Transcript Endangered Species Conservation Banking

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
Endangered Species
Conservation Banking
Michael Bean
Chair, Wildlife Program
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
Basic duties of the ESA
1. No “take” of listed animals without a
permit.
2. Federal actions must not “jeopardize”
listed species.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
The exceptions
1. Take “incidental to otherwise lawful
activities” permitted if mitigated (§9).
2. Federal agencies can incorporate
conservation measures in project
descriptions to avoid jeopardy (§7).
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
Terminology: Why “conservation”
rather than “mitigation” banks?
1. Wetland mitigation banking has been
highly controversial.
2. No obligation to impose “mitigation”
under §7.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
A quick history of endangered
species conservation banking
1. First banks pre-dated any banking policy.
2. California promulgated first banking policy in
1995.
3. First formal FWS guidance in May 2003.
4. NOAA-Fisheries has neither policy nor
banking experience.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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The federal guidance
1. Notice of availability published in
Federal Register, but not the guidance
itself.
2. No public input on the guidance.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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Conservation Bank defined
“A parcel of land containing natural resource values
that are conserved and managed in perpetuity,
through a conservation easement held by an entity
responsible for enforcing the terms of the
easement, for specified listed species and used
to offset impacts occurring elsewhere to the same
resource values on non-bank lands.”
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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Credits defined
“Credits are the quantification of a
species’ or habitat’s conservation
values within a bank.”
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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More on credits
1. “In its simplest form, one credit will equal
one acre of habitat or the area supporting
one nest site or family group.”
2. “The most important consideration for any
mitigation requirements … is that they
should be proportionate … to the extent of
the impact and consistent from project to
project.”
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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What actions produce credits?
1. Unlike wetland banking policy, endangered
species banking policy welcomes
acquisition or protection of existing habitat.
2. Credits for creating or restoring habitat are
possible, but seldom pursued in practice.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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Where can credits be
used?
1. Within specified “service areas.”
2. Service areas generally correspond to
“recovery units” in recovery plans.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
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Some practical challenges
1. Quantification of credits (and debits) is relatively
subjective and difficult.
2. Acres are often a poor surrogate for conservation
values.
3. Potential market for credits may be very local and
very small.
4. Market is further undermined by inconsistent
enforcement.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE
Some examples of endangered
species conservation banks
1. International Paper red-cockaded woodpecker
bank.
2. Hickory Pass Ranch bank for golden-cheeked
warbler.
3. Mobile Area Sewer and Water Commission
gopher tortoise bank.
4. Coles Levee Bank for California gnatcatcher.
Endangered Species Conservation Banking