Oppose Application for Enhancement of Survival Permit

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received a permit application from the University of Illinois at Chicago to authorize incidental take of two endangered bumble bee species and nine other at-risk species on energy and transportation lands across the contiguous 48 states. The permit, if approved, would run 35 years and operate under a voluntary Conservation Benefit Agreement that lets non-federal landowners continue operations while implementing measures meant to produce a net conservation gain for covered species. It's a nationwide 'safe harbor' style arrangement that could affect how energy and transportation infrastructure operators manage bumble bee habitat.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application from University of Illinois at Chicago (applicant), for an enhancement of survival (EOS) permit under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The application is supported by the proposed "Nationwide Conservation Benefit Agreement for Bumble Bees on Energy and Transportation Lands" (CBA) in the conterminous 48 United States. The intent of the CBA is to provide non-Federal landowners in the covered area with the opportunity to voluntarily conserve the covered species and associated habitat while carrying out on-going operations in a…

Federal Register 2026-01258 ↗

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