When proposed work could affect wildlife or habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) can help identify federal resources and a next question. Treat it as a project-planning tool. A parcel-point search is not a biological survey, permit, or complete clearance from every agency.
Search the area where the work could have effects
Define the project location with the proposed ADU footprint and related work that could affect resources, such as access, grading, drainage, tree removal, utility trenches, or construction staging. A parcel centroid alone can miss an effect area. Use IPaC to explore resources for the defined location, and keep the date and geometry used with the result.
IPaC may surface information about federally listed species, designated critical habitat, migratory birds, wetlands, refuges, and other Service-managed resources. Available data and workflows can change. A mapped resource or generated list is a reason to follow the relevant process; an empty result does not prove that species or habitat are absent from the site.
Identify whether a formal federal process applies
If the project has a federal nexus or may affect a resource under Service authority, determine which review applies and whether an official species list is needed. IPaC’s project and regulatory workflows can support obtaining official documentation. Do not treat an informal resource list as the official correspondence used for consultation. The need and outcome of consultation depend on the project, federal action, effect area, species, and current agency process.
For a project without a federal nexus, IPaC information may still help with planning, but it does not replace state, Tribal, local, NOAA, or other federal agency reviews. Contact the relevant agencies or a qualified biologist when the screen raises a question about species presence, habitat, or effects. A species screen alone does not establish that an ADU is prohibited or allowed.
Record the project geometry, IPaC result and date, any official species list, agency correspondence, and unresolved questions. For Canada’s separate federal dataset, see how to check Canada’s critical-habitat map. The broader site-constraint screening sequence explains how to keep map results distinct from site determinations.