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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
logging-related sedimentation can reduce larval and adult abundance Lowe et al. 2004, p. 167; Moseley et al.
2008, pp. 303305, or have synergistic impacts on populations when combined with other stressors e.g., predatory fishes; Lowe et al. 2004, pp. 167170, and that wide 100 ft 30 m riparian buffers are needed to offer similar protection as unharvested sites, while narrow 30 ft 9 m buffers had similar effects on salamanders as no buffer at all Peterman & Semlitch 2009, pp. 1013.
The most recent survey of BMP
implementation in North Carolina showed that implementation rates while averaging 84 percent Statewide and averaging 8890 percent in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River basins did vary among regions within the State, and they varied with respect to the type of BMP being evaluated Coats 2017, pp.
841. The NCFS reported that BMPs were not applied or properly implemented in 4,584 opportunities in their assessments, and that 30 percent of these cases posed a risk to water quality Coats 2017, p. 8. The NCFS also reported that 74 percent of all identified risks to water quality were associated with the lack of application or improper implementation of BMPs related to stream crossings average implementation rate = 79 percent; range 7283 percent, SMZs average implementation rate = 86 percent; range 7291 percent, and post-harvest rehabilitation of a site average implementation rate = 71 percent; range 5383 percent Coats 2017, pp. 8, 9, 18
19, 2634. Such incidents of improperly implemented or unused BMPs and their associated risks to water quality and habitat are important to acknowledge in the context of rare, imperiled species, where any one particular localized event may result in further imperilment of a population and set back recovery of the species.
Accordingly, we cannot assume that BMPs will unequivocally be implemented.
Development and refinement of BMPs has resulted in substantial improvements to forestrys impacts on water quality in recent decades and has created a culture of water stewardship in the forest landowner community, making this stakeholder group an important ally in the conservation of imperiled species. The reduced risks to water quality justify the Services inclusion of an exception for incidental take associated with forestry BMPs in the 4d rule for the Neuse River waterdog, and the remaining presence of risk supports the need to specify conditions required for the exception to
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apply. Incidental take associated with forest management activities in the range of Neuse River waterdog that do not meet the conditions of the exception in the 4d rule may still occur via consultation with the Service under section 7, or a conservation agreement under section 10, of the Act.
Because BMPs in North Carolina are voluntary, existing BMPs will be sufficient for the protection of the Neuse River waterdog if, and only if, they are widely implemented in watersheds where the species occurs and are implemented appropriately such that all forest management operations maintain compliance with North Carolinas FPGs and achieve management goals related to conserving and maintaining suitable habitat for the Neuse River waterdog which closely mirror the FPG
requirements. North Carolina Forestry BMPs, properly implemented, protect water quality and help conserve aquatic species, including the Neuse River waterdog. Forest landowners who properly implement those BMPs are helping conserve the waterdog, and this 4d rule is an incentive for all landowners to properly implement BMPs to avoid any take implications.
Further, those forest landowners who are third-party-certified to a credible forest management standard are providing audited certainty that BMP
implementation is taking place across the landscape; thus, the exception for incidental take in the 4d rule will apply to their forestry activities.
23 Comment: Some of the comments about BMPs being sufficient see 24
Comment, above further suggested that assessments of water quality using aquatic insects as indicators confirm that BMPs are protective of water quality and habitat for aquatic species.
Therefore, BMPs are sufficient for protecting Neuse River waterdogs as well.
Our Response: Much of the literature shared by commenters on the effectiveness of BMPs for protecting aquatic species and their habitats relies on aquatic macroinvertebrate assessments, mostly of aquatic insects.
While they are a common rapid field assessment method for monitoring or measuring water quality, current scientific information does not support the assumption made by several commenters that presence or recovery of insects is a proxy for suitable habitat recovery after disturbance i.e., a sedimentation event for aquatic salamanders like the Neuse River Waterdog, or a proxy for recolonization of waterdogs after such a disturbance.
While reliance on effects to aquatic insect communities is a useful rapid
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assessment tool for water quality, there is a gap in the best available science about how that resilience relates to comparatively long-lived vertebrates, such as salamanders e.g., Neuse River waterdog. Some research comparing how macroinvertebrate assessments relate to those of other taxa e.g., amphibians, fishes, or zooplankton indicates that they do not correspond well in evaluations of watershed land use or anthropogenic effects on water quality and water resources e.g., Brazner et al. 2007, pp. 625627;
Kovalenko et al. 2019, entire; Herlihy et al. 2020, entire. Further, some studies recommend using assessments from multiple taxa to better evaluate the response of biological integrity in streams to anthropogenic activities Herlihy et al. 2020, p. 10; Hughes et al.
2000, pp. 437440. Since aquatic amphibians are long-lived and exhibit a high degree of site fidelity, these taxa may be a more reliable indicator of stream condition than macroinvertebrates or fishes Welsh and Ollivier 1998, pp. 11281129. The risks of water quality impacts to many taxa highlighted the utility of aquatic insect assessments for evaluating forestry BMPs, along with the need for research on forestry BMP effectiveness for the protection of taxa other than aquatic insects Warrington et al. 2017, entire.
Most aquatic insects are not considered rare species, and immigration by aquatic insects back into an affected stream reach may be facilitated by downstream drift or other mechanisms, including the adult winged flight stage, which allows immigration from other nearby waterbodies or from downstream reaches. The Neuse River waterdog is a rare, obligate aquatic salamander with different ecological requirements and a decades-long lifespan, compared to the shorter lifespan and aquatic larval phase of macroinvertebrate insects typically emphasized in assessments e.g., aquatic phases ranging less than 1 to 2 years for many mayflies Ephemeroptera; Voshell 2002, p. 270; 1 to 2 years for many stoneflies Plecoptera; Voshell 2002, p.
310; less than 1 to 2 years for most caddisflies Trichoptera; Voshell 2002, p. 375. Extirpation of the Neuse River waterdog from a stream reach after an impact to the population e.g., a sedimentation event that kills eggs or renders leaf packs unsuitable as foraging habitat would have lasting consequences, and recolonization can be hampered by factors that are less problematic for non-rare aquatic insect species, such as instream barriers to migration, distance to the next
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