An application for an Enhancement of Survival Permit related to a proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement with the East Foundation that would support the recovery of endangered ocelots by expanding their range in South Texas is being sought by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service( Service ) for public input.
Ocelots in the United States have now been reduced to a smaller team in South Texas mainly due to habitat loss after previously roaming frequently across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Arizona, according to Amy Lueders, the Service’s Southwest Regional Director. ” In accordance with this agreement, the East Foundation has put forth a novel plan to increase the ocelot’s selection in South Texas to help in their recovery.” We encourage the general public to review the proposed contract and offer their opinions during the open comment time.
Throughout its range in South and Central America, Mexico, southern Texas, and southeastern Arizona, the otter is listed as an endangered species. Ocelots are currently only known to exist in two small, remote breeding populations in Texas — Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and less than 100 individuals on private ranch land.
On the East Foundation’s San Antonio Viejo Ranch in Jim Hogg and Starr Counties, the proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement would restore ocelots that were socially and physically appropriate, as well as add more habitat for their distribution onto private lands close to the Santeel Ranch, in Brooks, Hidalgo, Jim Grogg, Starre, and Zapata Continents. Ocelot surveillance, wildlife control, and research are additional proposed restoration measures in the agreement.
A Safe Harbor Agreement is a voluntary agreement between private or other non-federal property owners whose actions aid in the recovery of species that the Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) lists as threatened or endangered. Participating property owners receive official claims from the Service that, if they uphold the terms of the agreement, it won’t require any additional or different control activities from them without their consent in exchange for actions that aid in the treatment of listed species.
Additionally, a license for an increase in success is issued to allow the removal of covered species from enrolled lands that would otherwise be permitted under the Safe Harbor Agreement. Individuals may gain the enrolled home to the initial conditions that existed at the end of the contract period.
The East Foundation you” certificate of addition” specific home owners as a Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement and send them the sanction authorization and assurances. If the proposed restoration and management activities are carried out on the enrolled properties during a 30-year force word, the Enhancement of Survival Permit would permit incident take of ocelots.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, institutions, protection organizations( U.S. and Mexico ), and anthropological institutions collaborated on a multi-year otter restoration research and planning project before developing the proposed Safe Harbor Agreement.
Personal property owners, governmental agencies, state and local governments, tribes, and various non-federal landowners and managers can participate in voluntary conservation partnerships thanks to the Service’s variety of incentives. Safe Harbor Agreements are tools that allow owners to keep using their property while preserving threatened types.
The Service recognizes the significance of the ESA in preventing the death of threatened species, fostering wildlife recovery, and protecting the habitats on which they depend all year long.
99 % of listed varieties have been saved from death thanks to the ESA, which is credited with being extremely successful. Thanks to the cooperation of nations, governmental organizations, state and local governments, protection organizations, and private residents, lots of plants and animals have been found or are stable or improving.
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Service encourages the consumer to evaluate and comment on the Enhancement of Survival Permit program for the proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for Ocelot Reintroduction. Responses from the general public are welcome through October 16, 2023.
One of the following strategies may be used to submit comments:
- Internet: http :// www.regulations.gov Look up and leave feedback on Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2023-0060, or
- U.S. message: Control of Common Feedback, Attn: Docket No. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB / 3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803; FWS-R2 – ES-2023 – 0160.
