HomeMy WebLinkAboutOregon Spotted Frog Staff Memo
DATE: September 17, 2013
TO: Deschutes County Board of Commissioners
FROM: Peter Gutowsky, Principal Planner
MTG: September 25, 2013 Work Session
RE: Oregon Spotted Frog / Proposed Listing / Endangered Species Act
FWS Presentation
The purpose of the September 25 work session is to enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) to discuss their proposal to protect the Oregon spotted frog as a threatened species
under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Attachment 1). The FWS opened a 60-day
public comment period on August 29 to allow the public to review and comment on the proposal
and provide additional information. All relevant information received from the public, government
agencies, the scientific community, industry, or any other interested parties by October 28,
2013, will be considered and addressed in the agency’s final listing determination for the
species. The FWS will have up to one year to determine whether the proposed listing and
proposed critical habitat should become final. On September 16, the FWS mailed notices to all
affected property owners in Deschutes and northern Klamath counties and alerted them to
public meetings scheduled on the following dates:
October 8, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Sunriver Homeowner Aquatic &
Recreation Center, Dillon Hall, 57250 Overlook Road, Sunriver, Oregon; and
October 16, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the La Pine Senior Center, 16560 Victory
Way, La Pine, Oregon.
Habitat
The FWS proposes to designate 68,192 acres and 23 stream miles as critical habitat for the
Oregon spotted frog throughout Washington and Oregon. In Deschutes County, their habitat
extends along the Upper Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers, terminating in Bend at the Old
Mill. Maps of the proposed critical habitat in Deschutes County are shown in Attachment 2. A
large, parcel scale map will be provided at the work session. Table 1 identifies the number and
acreage of tax lots affected by critical habitat in rural Deschutes County and the Urban Growth
Boundaries (UGB) of Bend and La Pine.
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Table 1 – Proposed Critical Habitat for Oregon Spotted Frog / Affected Deschutes County Tax Lots1
Jurisdiction Federal Properties Private Properties Total Acres of
Critical Habitat Tax Lots Acres Tax Lots Acres
Bend UGB 0 0 49 23.75 23.75
La Pine UGB 0 0 91 135.05 135.05
Rural Deschutes County 35 1,222.32 1,563 4,509.16 5,731.48
Total 35 1222.32 1,703 4,667.96 5,890.28
The maps depicting proposed critical habitat are conservative. According to the FWS Proposed
Rule designating critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog (Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 168),
Critical habitat areas identify those physical and biological features essential to the
conservation of the species (such as space, food cover and protected habitat).
Primary constituent elements are those specific elements of the physical and biological
features that provide for a species’ life-history processes and are essential to the
conservation of the species.2
The Proposed Rule states that at least one of these primary constituent elements needs to be in
existence to be considered critical habitat:
Primary constituent element 1 - Non-breeding (N), Breeding (B), Rearing (R), and
Overwintering Habitat (O). Ephemeral or permanent bodies of fresh water, including, but
not limited to natural or manmade ponds, springs, lakes, slow-moving streams, or pools
within or oxbows adjacent to streams, canals, and ditches, that have one or more of the
following characteristics:
o Inundated for a minimum of 4 months per year (B-R) (timing varies by elevation but
may begin as early as February and last as long as September);
o Inundated from October through March (O);
o If ephemeral, areas are hydrologically connected by surface water flow to a
permanent water body (e.g. pools, springs, ponds, lakes, streams, canals, or ditches)
(B-R);
o Shallow water areas (less than or equal to 30 centimeters (12 inches), or water of
this depth over vegetation in deeper water (B-R);
o Total surface area with less than 50 percent vegetative cover (N);
o Gradual topographic gradient (less than 3 percent slope) from shallow water toward
deeper, permanent water (B-R);
1 Data listed in Table 1 excludes water bodies and rights -of-way.
2 http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/species/osf/OSF_pCriticalHabitat_FR.pdf
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o Herbaceous wetland vegetation (i.e. emergent, submergent, and floating-leaved
aquatic plants), or vegetation that can structurally mimic emergent wetland
vegetation through manipulation (B-R);
o Shallow water areas with high solar exposure or low (short) canopy cover (B-R); and
o An absence or low density of non-native predators (B-R-N).
Regulations
Designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership, establish a refuge or preserve and
has no impact on private landowners taking actions on their land that do not require federal
funding or permits. If a landowner needs a federal permit or receives federal funding for a
specific activity, the agency responsible for issuing the permit or providing the funds would
consult with the Service to determine how the action may affect a listed species or its habitat.
In Deschutes County, regulations have been in place for over twenty-five years protecting
wetlands and riparian habitat in the upper Deschutes River basin. A majority of the critical
habitat along the Upper Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers is identified as wetlands on the
County’s Local and National Wetland Inventories. Along both rivers, a riparian setback of 100
feet is required, measured from ordinary high water.
Attachments:
1. FWS News Release
2. Proposed Critical Habitat in Deschutes County for Oregon Spotted Frog