Fish and Wildlife Service September 25, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are making available for public comment an application from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for an enhancement of survival permit (permit) under the Endangered Species Act for take of five species associated with implementation of a candidate conservation agreement with assurances (CCAA) in Montana. The intent of the CCAA is to provide private landowners in the coverage area with the opportunity to voluntarily conserve covered species and their habitats while carrying out their operations in a manner that would contribute to precluding the need to list the covered species. Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, we have prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) that analyzes the potential impacts of issuance of the permit and implementation of the proposed CCAA, as well as two alternatives to the proposed action in the EA. The permit application, the draft CCAA, and draft EA are available for public review, and we seek public comment on these documents and potential issuance of the permit.