Memorandum
Date: May 21, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Angela De Palma-Dow and Jordan Beaton, Water Resources Program Coordinators
Subject: (Sitting as the Lake County Board of Directors of the Watershed Protection District) Consideration of Presentation and Discussion on the Clear Lake Hitch Conservation Strategy from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Executive Summary:
As your board is aware, the Clear Lake Hitch was listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2014 and has been proposed for Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing several times since. The United State Fisheries and Wildlife Service (FWS) has facilitated the creation of the Clear Lake Hitch Conservation Strategy.
For some context, in 2022 there was a local call for action in response to the denied federal ESA listing of Clear Lake Hitch in combination with low observations during that years’ spawning season. The Clear Lake Hitch has been added to the FWS 2024 at-risk species list and is up for a Federal ESA listing decision in early 2025.
In February of 2023 your board declared a Proclamation of the Existence of a Local Emergency Due to Persistent Drought, Habitat Loss, and Potential Extinction of Clear Lake Hitch. Since then, collaborative efforts have occurred among many local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies. Some of those efforts along with plans for action are identified in the Conservation Strategy.
For hitch-related programs and projects to be eligible for habitat and restoration funding opportunities through the FWS and other federal sources, a currently approved Conservation Strategy, Recovery Plan, Management Plan, or another FWS-approved plan, must exist that outlines the local, State, Tribal, and Federal actions that are needed to protect a at-risk species.
Briefly, a conservation strategy or recovery plan is useful for identifying activities, actions, efforts, and management that will lead to conservation and recovery of the target species. FWS wildlife biologist, Jerrod Sellers, will be presenting the Conservation Strategy, and available to address any questions or concerns.
At the conclusion of the presentation, FWS will be requesting the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District and the County of Lake Board of Supervisors, to provide any feedback that can be used to finalize the conservation strategy. Once the document is finalized, it will be brought back to the board for approval, so that funding priorities and opportunities can become available for the Clear Lake Hitch.
Water Resources will host and introduce USFWS staff and presentation.
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