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Builders in Southern Nevada Find Protecting Species and Building Housing Not Mutually Exclusive

The county has been working with the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and others to develop a Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) to protect dozens of species in the region, including the endangered desert tortoise and southwestern willow flycatcher.

Established under the Endangered Species Act, the Habitat Conservation Plan program allows property owners to preserve essential habitat for endangered or threatened species as part of the land development process.

“The MSHCP ensures that smarter and more managed growth can occur in the Las Vegas valley, while protecting the multitude of species in the area and their habitats at the same time,” said Irene Porter, executive director of the Nevada association.

Approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in 2001, the MSHCP covers a total of 418,200 acres of developable land. The plan caps development at 145,000 additional acres and protects two endangered species and 77 additional species in the region, which includes Clark County, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, Mesquite and Henderson. Implementing the MSHCP has cost more than $2 million per year.

“At the time the plan was instituted, the MSHCP was unique. No other HCP across the country identified and protected as many species as the Clark County MSHCP,” said Porter.

As with most Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), the No Surprises Rule has provided a key incentive for the members of the partnership in Nevada to make this enormously expensive effort. The rule provides property owners with the certainty that the FWS will not renege on the conditions of a Habitat Conservation Plan after it has been agreed upon. In the case of the Clark County MSHCP, No Surprises gave the county, the home builders association and the other partners the financial and regulatory certainty that they could continue their species conservation efforts while providing housing for a growing population.

Paul Selzer, an HCP consultant for Selzer, Ealy, Hemphill & Blasdel of Palm Springs, CA, helped develop the plan in Nevada. “No Surprises was certainly a factor in the MSHCP’s development and in response to possible future species listings under the Endangered Species Act,” said Selzer.

Efforts of Southern Nevada’s home building industry to protect species through the HCP program have recently been clouded by a federal court decision. On June 10, U.S. District Court Judge Sullivan ordered the FWS to stop issuing Section 10 Incidental Take Permits (ITPs) with No Surprises assurances until the agency completes its work on its Permit Revocation Rule (PRR). That rule allows the agency to revoke take permits only if it finds that the permitted development activities would reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of a species in the wild.

(To read more detailed coverage of the June 10 decision in a previous issue of NBN Online, click here.)

FWS reproposed the Permit Revocation on May 25, opening it up for public comment. NAHB is determined to preserve the No Surprises Rule and the PRR and plans to submit comments before the agency’s July 26 deadline.

Click here to visit NAHB’s new HCP Web section and read more about Clark County’s MSHCP.

For more information about Habitat Conservation Plans, e-mail Christopher Galik or call him at 800-368-5242 x8663. For more information on Judge Sullivan’s decision, contact Duane Desiderio, x8146.

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