Benton County Begins Habitat Conservation Plan For Rare And Endangered Species

The plan will give the county and private landowners flexibility to meet the legal requirements of the Endangered Species Act.

(CORVALLIS) - Benton County is developing a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan for seven rare and endangered species that occur in local prairies.

The rare, threatened and endangered species include: two butterflies - Fender’s blue and Taylor’s checkerspot; one bird – Streaked Horned Lark; and four plants - Kincaid’s lupine, Nelson’s checkermallow, Willamette daisy, and Bradshaw’s lomatium.

These species are native to the Northwest, and many of them occur only in the Willamette Valley.

Subject to approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the HCP will set guidelines for reducing and mitigating impacts on endangered species.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approached Benton County because of the county’s stewardship management activities on our natural areas. Additionally, other groups, such as the Greenbelt Land Trust, the Marys River Watershed and the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District have a proven track record for helping private landowners protect rare, threatened and endangered species", said Benton County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo.

"The county’s activities, such as road and park maintenance and community development have the potential to directly affect these species. We want to do what we can to help conserve these species unique to the Willamette Valley, but we also know there will be times when we must affect a given species," added Commissioner Jay Dixon. "We encourage the public to participate in the process because there are benefits to private and public landowners."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded the county a $574,583 grant to prepare the HCP and the required documentation. The plan will take approximately three years to complete.

"We have several seasons of field work that are necessary, and the time-frame for conducting that field work is limited to when the plants are in bloom and the butterflies and Streaked Horned Lark are laying their eggs. This activity occurs generally April through July," said Jerry Davis, Past Director of the Benton County Natural Areas and Parks Department and Project Manager of this effort.

"This past spring and summer we conducted surveys in the Wren area on lands of willing landowners, in conjunction with the Marys River Watershed planning effort and next year we will be surveying public lands, primarily County lands."

According to Jerry Davis, both technical advisory and stakeholder advisory committees have been formed.

The technical advisory committee consists of scientific experts in native prairie habitats, rare plant, butterfly, or bird species.

Cheryl Schultz and Mark Wilson, two prominent Pacific Northwest scientists, have agreed to serve on the technical advisory committee.

The stakeholder advisory committee consists of private landowners in the county; advocacy groups including the Audubon Society of Corvallis, Small Woodland Association, Greenbelt Land Trust, and Mary’s River Watershed Council; and local, state, and federal land managers and regulators. All stakeholder and technical advisory committee meetings are open to the public.

The county has hired the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) to prepare the HCP and conduct species surveys.

IAE is a local, not-for-profit organization in Corvallis that is dedicated to natural resource conservation, research, and education.

"We felt it was important to have a local firm prepare the HCP. Someone with a familiarity with the species, but especially familiarity with the community," said Commissioner Linda Modrell.

The public will have the opportunity to comment on the plan at various stages of the process.

The first public meeting is scheduled for January 22nd, 6:00 PM at the Benton Plaza Basement Meeting Room, 408 SW Monroe Avenue in Corvallis.

At this meeting, the county will present to the public the results of fieldwork completed to date, the timeframe for completing the plan, and how the community can participate in identifying the conservation measures to be included in the HCP.

There is a checklist to determine whether your lands would qualify for a survey and an application form is available from the Institute for Applied Ecology, Benton County’s contractor for this project.