Why an HCP?

Benton County Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan

Why an HCP?

Benton County is beginning development of a habitat conservation plan (HCP). The HCP will allow economic development within the county to continue, while at the same time conserving several listed and candidate upland and wet prairie species. The Benton County Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) will cover eight endangered, threatened, or rare species that occur in the prairie ecosystems of the county. The covered species include two butterflies, Fender's blue and Taylor's checkerspot; one bird - Streaked Horned lark; and five plants - Kincaid's lupine, Nelson's checkermallow, Willamette daisy, the Peacock larkspur, and Bradshaw's lomatium. All but the Taylor's checkerspot and Streaked Horned lark are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), which makes it illegal to "take" (harm, harass, kill, wound, capture, hunt or collect) these species unless special authorization is obtained from the USFWS.

The habitat conservation plan will describe those activities that are likely to affect the species, the steps that will be taken to avoid, minimize and mitigate for such impacts - i.e., the conservation measures, the funding that will be available to implement the conservation measures, and implementation of the HCP, including monitoring and adaptive management.

Once the HCP is completed, the County will be able to seek an incidental take permit from the USFWS. With an incidental take permit, the County will be protected from legal liability in the event that the County accidentally or unavoidably takes the species covered by the permit. The permit is necessary in order for the County to continue activities such as road maintenance and construction, facility development, park construction and maintenance, and its development permit program. These activities have the potential to affect the species covered in the HCP. The HCP will be drafted to cover the activities of other state and local land management agencies within the County.

Private landowners are also liable for take of listed animal species. Therefore, the HCP is being developed so that private landowner development activities will covered by the permit as well. The private landowner will have the opportunity to obtain protection through the County (through a certificate of inclusion) or by going through the USFWS and obtaining their own permit. Obtaining incidental take coverage under the County's permit will save the private landowner time and expense. However, the private landowner will need to agree to the conservation measures set forth in the plan. These conservation measures will be worked out through the HCP process. We encourage the public to participate in the process.