Preserving wildlife

Preserving wildlife

Written by Beth Wade Friday, 13 June 2008

County develops habitat plan to protect endangered species, aid developers

Williamson County officials are trying to balance the county’s inevitable growth and protect several endangered species found west of IH 35.

The Williamson County Conservation Foundation, which was established in December 2002, is working to maintain that balance by creating a Regional Habitat Conservation Plan.

“We are basically, through the plan, trying to preserve caves and bird habitat so that if everything else got developed, it wouldn’t destroy the species, because that is what the law requires,” said Valerie Covey, precinct three county commissioner and WCCF board vice president.

The RHCP will offer a simplified and quicker way for individuals to comply with development permitting requirements from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. With the RHCP, the foundation can obtain a countywide 10A permit into which developers can buy. That means if a developer — private or public — wanted to develop land with endangered species habitat, he could go to the county for a permit rather than Fish and Wildlife.

“We thought it was a good fit for what Williamson County is about, but it makes sense for each individual,” Covey said. “It serves the purpose of the law and helps with development. Anytime you build on the west side of IH 35, you have a good chance of hitting either a bird or bug habitat.”

The goal of the plan is to eventually provide enough habitats for the endangered bug species that they could eventually be removed from the endangered species list, said Kemble White, a scientific consultant from SWCA Environmental Consultants.

“The only way to reconcile the growth issues with the need to protect open space is to plan on a regional basis,” White said. “It creates an entity that can step back, take stock of the entire area, and say, ‘Yes, we want growth, but we also want to protect these areas.”

The foundation has been working on the RHCP for four years and has submitted a draft of the plan and an Environmental Impact Statement to United States Fish and Wildlife Service for public review. County citizens will be able to review the plan and make public comment until July 17.

WCCF will have a public hearing June 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom on the second floor of the Williamson County Courthouse, 710 Austin Ave. for public comment. To see a copy of the draft Regional Habitat Conservation Plan, interested individuals can download a copy of the document at www.wilcogov.org/wccf.

The county expects to have its permit by October after citizen comments have been addressed.

Protecting the animals

Because of West Williamson County’s karst landscaping — an area that has a large number of caves, sinkholes, fissures and underground streams — the area is home to several types of endangered cave bugs, including the Bone Cave Harvestman, the Tooth Cave Ground Beetle and the Coffin Cave Mold Beetles. The beetles species are exclusive to Williamson County.

“There are [species] that are endemic, meaning they only live in this little outcrop,” White said. “From a state or a North American perspective, it is a very small area. You will not find [the Coffin Cave Mold Beetle] anywhere else in the world.”

The county purchased the 145-acre Twin Springs Preserve near Lake Georgetown in February for $2.3 million. Scientists found endemic cave bugs, the Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Georgetown Salamander, a relative of the Barton Springs Salamander, on the preserve, White said.

The bugs and Golden-cheeked Warbler are both on the endangered species list. The salamander could be added in the next five years, White said.

Bird habitat preservation

In order to protect the Golden-cheeked Warbler’s habitat, which is typically large cedar trees mixed with oak trees, the county must protect the land on a one-to-one basis, meaning that for each acre of land developed, the county must identify 1 acre of habitat that must be preserved indefinitely.

In the county 1 acre of land equals 1 mitigation credit, meaning the county has lessened the severity of its take. “Take” means to harm, harass, pursue, hunt, wound or kill an endangered species. This can be done through harm or destruction of a species’ habitat.

The county has approximately 600 credits that developers can purchase. The foundation purchased 500 Golden-cheeked Warbler mitigation credits from a preserve in Burnet County from a landowner with 500 acres of land that will never be developed.

“The good thing about the Twin Springs Preserve is that it will actually provide credit within our county,” Covey said. “It is not going to be all outside the county where the birds are preserved; there is going to be actual habitat there that we get credit for.”

If needed, the county has access to an additional 500 credits in Burnet County.

Cave capital

There are approximately 6,000 caves in Texas, and nearly 700 of them are in Williamson County, White said.

In fall 2005, the county began management of Cobb’s Cavern, a 64-acre conservation easement approximately 6 miles northeast of Georgetown on Hwy. 195 — the property owner has sold his development rights to the county.

There are two known caves on the Twin Springs Preserve, White said. With other scientists from SWCA, White determined there were more caves on the site, using geophysical imaging to look into the ground.

In Williamson County, the cave preservation is different from bird habitat preservation, because the endangered birds are found throughout the region, while the karst species are found only this area.

“We will have enough of these [caves] that the species in the cave should be protected,” Covey said. “If everything else was developed we would have these caves that would keep these species from being extinct.”

The RCHP’s goal is to set aside approximately 60 caves that will never be developed. This plan doesn’t mean that there will only be 60 caves out of 700 left, White said. It would protect 60 caves that biologists feel could fully support the species, he said.

Funding species protection

The RHCP began with a federal planning grant of $1.2 million and $400,000 from the county and was designed to be self-sustaining.

“That grant was basically used for us to establish the plan,” Covey said. “Consultants have to be hired, we have environmental lawyers who are involved to help develop and write the plan and we deal with Fish and Wildlife all the time in trying to get this approved, so there are quite a lot of costs.”

Monies paid into the foundation for mitigation by developers will be used to acquire more land and monitor and maintain preserves.

Participation from developers is strictly voluntary. Developers who do not wish to participate are able to seek a permit from Fish and Wildlife on their own.

“Since we don’t have the permit yet, we haven’t seen the involvement that we are going to have,” Covey said. “We anticipate it being very good because of the ease in getting the permit from the county rather than having to deal with Fish and Wildlife.”

On Campus Cave

The Karst Conservation Initiative, a group of individuals with knowledge of karst-dwelling species who meet to exchange ideas, has begun work to help preserve On Campus Cave, found on Pickett Elementary School grounds, in Georgetown. The group, which was partially organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is interested in creating a Karst Living Laboratory in the cave, but is still in the planning stages.

“Really, it is a win/win,” SWCA scientist Kemble White said. “The service gets a win because they are getting a conservation and community educational opportunity. The school wins because they get a nice amenity on their grounds, rather than an eye sore. The foundation wins because the county helps their goal with the Regional Habitat Conservation Plan. The kids win because they are going to have this great educational opportunity, and the species win because their habitat is going to be enhanced.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Wildlife Program offers funds to help restore protected areas. The group is seeking funds to remove the current makeshift cave gate and install a proper cave gate designed with ecology in mind, White said. There is talk about adding a native plants garden around the opening to the cave, but final decisions have not been made.

All undeveloped preserve land is currently inaccessible to county residents. With the help of the Commissioners Court, Williamson County Parks and Recreation officials are working on a process that would allow residents to obtain a permit to access county preserves. The process could follow the “Leave No Trace” guidelines set by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information, visit www.wilcogov.org/wccf.

Sources: Endangered Species Act of 1973, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

“Endangered” defined

Endangered species, as defined by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, are any species in danger of extinction other than a species that is “determined by the Secretary of the interior to constitute a pest whose protection under the provisions of this Act would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man.”

The ESA uses the following criteria to determine if a species should be considered:

• The threat or present destruction of a species habitat
• Overuse of the habitat for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes
• Disease or predators harming the species
• Inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms
• Other natural or human factors affecting the species continued existence.

There are two methods of getting a species on the endangered species list.

• Petition process: Any individual can petition the Secretary of the Interior to add a species to the list.
• Candidate assessment process: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists identify species as listing candidates.

Source: Precinct Three County Commissioner Valerie Covey; Gary Boyd, Williamson County environmental project manager