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i present-day conditions, only a small portion of the habitat areas used by the Unit 17 cluster would be classified as optimal scrub -jay habitat. To further minimize impacts to the affected scrub -jay clusters, restoration of the Unit 17 compensation areas is of the highest priority. A recent prescribed fire within the Pelican island Elementary School scrub initiated the Applicant's effort to minimize adverse impacts of the proposed action to scrub -jays. An additional factor that must be considered when quantifying the number of scrub -jay families anticipated to be affected by the proposed action is that loss of habitat within the Sebastian Highland lots is expected to occur incrementally, over time, as the City of Sebastian issues residential home construction permits towards build -out of the Sebastian Highlands subdivision. This further supports the need to prioritize habitat restoration measures within the Unit 17 compensation areas, Pelican Island Elementary School and Sebastian Highlands Scrub Conservation Area. Conservation measures to be implemented by the Applicant to minimize and mitigate potential impacts of the taking, are the restoration and long-term management of optimal Florida scrub -jay habitat conditions within the combined 418 :L acre Scrub -Jay Habitat Compensation Areas. The conservation strategies to be employed are outlined in the Sebastian MCP operating conservation program set forth below in Section 5.0. 4.3 Analysis of the Effect of the Take on the North Indian River County/South Brevard County Metapopulation A discussion of the Sebastian HCP study metapopulation of which the Sebastian HCP study population is a part is presented above in Sections 2.1 and 3.2. It is also discussed in Section 2.1 that the Scrub -Jay Habitat Compensation Areas proposed under this HCP incorporate the best and largest scrub parcels remaining within the HCP Plan Area. Therefore, the analysis of the effect of the proposed take and the corresponding sufficiency of the mitigation must consider the existing landscape constraints imposed on this HCP. The study population (Sebastian north and south subpopulations) is presently peripheral to the study metapopulation core located primarily in South Brevard County. Under present day conditions, extinction of both the north and south study subpopulations is certain without habitat restoration to optimal habitat conditions. Numerous studies conducted by Breininger et al. (1991, 1995, 1996a, 1996b, 1998a, 1998b) and others (Wooifenden 1974; Woolfenden and Fitzpatrick 1991; Schaub et al. 1992) linking habitat features habitat use patterns and demographic success have shown that scrub -jay extinction risks are reduced in optimal habitat. Therefore, the proposed restoration of 324± acres of predominantly poor quality scrub -jay habitat to optimal conditions and the provision of a critical 94a:acre habitat linkage under this HCP is expected to enhance the persistence probability of this currently endangered scrub -jay copulation. However, as reflected in the operating 62 m