BASELINE DETERMINATION Sample Clauses

BASELINE DETERMINATION. This Agreement provides a mechanism for the District to enhance, restore, and manage ponds and native grassland habitat for the benefit of the Covered Species without incurring additional regulatory restrictions on the use of the Enrolled Property. The Agreement, however, does not release the District from the responsibility to avoid take of any endangered or threatened species already occupying portions of their property. To receive the assurances regarding take of Covered Species specified in this Agreement, the District must maintain the Baseline conditions on the Enrolled Property. Baseline conditions are also included for ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ piperia for conservation and recovery purposes.

BASELINE DETERMINATION. The Parties agree that the baseline conditions applicable to this Agreement are as follows: [Describe baseline conditions in terms appropriate for each covered species. Baseline conditions may in some instances be expressed as measures of the utilization of the enrolled property by the covered species (e.g., numbers of individuals, occupied breeding territories, etc.), particularly where such measures typically experience little seasonal or year-to-year variability. More commonly, baseline conditions will be expressed as measures of the quantity and/or quality of habitat suitable for or occupied by the covered species.]

BASELINE DETERMINATION. Baseline is a measure of the conditions associated with the covered species or its habitat that occur on eligible lands at the time of enrollment in the Agreement. Measuring prairie dog population numbers and spatial extent is time-consuming and expensive. These parameters can also fluctuate greatly over time. Therefore, the most reasonable and practical approach for determining baseline under this Agreement would be the number of black-footed ferrets present at the time of enrollment. Since the last remaining wild ferrets were taken into captivity for captive breeding purposes, extensive efforts to find additional wild ferrets have been unsuccessful (Hanebury and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2006). Therefore, the baseline on eligible lands for this Agreement will be zero ferrets.

BASELINE DETERMINATION. ‌ This Agreement provides a way for the CDPR to reestablish the California red-legged frog and to enhance and manage native riparian and wetland habitat for the benefit of the species without incurring additional regulatory restrictions on the use of their property. The Agreement, however, does not release the CDPR from the responsibility to avoid take of any endangered or threatened species already occupying portions of their property. To receive the assurances regarding take of California red-legged frog specified in this Agreement, the CDPR must maintain the Baseline conditions on the Enrolled Properties. Baseline conditions are defined in the Service’s Safe Harbor Agreement policy (64 FR 32717) as population estimates and distribution and/or habitat characteristics and determined area of the enrolled property that sustain seasonal or permanent use by the covered species at the time the safe harbor agreement is executed between the Service and the property owner. The Baseline conditions must reflect the known biological and habitat characteristics of the Enrolled Property. Although California red-legged frogs do not currently occur at the Enrolled Properties, suitable habitat for California red-legged frogs exists within each of the Enrolled Properties (except for currently at La Jolla Canyon, which we anticipate will contain suitable habitat during the period of this Agreement, as discussed previously). This Agreement has been established to aid in promoting the recovery of the California red- legged frog. CDPR understands the valuable contribution toward recovery that the translocation and reestablishment of the California red-legged frog on its lands would provide to the species Therefore, CDPR would like to contribute to the recovery of the California red-legged frog by creating additional populations of the species at the Enrolled Properties and by establishing an elevated Baseline for the species. The Parties have worked in partnership to establish the following Baseline conditions at the Enrolled Properties. The Baseline conditions for the California red-legged frog at the Enrolled Properties will contain two components: (1) the current area of suitable habitat for the California red-legged frog at an Enrolled Property; and (2) an elevated presence of a self-sustaining population of California red-legged frogs at an Enrolled Property. The elevated Baseline has been established with the intent to create and maintain self- sustaining populations of...

BASELINE DETERMINATION. This Agreement provides a mechanism for DPR to enhance, restore, and manage coastal scrub and stream habitats for the benefit of the Covered Species without incurring additional regulatory restrictions on the use of the Enrolled Property. The Agreement, however, does not release DPR from the responsibility to avoid take of any endangered or threatened species already occupying portions of their property. To receive the assurances regarding take of the Covered Species specified in this Agreement, DPR must maintain the Baseline conditions established in this Agreement for the Enrolled Property.

BASELINE DETERMINATION. The Parties agree that the baseline condition applicable to this Agreement is the number of nene currently found on the Ranch premises. Nene probably were extirpated on Maui by the end of the nineteenth century and today are found primarily within the boundaries of Haleakala National Park where reintroduction efforts began in 1962 (USFWS 1999). In addition, DOFAW is establishing a population in West Maui through a reintroduction program at Hanaula which began in 1995 (DOFAW 2000). There have been no known sightings of wild nene whatsoever on Ranch premises by either the local DOFAW biologist (▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, pers. comm. 2003) or Ranch staff (▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, pers. comm. 2003). Therefore, the baseline for this Agreement is zero (0).

