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M INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA BOARD MEMORANDUM TO: Jason E. Brown, County Administrator THROUGH: Richard B. Szpyrka, P.E. Public Works Director THROUGH: James D. Gray, Jr. Natural Resources Manager FROM: Kendra Cope, M.S. Environmental Specialist SUBJECT: Habitat Conservation Plan -- Amendment No. 1 DATE: September 20, 2018 DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS The County's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was created in 2004 after applying for an Incidental Take Permit with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The HCP was developed using the best-known data available at the time, however prior to 2004 an annual County -wide sea turtle nest monitoring protocol did not exist. Beginning in 2005, the HCP created a uniform county -wide sea turtle monitoring program which allowed for a wealth of information about nesting success, hatching success, predation events, lighting impacts to be recorded over the last 13 sea turtle nesting seasons. The HCP was designed to be a rolling document which means it should be updated/amended throughout its 30 -year lifetime as more information becomes available. In 2017, staff began working on the HCP's first amendment. On February 7, 2017, a purchase order was issued to the County's environmental consultant, Ecological Associates, Inc, (EAI) to assist with the amendment, as they helped create the original HCP document in 2004. The proposed amendment underwent multiple rounds of edits between County Staff, County attorney, USFWS and EAI. The proposed updates to the HCP include a new outline of management areas along the County, updated maps, updated predator control plan, updated light management plan, updated standard protocol for daily nest monitoring and data collection, and the addition of education programs and sea turtle stranding response. C:\Users\legistar\AppData\Local\Temp\BCL Technologies\easyPDF 8\@BCL@24ODDECO\@BCL@24ODDECO.docx 118