 |
Montana DNRC Forested Trust Lands |
Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) |
What is an HCP?
The HCP will provide DNRC reasonable assurances for incidental take of federally listed species while continuing to conduct forest management activities on trust lands. The HCP and associated implementing agreement demonstrate how DNRC will minimize and mitigate impacts on the HCP species resulting from otherwise lawful activities that DNRC conducts while managing these trust lands. The HCP will provide a significant contribution to the conservation of HCP species and would allow for, or not preclude, the recovery of listed permit species. If unlisted HCP species (cutthroat trout and redband trout) become federally listed during the term of the permit, the HCP conservation measures are determined to be sufficient and provide adequate protection under the ESA. The permit will thus provide long-term regulatory certainty for DNRC.
What Is"Take," According To The ESA?
Under the ESA, "take" is defined as harassment, harm, pursuit, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting of any threatened or endangered species. Harm may include significant habitat modification, in which activities actually kill or injure a listed species through impairment of essential behavior (e.g., nesting or reproduction).
