General Information About DNR's HCP for State-owned Aquatic Lands
Providing a Balance of Public Benefits
State law (RCW 79.105.030) gives DNR a set of management guidelines. Those guidelines include ensuring environmental protection and fostering commerce and navigation. An HCP helps DNR manage according to these guidelines, and ensures that uses of state-owned aquatic land are in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
State-owned Aquatic Lands
DNR is steward of about 2.6 million acres of state-owned aquatic lands. Between statehood and 1971, the state sold tidelands and shorelands to a variety of purchasers. The state retained ownership to bedlands. As a result, today, state-owned aquatic lands includes about about 30% of the tidelands (approx. 68,000 acres) and about 70% of the shorelands (approx. 25,000 acres) of the navigable lakes and rivers in the state. State-owned aquatic land also includes marine bedlands (approx. 2.2 million acres) and freshwater bedlands (approx. 120,000 acres).
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Overview
Purpose
The ESA is intended to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems they depend on. The ultimate goal is to recover species to the point where they no longer need protection under the ESA.
ESA is administered by
Species Selection Process
Throughout this project, DNR has started from a “most inclusive” starting point, and used a series of “filters” to focus the agency's efforts on those species, habitats, and activities where DNR's management responsibilities have the largest influence. For species, the process was:
- Compiled a list of all species listed in Washington;
- Eliminated terrestrial species from further consideration;
- Gathered baseline information (listing status; habitat used; occurrence; life history requirements).
- Assessed:
- Probability of being listed in the future;
- Degree of dependence on submerged habitats;
- Vulnerability to authorized activities;
- Critical benefit to species from inclusion in HCP;
- Gathered supplemental information (threats; prey; take mechanisms; existing recovery plans; WA Priority Habitat areas).
Species were then sorted into three categories, depending on the potential of activities that are authorized by DNR to affect species and on the species' listing status:
Covered — There is sufficient biological information as well as existing practical and effective measures to sustain or recover the species; the species has a close association with a covered species; and/or the species listing is deemed imminent.
Evaluation — Requires additional biological information or lacks easily defined conservation measures to include in the HCP. Should conditions change, these species may be added in the future by amending the HCP and the Incidental Take Permit.
Watch — Species that are either not considered to be at risk during the planning horizon; have little or no interaction with activities on state-owned aquatic lands; or with insufficient biological information to support conservation planning.
Species Decision Matrix | Activities' potential to affect species | Currently Listed Under ESA | Species of Concern | Designated Imperiled | No Designation |
|---|
High | Covered | Covered | Evaluation | Evaluation |
Medium | Evaluation | Evaluation | Evaluation | Watch |
Low | Evaluation | Evaluation | Watch | Watch |
Potentially Covered Species (Spring 2007)
Birds (7)
Bald eagle
Black tern
California brown pelican
Common loon
Harlequin duck
Marbled murrelet
Western snowy plover
Amphibians & Reptile (4)
Columbia spotted frog
Northern leopard frog
Western toad
Western pond turtle
Fish (10)
Bull trout/Dolly Varden
Chinook
Chum
Coastal cutthroat
Coho
Green sturgeon
Pink salmon
Sockeye/Kokanee
Steelhead
White sturgeon
Marine Mammal (1)
Southern resident killer whale
The Covered Species Paper describes the life history, current and historic habitat, and current threats for the 87 species initially considered under the project.
Habitat and Area Definitions
The Aquatic Lands HCP will cover the majority of state-owned aquatic land, under both marine, estuarine, and fresh waters of the state. For the purposes of developing an HCP, DNR used the following broad categories of habitats. These habitat definitions are founded on scientifically-based and commonly-used land classification systems, but have been simplified because of the broad geographic scope, the large number of species and activities that were analyzed, and the limited resolution of some of the available data.
Saltwater
- Geography
- Coastal: Cape Flattery south to Cape Disappointment
- Inland: Straits of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands, Puget Sound
- Ecosystem
- Offshore
- Nearshore
- Tidal Wetland
- Substrate Type
- Consolidated: rock
- Unconsolidated: sand or gravel
Freshwater
- Lake Productivity
- Lake Water Depth
- River Gradient
The Covered Habitat Technical Paper identifies the freshwater and saltwater habitats managed by Washington DNR; describes baseline conditions for the land; and identifies habitat location.
What Activities Are We Covering?
Throughout this project, DNR has started from a “most inclusive” starting point, and used a series of “filters” to focus the agency's efforts on those species, habitats, and activities where DNR's management responsibilities have the largest influence. For activities, those filters were:
- Activity occurs on state-owned aquatic land;
- DNR authorizes or carries out the activity;
- The activity is not already covered by another compliance or management mechanism;
- There is a known pathway of harm between the activity and any covered species;
- The magnitude of potential harm is significant;
- Identifiable conservation measures exist to avoid, minimize, or mitigate for the harm.
As of Spring 2007, Washington DNR is considering including the following activities:
- Overwater structures (docks, boat ramps, boat launches, mooring buoys, nearshore buildings, floating homes);
- Log booming & storage;
- Complex structures (marinas, terminals, shipyards);
- Aquaculture (shellfish, finfish).
DNR will not ask for ESA coverage for three activities that were discussed at the Summer 2006 workshops.
The Covered Activities Technical Paper characterizes DNR's legal authority and responsibilities, as well as authorized activities on state-owned aquatic lands and how much land they encumber.
Conservation Planning and Stewardship
We are developing measures that will mitigate (avoid, minimize and compensate) for impacts to state-owned aquatic lands from covered activities. Activity-specific measures may include minimizing effects like structural shading, and reducing inputs of chemicals and debris. Examples of stewardship measures include identifying and conserving specific aquatic lands for habitat purposes and the removal of derelict structures.
Components of the DNR's Aquatic Lands HCP
The HCP will include the following components:
- An overview of the plan
- The plan's purpose and goals
- The term (timeframe) of the plan
- The planning context and regulatory framework
- The lands to be covered
- The species to be covered
- Species' life-histories, habitats, and distribution
- The activities to be covered
- DIrect and indirect effects of covered activities
- Conservation measures (activity-specific)
- Stewardship measures (landscape-based)
- Funding
- Monitoring (compliance, effectiveness, and validation)
- Adaptive management
- Changed and unforeseen circumstances
- Plan implementation