[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6579967,"mediaKeyId","3184477-8de2518cd41df5363e186aa6a99ad033","parentId",3184477,"title","Balcones Canyonlands plan enters renewal with changes as 30-year permit nears end","audioSeconds",1127,"startMs",129000,"endMs",1256000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3184477-8de2518cd41df5363e186aa6a99ad033&start=129&end=1256","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3184477-8de2518cd41df5363e186aa6a99ad033/thumbnail_129000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6579967/Austin/Travis-County/Texas/Balcones-Canyonlands-plan-enters-renewal-with-changes-as-30-year-permit-nears-end","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6579967-2da1b51e85b360202527a1cde74d75a4/orig.mp4?Expires=1770742143&Signature=Ywu4Ofe40uMreFOvsT2FeA8jBmtWetB1RZQAg1opkA6~Oth1URg6fhlfxnEIt3RSSd77d-ZK2ag8ZHGpirUx153ZOvT0Vwq1Kzsu8~Ubj2a9rYudspnROeA1ljXA8CGTwUL0T66tv0Q6-CYnOftyEuQqrs07X6ZgRJqRy0-Q4AaPP5biqPEyKO~YmtX8rLXoTprBGCCZkXcMqwqH-TArnXcjanJhf0s1nDH3sOJr46pWnvt9kMyfaTBd~BRdSkiKa2Rjh88QpMdm7XhEGfmSImdwR5jNGj7dX4JBPOcGCQRFWlNIQ85PYsdEAPplsCCsZAEbOwmHbEYO69hMlsLiog__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Austin","date","2025-05-02T00:00:00Z","article","At a meeting of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan (BCCP) Coordinating Committee at Austin City Hall, BCCP officer Kimberly Harvey said the BCCP is in the final year of the 30-year incidental-take permit originally issued on May 2, 1996, and that recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidance requires the committee to resubmit the permit as a \"permit renewal with changes,\" including updated biological analyses and NEPA review.

The requirement to file a renewal with changes means the BCCP cannot obtain a simple time extension and must evaluate updates to conform to current Service policy and the best available scientific data, Harvey told the committee. \"The BCCP must now resubmit the permit renewal application as a permit renewal with changes on the application option,\" she said.

Why it matters: the renewal process will determine whether additional species are covered under the BCCP, whether the plan's terms are amended, and how public review and environmental review are carried out. Any recommendations from the renewal process will be returned to the coordinating committee, the Austin City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court for approval before the Service issues a renewed permit.

Harvey summarized the plan's history and the 2019 strategy that set a two-phase path: a Phase 1 \"makeover\" to separate the Environmental Impact Statement from the Habitat Conservation Plan, fix errors, improve mapping and online access, and then assess whether additional administrative changes or a permanent amendment are needed. She said both the City of Austin and Travis County have moved to implement the 2019 approach: the city has launched a cross-department endangered-species working group and the county engaged a consultant to evaluate additional species options. The consultant's draft report was released last month and is expected to be presented to the Commissioners Court in the coming weeks, the committee was told.

Harvey said recent regulatory changes to Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act and related Service policies expand application requirements for incidental-take permits. As a result, renewal submittals for the BCCP will require updated biological analysis for covered species and any species listed or under consideration since 1996, public review, and NEPA compliance. She told the committee that the renewal submittals will not be complete by May 2026.

Christina Williams of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the committee's summary that, once the renewal-with-changes application is uploaded to the Service's e-permit system with the appropriate notification, take coverage can continue past the permit term provided the permittees continue to work in good faith on the renewal.

Harvey emphasized process options for newly evaluated species: adding a species to the BCCP, pursuing a separate incidental-take permit/HCP, a combination of approaches, or no action. She said evaluation is not automatic inclusion and that any changes would be subject to negotiation with the Service and local approvals. The committee was also introduced to recent staff transitions: Council Member Paige Ellis (new coordinating-committee member), Jeremy Hall (assistant director of Travis County Natural Resources) and Olivia Lopez (formerly Habitat Conservation Plan coordinator at the Edwards Aquifer Authority) were introduced as part of continued program leadership transitions.

Administrative items: at the start of the meeting the committee approved the record of decisions for the Nov. 1, 2024 regular meeting; the motion was moved by Commissioner Bridget Shea and seconded by Council Member Paige Ellis and approved unanimously.

Harvey concluded that the renewal process is substantial but an opportunity to modernize the BCCP and reaffirm regional conservation leadership. She said formal NEPA public comment periods and local outreach forums will be used throughout the renewal process and that the committee will provide further details on public-involvement timing once outreach planning is finalized.

