Incidental Take Notice For Washington County

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposes to issue a permit for the "incidental taking" of a rare snake, which may result from the Emerald Drive Culvert in Washington 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.

The Town of Erin’s proposed project will replace the existing culverts beneath Emerald Drive, carrying flow from Flynn Creek. The existing culverts consist of a 71-inch by 47-inch arch and a 36-inch corrugated round metal pipe (CMP). The existing site also has a deteriorating fieldstone headwall at each end. The proposed culvert will be an 87-inch by 63-inch CMP arch with CMP aprons. The new culvert will be slightly longer than the existing ones to provide a safer shoulder along Emerald Drive after removing the deteriorating headwall. The culvert will be in the same location as the existing two and have a total disturbance of 2,500 square feet.

The culvert will match the existing culvert elevations to minimize impacts to the creek and wildlife. The rest of the project area is the bank of the creek that grading will be matching into. There are several deciduous trees near the creek bank, but none within the grading limits of the project and no expected disturbance to them. Emerald Drive will be repaved at the end of summer 2025.

The presence of the state endangered queensnake is confirmed in the vicinity of the project site. DNR staff determined that the proposed project may result in the incidental taking of some snakes.

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 it is a part of or the habitat that is critical to its existence.

Conservation measures to minimize the adverse effect on the endangered species will be incorporated into the proposed Incidental Take Permit. Copies of the jeopardy assessment and background information on the queensnake are available by visiting the DNR Incidental Take Public Notices webpage or upon request from Wisconsin DNR conservation biologist Stacy Rowe at Stacy.Rowe@wisconsin.gov or 608-228-9796.

The public is encouraged to submit written comments regarding project-related impacts to the queensnake by Aug. 2, 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