The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Thursday finalized critical habitat designations for the rabbitsfoot freshwater mussels in Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Venango counties in Pennsylvania.

The critical habitat designation applies only to actions involving federal funds or a federal permits, such as NPDES water quality permits.   The habitats for these mussels are already included in the PA Natural Diversity Inventory so this designation should not result in additional flags during permit reviews.

Designating critical habitats also informs landowners and the public about specific areas that are important to a species’ conservation and recovery.

In Pennsylvania, critical habitat designations include portions of French Creek in Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Venango counties, the Allegheny River in Venango County, Muddy Creek in Crawford County and the Shenango River in Mercer County.

The detailed designations in the Federal Register notice include—

— French Creek: Unit RF22 includes 120.4 rkm (74.8 rmi) of French Creek from Union City Reservoir Dam northeast of Union City, Erie County, Pennsylvania, downstream to its confluence with the Allegheny River near Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania.

The Allegheny River rabbitsfoot population (Unit RF23) is likely a single metapopulation with the French Creek population (Unit RF22) (Butler 2005, p. 31). This unit contains all or some components of all four physical or biological features and contains all five primary constituent elements.

The physical or biological features in this unit may require special management considerations or protection to address changes described above as well as row crop agriculture and oil and gas development. Approximately 97 percent of the riparian lands adjacent to, but not included in, this unit are in private ownership and 3 percent are in Federal ownership.

— Allegheny River: Unit RF23 includes 57.3 rkm (35.6 rmi) of the Allegheny River from the French Creek confluence near Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania, downstream to Interstate 80 near Emlenton, Venango County, Pennsylvania. The lower Allegheny River and French Creek (Unit RF22) populations likely represent a single metapopulation because no barriers exist between the streams (Butler 2005, p. 29).

This unit contains all or some components of all four physical or biological features and likely functions as a metapopulation to French Creek (Unit RF22). This unit contains primary constituent elements 1, 3, 4, and 5 for the rabbitsfoot.

A series of nine locks and dams and Kinzua Dam constructed over the past century has resulted in altered hydrologic flow regimes in the Allegheny River (Butler 2005, p. 29). The physical or biological features in this unit may require special management considerations or protection to address changes described above as well as row crop agriculture, oil and gas development, and channelization.

Approximately 83 percent of the riparian lands adjacent to, but not included in, this unit are in private ownership and 17 percent are in State or local ownership.

— Muddy Creek: Unit RF24 includes 20.1 rkm (12.5 rmi) of Muddy Creek from Pennsylvania Highway 77 near Little Cooley, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, downstream to its confluence with French Creek east of Cambridge Springs, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

This unit contains all or some components of all four physical or biological features and contains all five primary constituent elements. The physical or biological features in this unit may require special management considerations or protection to address changes described above and oil and gas development.

Approximately 81 percent of the riparian lands adjacent to, but not included in, this unit are in Federal ownership and 19 percent are in private ownership.

— Shenango River: Unit RF31 includes 24.8 rkm (15.4 rmi) of the Shenango River from Porter Road near Greenville, Pennsylvania, downstream to the point of inundation by Shenango River Lake near Big Bend, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

This unit contains all or some components of all four physical or biological features and contains all five primary constituent elements. The physical or biological features in this unit may require special management considerations or protections to address changes described above as well consumptive water uses.

Approximately 54 percent of the riparian lands adjacent to, but not included in, this unit are in Federal ownership and 46 percent are in private ownership.

A copy of the Federal Register notice is available online.

NewsClip: Fish And Wildlife Finalizes Mussel Habitat Designations

5/4/2015