Next steps include finalizing a cost-sharing interlocal agreement for consultant support, completing species-evaluation work by county and city teams, and preparing an amended draft BCCP and NEPA analysis to be reviewed by the coordinating committee and then by city and county decision-makers before submission to the Service.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Austin - Austin Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan Coordinating Committee - May 02, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","At a meeting of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan (BCCP) Coordinating Committee at Austin City Hall, BCCP officer Kimberly Harvey said the BCCP is in the final year of the 30-year incidental-take permit originally issued on May 2, 1996, and that recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidance requires the committee to resubmit the permit as a \"permit renewal with changes,\" including updated biological analyses and NEPA review.","taxTitle","Austin, Travis County, Texas","taxId",2819,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6579964,"City, county staff outline fuel-mitigation strategy, monitoring and research after drought and winter-storm impacts",1366,1260000,2626000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3184477-8de2518cd41df5363e186aa6a99ad033&start=1260&end=2626","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3184477-8de2518cd41df5363e186aa6a99ad033/thumbnail_1260000.jpg","/articles/6579964/Austin/Travis-County/Texas/City-county-staff-outline-fuel-mitigation-strategy-monitoring-and-research-after-drought-and-winter-storm-impacts","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6579964-e4ec09923d28ebee8720e97f6478a006/orig.mp4?Expires=1770742143&Signature=ofmUx2dCRcqTp6KBTLJSlvTClnhtr0rvB14zEj2fZ55PZMDtYG0OT77JxrYRkjlxV87T35WUUWppLkuy7Kj3aoPqWe7Ay1WINYQB8iGHMRTVYjkBE7EiHiBHvyboptLE1BuF9C6SkUA-ALTs57Opsmh6Lol04tBvza7-UhoqtNAsxYtw45-YE4GfYqfAOZLDI3nQ-X9LNvZiy2yLT7pZPpT~6xgzr9wrT2oc4E6SZpI7Y7Pb21rLW0tUf5SBL5S9KgZ2zhFo2cpSKkbwpJYUeu0bQY0drIcFtCjO2s6UkwNyHlFEC-li2bJJlBSxbBuaCl7PusAx7HL1OOgapUf4Nw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Justin Bates, division manager for the Wildland Conservation Division with Austin Water, told the BCCP Coordinating Committee that recent winter storms and droughts have produced tree mortality and other damage across the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve and that staff are working to quantify how fuels and fire risk have changed.

Bates said staff are coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service to repeat a previous Baylor University fuel-study methodology so the team can measure changes over time. \"We are working to get that agreement signed right now. We hope to have them out, as early as June, as late as probably September,\" he said, and added that initial data collection would continue through fall with preliminary results expected by this time next year.

Bates described ongoing monitoring and technology pilots: a 28-year live-fuel-moisture monitoring project and a partnership with the University of Texas to install continuous fuel-moisture sensors on ash-juniper to improve real-time understanding of vegetation moisture. He said staff also use LIDAR and remote sensing to map canopy loss and prioritize mitigation.

On fuel mitigation, Bates said the city and county have constructed about 30 miles of shaded fuel breaks between them and that the city currently budgets and spends roughly $350,000 to $400,000 per year on fuel-mitigation work on the BCP. \"We make, on average, about a 350,000 to $400,000 investment each year just in fuel mitigation,\" he said.

Jeremy Hall, assistant director of Travis County Natural Resources, added that the county uses several grants and an ongoing yearly budget for fuel mitigation and that county staff are also pursuing FEMA hazard-mitigation grant opportunities. Both city and county staff told the committee that the primary ignition sources historically are human-related (roadway corridors, dropped cigarettes, trailer chains), and that mitigation and response strategies prioritize shaded-fuel breaks nearest homes and ignition corridors.

Bates noted challenges: shaded fuel breaks require ongoing maintenance, are costly to install on a per-linear-foot basis, and must be designed to achieve both wildfire risk reduction and the preserve's conservation goals (for example, avoiding canopy openings that encourage invasive grasses). He emphasized collaboration with utilities, emergency providers and neighboring landowners, and said staff are prioritizing work where homes are closest to preserve boundaries.

Travis County announced a public town hall on wildfire preparedness and mitigation scheduled for May 8 at St. Thomas More Catholic Church; the committee encouraged public participation and said outreach materials and signups would be posted on city and county BCP websites and shared partner calendars.

Next steps discussed included completing the Forest Service fuel remeasurement effort, continuing installation of continuous fuel-moisture monitors, and pursuing grant funding while ensuring sufficient staff capacity to manage mitigation projects.","Austin Water and Travis County staff described recent winter-storm and drought damage across the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, plans to update fuel and fire-risk analyses, ongoing fuel-mitigation work including roughly 30 miles of shaded fuel breaks, and funding and staffing constraints for scaling mitigation.","actionData","errors"]

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Balcones Canyonlands plan enters renewal with changes as 30-year permit nears end

City, county staff outline fuel-mitigation strategy, monitoring and research after drought and winter-storm impacts