Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan

Pahrump Valley Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)

Nye County is proposing a Pahrump Valley Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to address the urban development of land within the limits of the Town of Pahrump and adjacent lands designated for disposal and sale by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The scope or Permit Area of this plan is 92,489 acres and includes the private land in Pahrump and 6,022 acres of public land administered by BLM and identified for disposal. The HCP estimates that up to 1,000 acres of desert tortoise habitat may be lost as a result of urban development within the Permit Area over the next 10 years.

The HCP has been prepared to:

Support an application for a Section 10(a)(1)(B) Incidental Take Permit (Permit) under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the incidental take of the desert tortoise, a species listed as threatened under the ESA on 1,000 acres of private land or BLM disposal lands, upon transfer of ownership to a non-federal entity, in the Pahrump Regional Planning District (PRPD), hereafter referred to as the Planning Area. The request for the incidental take of desert tortoises is based on tortoise surveys conducted by the BLM, Nye County, private land owners and others that indicate tortoises occur in relatively low densities in the Planning Area that will be defined hereafter.

This HCP is intended to support the issuance, by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of a Section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit (Permit) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)which would allow the “take” of the threatened desert tortoise resulting from otherwise lawful activities on non-Federal property within the Planning Area.

Subsequent to the issuance of a Permit, the Pahrump Valley Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) will be implemented to minimize, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of incidental take of desert tortoise.

The approval of the Permit would be a requisite for the development and implementation of a long term desert tortoise habitat conservation plan for the Planning Area.

A copy of the HCP is available for public review.

Written comments are welcomed and may delivered to:

Nye County Planning Department
250 N. Hwy 160 suite 1
Pahrump, NV 89060

Emails are also welcomed

e-mail