Project Consultations: Florida ES Offices

The Florida Ecological Services field offices developed a short checklist and companion guidance document to assist consultants, permit applicants and action agencies in assembling complete consultation requests. These documents can help avoid delays in initiating an ESA consultation. The checklist helps you and our staff quickly identify whether all necessary components of a complete request are included.

For details checkout our Landowner-Consultants Tools page for these and other useful tolls and information..

Threatened and Endangered Species: Habitat Conservation

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) have jointly revised the 1996 Habitat Conservation Planning (HCP) Handbook. The HCP program has evolved substantially over the past 30 years, and requires updated guidance for those developing, reviewing, and implementing HCPs.

The goals of the revised Handbook are to: (1) provide clear, consistent, and updated guidance concerning HCP planning and implementation for Services’ staff; (2) streamline and create efficiencies in the HCP development and permitting processes, (3) provide greater conservation benefits to listed species, (4) inspire conservation possibilities associated with HCPs that contribute to listed species recovery, resiliency, and responses to climate change, (5) improve compliance and effectiveness monitoring, and (6) create a user-friendly, living document.

Notable differences between the 1996 and revised HCP Handbook include the following:

• Reorganizes the HCP Handbook to follow the steps necessary for Services’ staff to assist applicants in the development of their HCP, processing the incidental take permit application, and conducting compliance and effectiveness monitoring;
• Emphasizes concurrent consideration and development of environmental compliance documents(e.g.: National Environmental Policy Act , National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act intra-service section 7 consultation);
• Clarifies the HCP planning process and key concepts;
• Incorporates climate change considerations throughout the HCP planning process.

Go here for more details.

Federal Register Notice

Federal Docket FWS-HQ-ES-2016-0004 for this action @ regulations.gov

USFWS/NOAA 2016 revised Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook - PDF -

Threatened and Endangered Species: ESA Petitioning Processes Revised

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the backbone of conservation efforts for America’s most imperiled plants and animals. It has helped prevent the extinctions of hundreds of species of plants and animals and promoted recovery efforts that have ensured future generations live in a world with bald eagles, American alligators and Steller sea lions. Beginning in 2011, the Obama administration has prioritized efforts to revise regulations and policies to make the ESA more effective, more transparent and easier to implement.

As part of that endeavor, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries (together, the Services) – the agencies that implement the ESA – have improved the process by which species are petitioned for listing, delisting or reclassification under the ESA. The regulations also describe the process by which a petitioner may request revisions to critical habitat designations under the ESA. The revised ESA petition regulations will help ensure more complete and robust petitions that will lead to more effective conservation, greater involvement by state wildlife agencies, and provide greater transparency to the public.

Taken together, the revisions will allow the Services and their partners to better leverage limited resources to more effectively conserve America’s imperiled wildlife. Revisions to the petition regulations were originally proposed in May 2015 and today’s final revisions reflect extensive input from the public and stakeholders. ...more

Federal Register Notice

Federal Docket FWS-HQ-ES-2015-0016 @ regulations.gov

News Release

Threatened and Endangered Species: Blue-green Algea Blooms

Blue green algae along Florida beach in Duval County..
Photo Courtesy: Florida Department of Health - Duval

According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) blooms, while unsightly, are not known to directly affect manatees.

• As herbivores, manatees eat plants and incidentally ingest algae and other materials while feeding. Freshwater blue-green algae (commonly seen to form a green scum on the surface of the water) could be ingested. So far, it is not known to cause health problems in manatees nor is it known to affect their ability to breed.
• Blue-green algae blooms can, if present for extended periods of time, shade out aquatic grassbeds where manatees feed and can cause grassbeds to die. The temporary loss of these feeding sites will cause manatees to feed elsewhere until the grassbeds return. Manatees routinely feed at multiple sites, including sites many miles apart.

Government agencies are monitoring algal blooms and manatees in the vicinity of the blooms. The Service is coordinating closely with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission biologists and researchers. Because manatees are not known to be affected by the blooms, there are no plans to relocate them to other areas.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Information

Florida Department of Health - Duval Blue Green Algae Safety Tips

Nesting Wood storks

Photo: USFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently completed updating the mapping information for Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) nesting colonies and core forging areas in Florida and the Southeastern U.S. The updated information reflects data from 2005 through 2014, and includes an updated PDF map, GIS shapefiles, and versions of the data compatible with Google Earth. The updated data files are available via the link below and on our Consultant/Landowner Tools reference page.

Wood stork Information

FEMA is no longer accepting a programmatic clearance letter in support of Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) and CLOMR_F Letters of Request. As such, the North Florida FWS programmatic clearance letter is no longer available. FEMA now requires consultation letters be specific to each project. Public and private landowners, project managers/planners, and/or consultants now need to submit a clearance request to the Service and FEMA for each project.

Originally designed to assist private small parcel landowners and businesses, the programmatic clearance letter outlined details and specific scenarios and criteria where additional Service review was not considered necessary.

The Service's North Florida ES staff is providing updated information to aid project proponents in their development of a clearance request. See detailed requirements and preferred submission method via link below.

Details Available

Threatened and Endangered Species: Update Permit Conditions

Hawksbill sea turtle

Photo: USFWS

Individuals and institutions possessing a Service permit to hold captive sea turtles must meet new permit conditions.

The updated Standard Permit Conditions encompass the transport, rehabilitation, and disposition of sea turtles.

Details for the new conditions can be found on the Landowner/Consultant Tools and Sea Turtle information pages.

Frequently Asked Questions on Sea Turtle Permits

Sand skink.

Photo: USFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has revised the conservation guidelines and survey protocol for the threatened sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus). The updated information is available via the link below and on our Consultant/Landowner Tools reference page.

Skink Information

Eastern Indgio Snake
Photo: USFWS

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North Florida Ecological Services Office (NFESO) updated its Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi) protocols. The updated survey protocols provide consultants and landowners a project planning tool to improve the Service's review of permit applications and proposed land clearing activities for potential effects on the federally-threatened eastern indigo snake. The tool is applicable to the NFESFO geographic area of responsibility, which includes the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, St. Johns, Seminole, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Volusia.

Click here for to review the new information