Incidental Take Notice For Grant County

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposes to issue a permit for the incidental taking of a rare leafhopper, butterfly and snail, which may result from the American Transmission Company (ATC) Y-184 Rebuild project in Grant County.  

Incidental take refers to the unintentional loss of individual endangered or threatened animals or plants that does not put the species' overall population at risk.

ATC is proposing a full rebuild of the existing 69kV single circuit transmission line between the Nelson Dewey Substation in the village of Cassville and the Bloomington Substation in the village of Bloomington. The project will include new shield wire and conductor installation and approximately 154 new monopole structures, all within the existing right-of-way. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and be completed by December 2025, with restoration complete by summer 2026.

The presence of the state endangered leafhopper (Attenuipyga vanduzeei) and Ottoe skipper butterfly along with the state threatened wing snaggletooth snail is confirmed in the vicinity of the project site. DNR staff determined that the proposed project may result in the incidental taking of some of these invertebrates.

The DNR concludes that the proposed project is not likely to appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival or recovery of the species within the state, the whole plant-animal community of which they are a part of or the habitat that is critical to their existence.

Conservation measures to minimize the adverse effect on these threatened and endangered species will be incorporated into the proposed Incidental Take Permit. Copies of the jeopardy assessment and background information on the leafhopper, Ottoe skipper and wing snaggletooth are available by visiting the DNR Incidental Take Public Notices webpage or upon request from DNR Conservation Biologist Stacy Rowe at 608-228-9796 or Stacy.Rowe@wisconsin.gov.

The public is encouraged to submit written comments regarding project-related impacts to the leafhopper, Ottoe skipper and wing snaggletooth by Jan. 10, 2025 to:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
C/O Stacy Rowe, DNR Conservation Biologist
2514 Morse St.
Janesville, WI 53545
Stacy.Rowe@wisconsin.gov or 608-228-9796