HCP partnership levels

The HCP offers several types of partnership levels including full partner, limited partner, a one-time permit option and the voluntary category. The partnership levels depend on the scope and type of work conducted and have varying levels of responsibility and involvement.

Full partner

Full partners conduct surveys for Karner habitat and adult Karner blues during the first and second flights. Surveying is a critical component of the HCP and demonstrates that HCP partners are conserving Karners and their habitat. By surveying for Karners, HCP partners know where they are and can avoid and minimize impacts to them by following HCP protocol associated with their specific activity.

The typical full partner includes:

• forest industry;
• county forests;
• state (DNR) lands;
• utilities; and
• transportation (WisDOT).

Limited partner

Limited partners are county highway departments and townships engaged in road right-of-way or corridor maintenance. They typically perform a limited suite of management activities with short-term impacts to Karner habitat and follow existing HCP protocols. Limited partners have fewer obligations and responsibilities than full partners, and include:

• county highway departments; and
• townships.

One-time permit

One-time permits are intended for projects that cause permanent take of habitat and do not expect ongoing management of Karner habitat. A wide variety of projects such as commercial or residential development are included in this category.

Voluntary category

Wisconsin’s HCP provides automatic permit coverage for the incidental and permanent take of Karners for several types of landowners. The voluntary category includes several types of landowners:

• forest landowners with less than 1,000 acres;
• non-commercial forest landowners with greater than 1,000 acres of land, where the land is not primarily managed for the purpose of forestry (e.g., managed for recreation, such as camps or lake associations);
• agricultural landowners; and
• non-subdivision residential development.

The strategy behind the voluntary category is based on the idea that without legal requirements or mandates, many small landowners will contribute willingly to Karner blue conservation. Karner blues are well known throughout their range and support for their conservation can be seen in freshly planted backyard lupine patches, the popularity of the Karner Blue Butterfly Festival in Black River Falls [exit DNR] or numerous partnerships between private landowners and various conservation programs.