Incidental Take Notice For Grant County
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposes to issue a permit for the incidental taking of a rare frog, which may result from the ITC Multi-value Project (MVP) 5 project in Grant 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 Project involves vegetation management within Iowa Transmission Company's (ITC) existing transmission right-of-way (ROW). Project activities will occur within an approximately 150-foot-wide ROW extending for approximately 35 miles and will consist of full ROW clearing and vegetation removal.
Work will be completed between January 1, 2027, and May 1, 2027, over an approximate 16- to 20-week duration. Activities will occur within the existing ROW and will consist of vegetation management in accordance with standard utility vegetation management practices. Vegetation management activities may include manual and mechanized tree and brush clearing; felling, cutting, trimming, and removal of woody vegetation; mowing of compatible vegetation; selective treatment of incompatible vegetation; and spot herbicide application where necessary to control regrowth and maintain required electrical clearances. Construction access will utilize existing and temporary access routes both within the ROW and, where necessary, from adjacent lands. Temporary work areas may be required in select locations to facilitate vegetation management activities, material staging, and equipment access. No new transmission facilities are proposed as part of the Project.
The presence of the state endangered Blanchard’s cricket frog is confirmed in the vicinity of the project site. DNR staff determined that the proposed project may result in the incidental taking of some frogs.
Conservation measures to minimize the adverse effect on the species will be incorporated into the proposed Incidental Take Permit and are detailed in the Jeopardy Assessment. They include limiting access, completing work under frozen ground conditions (ideally with 12” snow cover present), and hand clearing within 25ft of all water resources.
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.
Copies of the Jeopardy Assessment and background information on the Blanchard’s cricket frog are available by visiting the DNR Incidental Take Public Notices webpage or upon request from DNR Conservation Biologist Stacy Rowe at 608-228-9796 or Stacy.Rowe@wisconsin.gov.
The public is encouraged to submit written comments regarding project-related impacts to the Blanchard’s cricket frog by November 5, 2026 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
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