High Prairie Wind Energy Facility Habitat Conservation Plan

HCP
Title	Data
Agency	FWS
Applicant Type	corporation
Date Agreement Signed
Date Application Withdrawn
Date Permit Denied
Date Permit Expired	05/14/2027
Date Permit Issued	05/14/2021
Date Permit Revoked
Date Permit Suspended
Duration	6 years, 0 months
Federal Register Documents
Habitat	The Plan Area is located in the Central Dissected Till Plains ecoregion and consists of rolling hills that range in elevation from approximately 900 to 1,015 feet. The soil layer is deep, with few rocks. Historically, the landscape supported prairie and oak-hickory forest. Current land use in the area is dominated by agriculture, including beef pasture, rotational row crops (including some fallow fields), and hay fields. Some areas that are not farmed are enrolled in the CRP. CRP lands tend to serve as buffers for wetlands or sensitive wildlife areas in this region, and program enrollment is typically on 10-year cycles. In the Plan Area, CRP lands are predominantly annual-grassland communities, with some woodland vegetation. Natural vegetation communities make up approximately 15% of the Plan Area. These natural communities include oak-hickory forest and patches of annual grassland that are intermingled with agricultural areas. Historically, the Plan Area supported oak-hickory woodland. Current forested areas cover approximately 6% of the Plan Area and are generally confined to areas with limited access for farming, such as steep slopes or riparian corridors. Oaks are the dominant tree species, mainly red oak (Quercus rubra), shingle oak (Quercus imbricaria), and white oak (Quercus alba). Hickory (Carya spp.) is also a commonly associated species. Other canopy trees include black walnut (Juglans nigra), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), and American elm (Ulmus rubra). The understory consists of dogwoods (Cornus spp.), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), redbud (Cercis canadensis.), serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), and hop hornbeam (Ostrya spp.). Riparian forest may include sycamore (Platanus spp.) and cottonwood (Populus spp.) (Missouri Department of Conservation 2010b). Several groves of ornamental trees are also present in the Plan Area. These groves are typically found in windbreaks and landscape plantings around residences. The Plan Area also includes small streams, stock ponds, isolated patches of wetland, and stretches of two small rivers (the north fork of the South Fabius River and the south fork of the Middle Fabius River). Sections of the South and Middle Fabius Rivers have been designated Significant Aquatic Areas in the Missouri Natural Features Inventory. The glaciated plain in the Plan Area is a mosaic of uplands, sideslopes, and bottomlands that support potential prairie, woodland, and forest ecosystems. The vast majority of the region and the Plan Area is in grassland/pasture or agricultural use. Schuyler County was historically a mix of woodland and open savannah/prairie, but as settlement progressed, woodlands were cleared for agriculture. Woodlands presently constitute approximately 5%15% of the Plan Area within and around the HPWEF and are generally confined to areas unsuitable for agriculture, such as steep slopes and waterways. Grasslands, which include hay and grazing areas, constitute approximately 64% of the Plan Area. Approximately 26% of the Plan Area is in some form of crop production, including a combination of planted and fallow croplands, in any given year. Rivers in the Plan Area include the north fork of the South Fabius River, the south fork of the Middle Fabius River, and other smaller creeks. Many of the smaller streams have their headwaters within the Plan Area and are bordered by wooded riparian areas. The majority of the wetlands that historically occurred in the Plan Area have been drained for agriculture. The few that remain exist as small isolated areas, many of which are farmed in dry years and often influenced by tiling and other farming practices.
Land Use	business/commercial construction
Location	Schulyer County, Missouri
NEPA Process	environmental assessment
Partners
Permits	ESPER0011567
Plan/Agreement Documents	Biological Opinion Final Documents NEPA - EA NEPA - FONSI Set of Findings The HCP
Size	3472 acres (MO)
Species	Bat, Indiana (Myotis sodalis) Wherever found - Endangered Bat, little brown (Myotis lucifugus) Wherever found - Under Review Bat, Northern long-eared (Myotis septentrionalis) Wherever found - Endangered
States	MO
Status	I
Title	High Prairie Wind Energy Facility Habitat Conservation Plan
Type	HCP
USFWS Field Office(s)	Missouri Ecological Services Field Office
USFWS Region	3

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