BASELINE DETERMINATION. The Parties understand that the Permittee may enroll a wide variety of non-federal lands that could have a wide degree of baseline conditions. It is understood that baseline determinations will be made at a site-specific level and described in individual CAs to capture each unique situation. Baseline may be determined as numbers/populations of LCT, habitat conditions, or both. Typically, baseline determinations will be based on habitat conditions due to the migratory behavior of the species and the need to reestablish networked populations. Habitat conditions which define baseline will be detailed in each individual CA based on each particular situation and will be based on a variety of conditions such as stream width, riparian vegetation, substrate, etc. Enrollment of non­ federal lands will allow LCT to access many miles of publicly-owned stream habitat for LCT restoration and recovery activities that is currently not useable.

BASELINE DETERMINATION. Before landowners can enroll properties under this Agreement, they will work directly with EDF to complete a habitat assessment of each property to be enrolled and develop a corresponding Cooperative Agreement. Habitat assessments will be used to help determine the baseline characteristics of the properties to be enrolled. EDF may partner with other qualified entities to conduct baseline habitat assessments. In all cases, a property will be enrolled in the Agreement only after both EDF and the Service concur with the baseline determination. If the Service does not concur with a baseline assessment for a property, that property may not be enrolled in the Agreement. Baseline will consist of (1) habitat conditions (e.g., vegetation, aquatic habitat, and soils) as determined through the habitat assessment, and (2) land management practices on each property prior to the time of enrollment. Habitat characteristics and other property features will be documented on a map that will be attached to the corresponding Cooperative Agreement. Habitat conditions and land management practices will be determined and quantified as described below. Habitats will be assessed on each enrolled property to determine their suitability for Houston toads. The information listed below will be incorporated into a check-list in the Cooperative Agreement to establish environmental baseline for each property to be enrolled.  Known history, presence, and reproductive activity of the Houston toad on the property (including survey reports with positive and negative results, if available)  Potential breeding pond characteristics including size, depth, slope, vegetation conditions, and distance to nearby forest or woodland  Aquatic species present in ponds including the presence of predatory fish, insects, and amphibian species  Water quality status including eutrophication (i.e., a condition that occurs when water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth, which leads to reduced oxygen levels and the death of other aquatic organisms) or other water quality conditions that could be detrimental to the development of Houston toad tadpoles  Vegetation conditions characterizing the structure, composition, and extent of all vegetation types present including canopy cover, density, and ground layer conditions with an explanation of the sampling methods used to determine suitability in different habitat areas on the property  Soil conditions characterizing the struc...

BASELINE DETERMINATION. The proposed area covered by this Agreement and its associated 10(a)(1)(A) permit encompasses approximately 24,585 acres of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Creek drainage on the 99 Bar and BarBoot ranches in Cochise County, Arizona. The drainage is bounded on the east by the Chiricahua Mountains; on the west by the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Mountains; the north edge of the drainage is an indistinct valley ridge, and the south edge is bounded by LCNWR. The valley bottom is dominated by rolling hills of desert grassland and the upper slopes of the drainage transition from ▇▇▇▇▇-juniper to oak- dominated woodlands. Land ownership of the area covered by this Agreement is approximately 15% State land and about 85% privately-held by 99 Bar and Bar Boot ranches; a small area (~1%) is Federally- owned (Bureau of Land Management). Federal land is not covered by this Agreement. Ranching activities occur on private land and through grazing leases on State or Federal land. All private land within the covered area, with the exception of small parcels around certain existing buildings, are protected from future development by conservation easements held by the FWS. The covered area is delineated in Figure 1. The 99 Bar Ranch and the Bar Boot Ranch contain very little perennial water and limited riparian hardwood vegetation. Based upon the combination of the limited amount of suitable habitat and surveys conducted by ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Canyon NWR personnel for the covered species the baseline for Chiricahua leopard frog, Yaqui topminnow, Yaqui catfish, beautiful shiner, and Huachuca water ▇▇▇▇▇ is set at zero (FWS files). The baseline for Yaqui chub on the 99 Bar Ranch is also zero, but based upon results of surveys conducted in 2007 the baseline condition for Yaqui chub on the Bar Boot Ranch is set at one occupied site. This occupied site is at Lower Chalk Tank. It contains a viable population of Yaqui chub with multiple age classes. Enumeration of the population size is difficult for Yaqui chub and biologically irrelevant based upon the natural fluctuations that occur in ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Creek on the LCNWR. Population size on the LCNWR may vary from 10,000 to 200 individuals within the same year, and is related to the influences of environmental conditions on mortality and reproduction. Therefore, the baseline conditions will be defined as one perennial aquatic site occupied by a viable Yaqui chub population. Population viability will be determined by the presence of a minimum of 200 individuals representing multiple size clas...