Commissioners Court - Regular Session

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13.

Meeting Date:	09/10/2013
submisison of comments during open period for Georgetown and Salado salamanders
Submitted For:	Gary Boyd	Submitted By:	Gary Boyd, Parks
Department:	Parks
Agenda Category:	Regular Agenda Items

Information

Agenda Item

Hear report and take appropriate action on submission of comments to the US Fish and Wildlife Service on proposed listing of the Georgetown and Salado salamanders.

Background

On August 20, 2013 the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule listing the Jollyville Plateau salamander as threatened (and the Austin Blind salamander as endangered) and at the same time published notice of a six month extension on the final rule for the Georgetown salamander (GTS) and Salado salamander (SS) because there is significant scientific disagreement regarding their conservation status and opened up a 30-day public comment period that expires on September 19, 2013.

The Williamson County Conservation Foundation (WCCF) in its Wednesday, August 28, board meeting authorized its consulting team to submit comments on its behalf and to recommend to the Williamson County Commissioners to additionally submit, or to concur with the WCCF, comments on the GTS and SS. The likely content of the comments will focus on existing water quality and quantity measures presently existing and on the persistence and resilience of the species.

The near final draft (or perhaps the final version) of the comments could come back for final adoption September 17.

Fiscal Impact

From/To	Acct No.	Description	Amount

Attachments
No file(s) attached.

Form Review

Inbox	Reviewed By	Date
County Judge Exec Asst.	Wendy Coco	08/30/2013 10:37 AM
Form Started By: Gary Boyd		Started On: 08/29/2013 10:10 AM
Final Approval Date: 08/30/2013