Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for Gunnison Sage-grouse (\u3ci\u3eCentrocercus minimus\u3c/i\u3e) between the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The purpose of this CCAA is for the Service to join with the CDOW and participating private landowners to implement conservation measures for Gunnison sage-grouse, in support of CDOW\u27s ongoing efforts to sustain and enhance the existing populations of the species. The conservation goal of this Agreement is to achieve the protection and management necessary to preclude listing by obtaining agreements for grouse habitat protection and/or enhancements on private lands. The conservation goal will be met by giving the State of Colorado and private landowners incentives to implement conservation measures by providing landowners with regulatory certainty concerning land use restrictions that might otherwise apply should Gunnison sage-grouse become listed under the ESA. This CCAA is considered an umbrella Agreement under which landowners of non-federal properties comprising occupied, vacant/unknown, or potentially suitable Gunnison sage-grouse habitat will be eligible to participate in the incentives opportunities