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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20130412 Ver 1_Other Agency Correspondence_20150603Baker, Virginia From: McRae, Sarah <sarah_mcrae @fws.gov> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 10:39 AM To: Jernigan, Emily; Lynnette Batt Cc: Todd Tugwell; Bryant, Shari L.; Baker, Virginia; bowers.todd @epa.gov; John Hutton; Williams, Andrew E SAW Subject: Re: Hoosier Dam removal - baseline data collection proposal Good morning. I apologize for not being able to comment on this proposal until now. I have reviewed the Catena Group's proposal 15 -053, and I am comfortable with their planned pre - removal aquatic species survey protocols. With regards to potential impacts to the Cape Fear shiner, electroshocking is acceptable for the impounded reach, however USFWS requests no electroshocking in the unimpounded reaches (note: Catena's proposal does not include electroshocking in the unimpounded reaches, but DWR does suggest using a backpack electroshocker for the unimpounded sections. USFWS requests that the proposed fish survey protocol of seine and dip netting be used for the unimpounded reaches of the Rocky River and the tributaries.) As for existing data sources, DWR has provided mainstem data at the Rocky River NC 902 crossing and some tributary data for Bear Creek in a separate email. NC NHP should be contacted for existing fish and mussel element occurrence data in the Rocky River. WRC should be contacted directly for Cape Fear shiner data related to the ongoing species augmentation effort. Thank you for the opportunity to review the proposal. Sarah On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 4:08 PM, Jernigan, Emily <emay jernigan@fws.gov> wrote: Hi Andy and Lynnette, The comments below are in regard to the pre - removal aquatic community and habitat sampling for Hoosier Dam which has been submitted by The Catena group and Unique Places, LLC, which will include surveys for mussel, macro - snail, and fish in the impounded and adjacent un- impounded reaches of the Rocky River. I haven't had a chance to get comments back on a few specific items from Sarah McRae yet, so hopefully I can have those to you in the next few days, so I apologize for the complete comments being late. The Service had requested that no electro- shocking be conducted for the fish sampling in our previous comment letter due to the known presence of Cape Fear Shiner in these reaches. Based upon the current proposal in Section 4.3.2 of the proposal, electro- shocking is still planned for the impounded areas, but not for the un- impounded areas. I will get clarification on this from Sarah and let you know our comments as soon as possible on this topic. We may have aquatic species information that we could share as well in some of these areas, so we can discuss those options as well. We do agree with the suggestions that WRC has offered for the tributary sampling, as those clarifications will give the most accurate data to cover the potentially wide ranging tributaries as a whole. We also agree with the 4.3 comments that WRC has suggested in regards to the effort and species tracking in both impounded and un- impounded reaches for various methods of sampling (TBD). Thank you and I will be in touch soon with the electro- shocking comments and any other species specific comments Sarah may have. -Em On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 8:50 AM, Lynnette Batt Qbatt(a unidueplacesllc.com> wrote: Dear IRT members, This is a friendly reminder that we are requesting any review /comment on the attached baseline data collection proposal for the Hoosier Dam removal by next Monday, June 1. Please feel free to contact me directly by email or phone (919.599.3549) if you have any clarifying questions. Andy: Do you want comments sent to you to compile, or sent directly to me with a cc to the group, since this is an interim /voluntary review? We are fine with the latter to simplify things, but up to you. Thanks, Lynnette Lynnette Batt Unique Places 919.599.3549 (cell) Ibatt @uniqueplacesllc.com uniqueplacesllc.com On May 14, 2015, at 3:21 PM, Lynnette Batt <Ibatt @uniqueplacesllc.com> wrote: Dear IRT members, Attached for your review is a proposal from The Catena Group for baseline data collection for the proposed Hoosier Dam removal stream mitigation bank in Chatham County /Cape Fear 03. We are requesting your review and any comments you may have on this document by June 1. As a reminder of where things stand with this project, last summer you reviewed a Draft Monitoring Plan and we discussed this and other items in the July 2014 IRT meeting. USFWS and WRC subsequently provided comment on this document. The attached baseline data collection proposal is based on that document (2014 Draft Monitoring Plan) and incorporates the comments we received from USFWS and WRC. The performance standards for this project, and specific post - project monitoring criteria, will be developed later this summer. They will be informed by the baseline data we collect and further discussion with the IRT. Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that I will be moving to California in June. My contact information will remain the same and I will continue to oversee the development of this project on behalf of the project sponsor. John Hutton and Wildlands Engineering remain the lead on design and development of the Mitigation Plan. Thank you in advance for your review of this baseline data collection proposal and we look forward to receiving any comment you may have by June 1. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any clarifying questions. Lynnette Lynnette Batt Unique Places 919.599.3549 (cell) Ibatt @uniqueplacesllc.com uniqueplacesllc.com <15 -053 Hoosier Dam Aquatic Pre - removal submitted 5- 4.pdf> Emily Jernigan Wells U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service PO Box 33726 Raleigh, NC 27363 -3726 (919) 856 -4520 ext. 25 Sarah McRae Aquatic Endangered Species Biologist US Fish and Wildlife Service PO Box 33726 Raleigh, NC 27636 -3726 office phone: 919- 856- 4520x16 (M, W, F) telework phone: 919- 245 -8444 (T, Th) fax: 919- 856 -4556 email: sarah_mcrae@fws.gov 3