20071840 Ver 1_USFWS Comments_20080204

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Asheville Field Office
160 Zillicoa Street
Asheville, North Carolina 28801
January 29, 2008
Mr. John F. Sullivan, III
Division Administrator
Federal Highway Administration
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 410
Raleigh, North Carolina 27601
Dear Mr. Sullivan:
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This letter acknowledges receipt of your letter dated December 10, 2007, in which you requested
the initiation of formal section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act). The consultation concerns the possible effects of the proposed replacement of
Bridge No. 60 on NC89/8 over the Dan River in Stokes County, North Carolina, on the federally
listed James spinymussel (Pleurobema collina) and small-anthered bittercress (Cardamine
microanthera). We apologize for the lateness of this response letter; your letter was temporarily
misrouted in our office.
All information required of you to initiate consultation was either included with your letter or is
otherwise accessible for our consideration and reference. We have assigned our Log Number
4-2-04-122 to this consultation. Please refer to this number in any future correspondence
concerning this consultation.
Section 7 of the Act allows us up to 90 calendar days to conclude formal consultation with your
agency and an additional 45 calendar days to prepare our biological opinion (unless we mutually
agree to an extension). Therefore, we expect to provide you with our biological opinion no later
than April 22, 2008.
As a reminder, after the initiation of formal consultation, the Act prohibits the federal action
agency from making any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources that limits future
options. This practice ensures that agency actions do not preclude the formulation or
implementation of reasonable and prudent alternatives that avoid jeopardizing the continued
existence of endangered or threatened species or destroying or modifying their critical habitats.
United States Department of the
We would like to schedule an on-site meeting to clarify bridge demolition, removal, and
construction procedures. If you have any questions or concerns about this consultation or the
consultation process in general, please feel free to contact Mr. Troy Wilson of our staff at
828/258-3939, Ext. 226, or me, Ext. 223.
Sinc rely,
Brian P. Cole
Field Supervisor
cc:
Ms. Marla J. Chambers, Western NCDOT Permit Coordinator, North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission, 12275 Swift Road, Oakboro, NC 28129
Mr. Jared Gray, Natural Environment Unit, North Carolina Department of Transportation,
1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1598
Mr. John Thomas, Raleigh Regulatory Field Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105, Wake Forest, NC 27587
Mr. Brian Wrenn, North Carolina Division of Water Quality, Central Office, 2321 Crabtree
Blvd., Suite 250, Raleigh, NC 27604