The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, will hold an open house to provide an update on the status of the Pahrump Valley Short-Term Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan from 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pahrump Library, 701 East St.

The Pahrump Valley HCP is being developed to support an application from Nye County for an incidental "take" permit for the threatened desert tortoise in the Pahrump Valley.

An incidental take permit is required when an activity on non-federal land may result in the take (killing or harming) of a federally listed species. The accompanying HCP is developed to ensure that the effects of issuing the permit are adequately minimized or mitigated.

The Pahrump Valley HCP is being proposed as a "low effect" plan, which means the covered activities in the plan will have minor effects on the desert tortoise; will have a minor effect on other environmental resources; and the actions, when considered together, will not be significant.

A longer-term and more comprehensive plan, the Southern Nye County Long-Term Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, is also being developed.

It will focus on a broad planning area throughout the range of the desert tortoise in southern Nye County. This plan will likely include additional species and habitats. Public scoping for this plan is expected to begin later this fall.

For more information on the meeting and the plans, call Jeri Krueger at 1-702-515-5230.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts.