New Burson Subdivision Seeks Public Comment

The Calaveras Enterprise
July 6, 2012

A salamander listed as a threatened endangered species has been found on the site of a planned Burson subdivision.

The California tiger salamander was placed on the California statewide endangered species list in 2010.

Juan San Bartolome, who is developing a 15-lot, 109-acre site north of Highway 12, is working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to create a protected habitat for the salamander.

Bartolome designed the subdivision to permanently retain all aquatic habitats and to preserve open space corridors that would serve as an overland migration route for various animals.

To read the Federal Register notice, visit http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-06-18/pdf/2012-14649.pdf.

Public comment on the conservation plan, which would protect 54 acres and an on-site pond in perpetuity, is being sought by the service. The public has until July 18 to add input to the habitat conservation plan.

Comments can be submitted by mail or facsimile to: Mike Thomas, Chief, Conservation Planning Branch, Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825; Fax: 916-414-6713.

The service is seeking information specifically on the HCP and the preliminary determination that the plan qualifies as a “low-effect” habitat conservation plan. In addition to acreage proposed to be protected in perpetuity, Bartolome proposed a series of conservation measures that would be implemented during and after construction to avoid potentially negative impacts to the species, including installation of exclusion fencing, an education program for employees, a 15-mile-an-hour speed limit, and a construction schedule that avoids the rainy season and nighttime work when the species is most active.