

Question 3

Define the Endangered Species Act

Answer 3

The Endangered Species Act establishes protections for fish, wildlife, and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered; provides for adding species to and removing them from the list of threatened and endangered species, and for preparing and implementing plans for their recovery

Question 4

What does HCP stand for?

Answer 4

Habitat Conservation Plan

Question 5

What is HCP

Answer 5

HCP is a required part of an application for an Incidental Take Permit, a permit issued under the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) to private entities undertaking projects that might destroy an endangered or threatened species.

It is a planning document that ensures that the anticipated take of a listed species will be minimized or mitigated by conserving the habitat upon which the species depend, thereby contributing to the recovery of the species as a whole

Question 6

Can HCP be small-scale or large-scale?

Answer 6

Can be small-scale or large-scale.

Question 7

Common mitigation measures often include the following:

Answer 7

 Avoid the impact.
 Minimize the impact.
 Rectify the impact.
 Reduce/eliminate the impact over time.
 Compensate for the impact.

Question 8

What are the general goals of a mitigation program?

Answer 8

To offset the immediate incidental take by either positively contributing to the species as a whole or to the objectives of the recovery plan designed for that species by USFWS.

Question 9

How do you mitigate for habitat loss?

Answer 9

Most projects requiring an Incidental Take Permit involve impacts to, or losses of, habitat. Mitigating habitat loss requires either the replacement or protection of habitat within the HCP area or at another location

Question 10

What are methods for successfully mitigating habitat loss?

Answer 10

 Acquiring existing habitat.
 Employing conservation easements to protect existing habitat.
 Improving or restoring degraded habitat.
 Management of habitats to achieve specific conditions; or
 Creating new habitat.

Question 11

What else is required besides the proposed action/project when it comes to creating mitigation projects?

Answer 11

permittees

Following the discussion of possible alternatives, the permittee must explain why each of the alternatives was deemed unsuitable and not chosen as the proposed project.

Question 12

What are two common alternatives when creating mitigation projects?

Answer 12

1. “no action” alternative under which a permit would not be issued, and the proposed project would not be developed
2. a specific project alternative that would result in a reduced impact/take than the proposed project.

All alternatives considered during the permit application and HCP development process must be included.

Question 13

How do you develop a monitoring program?

Answer 13

To ensure the effectiveness of the HCP, it is essential for monitoring to be implemented throughout the development of the action/project and following its completion.

Question 14

HCP monitoring programs are recommended to incorporate the following features:

Answer 14

 Establish specific objectives for monitoring.
 Clarify the focus of the monitoring program (specific species, specific habitat types, etc.).
 Specify the characteristics to be monitored and methods to be employed for data collection.
 Establish a monitoring schedule that determines the frequency and duration by which monitoring will take place; and
 Discuss the process by which data will be analyzed (who will perform the analysis, how will data be evaluated etc.)