Contacts

Al Donner, Sacramento FWO,  (916) 414-6566
Jim Nickles, Sacramento FWO, (916) 414-6572
Vieva Swearingen, Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group (530) 347-6637

Proposed Safe Harbor agreement for Cottonwood Creek watershed released for public review, comment

Agreement would assist landowners in Tehama and Shasta counties, CA,
 who enhance habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a draft Safe Harbor agreement aimed at encouraging landowners in the Cottonwood Creek watershed in Shasta and Tehama counties, CA, to enhance habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog.

The proposed agreement is open for public review and comment through Oct. 5.

Under a Safe Harbor agreement, participating landowners voluntarily undertake management activities on their property to enhance, restore, or maintain habitat for species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Safe Harbor agreements provide assurances to landowners that they will not be subject to additional restrictions if they increase the number of listed species on their property.

The agreement would be the second 'programmatic' Safe Harbor in California -- that is, it would cover a large area with multiple landowners. Until recently, most Safe Harbor agreements covered just one property.  

The draft Cottonwood Creek Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement - between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group - seeks to preserve and enhance habitat for the California red-legged frog in the 603,854-acre watershed. Once the Safe Harbor agreement is finalized, landowners with property inside the covered area can enroll their property by signing a cooperative agreement with the watershed group. Potentially, properties covering up to 500,000 acres within the watershed could be enrolled.

"This Safe Harbor Agreement will play a critical role in the conservation and recovery of the California red-legged frog in the Cottonwood Creek watershed," said Susan Moore, field supervisor for the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. "Implementation of this agreement would provide a positive, beneficial effect that could potentially assist the Service in delisting the species."

Cottonwood Creek is a westside tributary of the Sacramento River within Shasta and Tehama counties. It meets the Sacramento River near the town of Cottonwood, roughly halfway between the cities of Red Bluff and Redding. The Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group (http://www.cottonwoodcreekwatershed.org/index.php), formed in 1998, is an organization of landowners working to maintain a healthy and productive watershed.
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.