The Benton County Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan (habitat conservation plan) is a plan focusing on rare “prairie” species in Benton County. The habitat conservation plan describes how Benton County intends to avoid, minimize, and mitigate for impacts to the species covered in the plan resulting from activities performed or authorized by the County. The habitat conservation plan will also cover other public and private landowners whose activities have the potential to affect listed animal species. In return for avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating for these impacts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issues Benton County an “incidental take permit”. The USFWS has specific requirements for what must be included within the habitat conservation plan. The plan must address (1) the impacts to the covered species that will likely result from the activities of Benton County, landowners, or public agencies authorizing those activities, (2) steps to avoid, minimize, and mitigate such impacts, (3) funding the County will make available to implement the mitigating actions, (4) alternative actions that were considered but rejected, and (5) any other measures the USFWS may require.

An incidental take permit is a permit issued to any private landowner, corporation, state or local government, or other non-Federal landowner wishing to conduct activities on their land that may impact an animal species listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Without the permit, these impacts are prohibited. The permit will allow Benton County to continue to perform its road and park development and maintenance activities, and land-use permitting while promoting species conservation.

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 habitat conservation plan covers specific lands – both private and public – within Benton County. Fender’s blue butterfly is covered on most lands where it occurs. Listed plant species and Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly are only covered on Benton County owned or managed lands.

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

The habitat conservation plan proposes to include the seven species listed below. Butterflies: Fender’s Blue Butterfly – Endangered Taylor’s Checkerspot – Candidate* Plants: Willamette Daisy – Endangered Bradshaw’s Lomatium – Endangered Kincaid’s Lupine – Threatened Nelson’s Checkermallow – Threatened Peacock Larkspur – Species of Concern* *Likely to be listed as threatened or endangered during the term of the permit.

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.

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.

While these species are currently not listed as threatened or endangered, and therefore do not have legal protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, if action is taken now to improve the health and well-being of these species, then they may not need to be listed in the future. Also, if the species are ever listed during the duration of the permit, which could be up to 50 years or so, then the species are covered by the incidental take permit and habitat conservation plan.

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.

Impacts to Fender’s blue butterfly include loss of habitat, e.g., as building a family home or a barn on land that is native prairie habitat containing either the butterfly’s host plant or nectar species, construction of a roadway through a Kincaid’s lupine patch, or destroying the nectar species the butterfly adults depend upon by planting agricultural crops.

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.

Yes. Habitat conservation plans benefit threatened and endangered species because they provide an incentive for landowners to integrate conservation measures into the day-to-day management of their lands, while allowing for some impacts to the species. In short, in order for Benton County to proceed with its current management and permitting activity under an incidental take permit, the County must provide a long-term commitment to species conservation through the development of a Habitat Conservation Plan. Without those commitments the County could not perform any of its activities that would impact the 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.

Nothing, unless you wish to conduct an activity that may impact Fender’s blue butterfly or its habitat. Then you need “take” coverage from either Benton County through a certificate of inclusion or by working with the USFWS in obtaining your own incidental take permit and preparing your own habitat conservation plan.

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.

No. The certificate of inclusion is only needed for listed animal species covered in the habitat conservation plan. In this case the Fender’s blue butterfly.

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.

You will need to survey your property to determine if listed animal species are present. If so, then you will need to work with the USFWS to avoid impacts to those species. If impacts are unavoidable, then you will need to minimize, and mitigate for unavoidable impacts. You will need to prepare your own habitat conservation plan and obtain your own incidental take permit from the USFWS. If you need a permit from the County to perform your activity (e.g., construction of a residential dwelling) you must obtain your incidental take permit from the USFWS before the County will process your County permit application.

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.

As of August 2006, 458 habitat conservation plans have been developed by public and private landowners. Of these, only five habitat conservation plans are for areas within Oregon. The amount of acreage included in habitat conservation plans varies from less than 1,000 acres to more than 1.0 million acres.

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.

Benton County received two grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the habitat conservation plan. The County was required to match (25%) the grant amount. Most of this match is in the form of in-kind contributions.