Document mqb1xLpmN5r1xzXBR64mJL924

From: To: Subject: Date: Attachments: Sumner, Bret. "Gregory Sheehan@fws.aov": "Gregory Sheehan@ios.doi.gov" FW: Request for Policy Guidance to Facilitate Conservation Plan Monday, November 6, 2017 1:14:29 PM AHC letter to Interior and USFWS October 2017.pdf Greg - My apologies as my original email bounced back. Please see attached and below. I hope we might be able to discuss soon. Thank you. -Bret From: Sumner, Bret Sent: Monday, October 16, 2017 3:06 PM To: Jason_Larrabee@ios.doi.gov: Greg_Sheehan@fws.gov Cc: Casey Hammond (casey_hammond@ios.doi.gov): John Northington Subject: Request for Policy Guidance to Facilitate Conservation Plan Jason and Greg - Please find attached for your consideration a letter on behalf of American Habitat Center (AHC), BP, Chevron, Exxon, and the Farm Bureaus for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, and Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. We welcome the opportunity to discuss with you in the near future. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like additional information. Thank you for your time and consideration. -Bret Sumner Representative for AHC and Stakeholders AHC American Habitat Center 216 Sixteenth Street, Suite 1100 Denver, CO 80202-5115 October 16, 2017 Jason Larrabee, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Greg Sheehan, Acting Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington D.C. 20240 Re: Request for Clarification on Applicable Policies and Guidelines for a Draft Conservation Plan for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Dear Mr. Larrabee and Mr. Sheehan: We are submitting this letter on behalf of the American Habitat Center (AHC), as the Project Proponent, and BP America Production Company, Chevron U.S.A Inc., XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., and the Farm Bureaus for Texas,1 Oklahoma,2 Kansas,3 New Mexico,4 and Colorado5 (collectively, the Stakeholders). The purpose of this letter is to obtain guidance and clarification on certain policies to facilitate completion of a draft conservation plan for the lesser prairie-chicken (LEPC), a species currently being reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This draft conservation plan and its related components are collectively called the "Stakeholder Conservation Strategy" (SCS), and Region 2 is the lead office for this proposed conservation plan. On behalf of the Stakeholders, we respectfully request approval for continued use of Service policies in effect at the time when development of the SCS began in 2012. Overview: The LEPC inhabits approximately 20 million acres across portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado. This five-state range includes several of the nation's most prolific oil and gas basins, and also contains extensive agriculture and ranching activities, encompassing millions of acres of privately-owned rural working lands. 1 Texas Farm Bureau has over 500,000 member families. 2 Oklahoma Farm Bureau represents over 87,950 member families. 3 Kansas Farm Bureau represents over 31,468 farm families and 74,548 associates. 4 New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau has over 19,000 members. 5 Colorado Farm Bureau's membership comprises over 24,000 Coloradans. October 16, 2017 Page 2 Current Status: The Service is currently in the process of developing a Species Status Assessment and determining whether to re-list the LEPC under the ESA. According to the recently-released Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, publication of the Service's listing proposal is currently anticipated in November 2017. Draft Conservation Plan: The Stakeholders have worked extensively with the Service since 2012 to develop an innovative and comprehensive conservation strategy, which includes a conservation plan as well as a market-based habitat exchange and a habitat quantification tool. Over the course of development of this conservation plan and tools, the Stakeholders have witnessed several changes to the regulatory status of the LEPC.6 Despite these fluctuations in status, the Stakeholders have remained dedicated to developing a strategy that incentivizes voluntary conservation by private landowners. With approximately 95% of LEPC habitat occurring on private property, voluntary conservation is essential to benefitting the species. Moreover, the SCS allows for continued, uninterrupted economic development in a region important to the nation's agricultural supplies and oil and gas resources, thereby furthering President Trump's objective of reducing the regulatory burden on domestically produced energy resources. Secretarial Orders and Policies: Pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order on Energy Independence and Economic Growth and Secretary Zinke's Secretarial Order 3349, numerous Service mitigation policies, orders, and regulations are currently under review for revision or rescission, including many issued in the last months and days of the prior Administration. These policies include: 1. Service Revised Mitigation Policy issued on November 21, 2016; 2. Service ESA Compensatory Mitigation Policy issued on December 27, 2016; 3. Service revised regulations and policy for Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA) issued on December 27, 2016; 4. Service Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook finalized on December 27, 2016; 5. Interim Guidance on Implementing the ESA Compensatory Mitigation Policy, January 17, 2017; and, 6. Service Director's Order No. 218 on the Policy Regarding Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions issued on January 18, 2017. 6 In April 2014, the Service listed the LEPC as a threatened species under the ESA. In September 2015, a Texas federal court vacated the Service's final rule listing the LEPC, finding that the agency ignored applicable listing rules. In July 2016, the Service officially removed the LEPC from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. In September 2016, WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the Service to relist the LEPC as endangered under the ESA. October 16, 2017 Page 3 Significantly, many of these policies were issued after the Stakeholders began collaborating with the Service on the SCS conservation plan and related components in 2012. However, until formal revision or rescission, these policies have the potential to significantly delay progress of finalizing the proposed conservation plan. Requested Action: To ensure compliance with governing Executive and Secretarial Orders and related policies, and to facilitate regulatory certainty for the draft conservation plan and related components, we respectfully request that Interior and the Service allow the Stakeholders to continue utilizing Service policies in existence at the start of the conservation plan's development, including the Service's Habitat Conservation Planning and Incidental Take Permit Processing Handbook dated November 4, 1996; the Service's Mitigation Policy dated January 23, 1981; and the Service's CCAA Policy dated May 3, 2004. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me at (303) 407-4436 if you have any questions or would like additional information. We look forward to your response and working to efficiently move the proposed Stakeholder Conservation Strategy forward. Very truly yours, Bret A. Sumner Representative for American Habitat Center and Stakeholders Courtesy copy: Casey Hammond, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals