20200035 Ver 1_IRT Meeting Summary_20200429

Strickland, Bev
From: John Hutton <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 11:00 AM
To: Tugwell, Todd J CIV USARMY CESAW (US); Kim Browning; Haupt, Mac; Davis, Erin B
Cc: Jones, Brena K.; Dow, Jeremiah J; Munzer, Olivia; Jeff Keaton
Subject: FW: [External] Liberty Rock IRT Meeting Summary
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Hi IRT,
I wanted to close the loop on the discussions we have had with WRC regarding sensitive aquatic species at the Liberty
Rock mitigation site in Chatham County. Brena and I have gone over the plan via phone calls and Olivia and Jeremiah
have coordinated on this as well. The email chain should serve to document the plan of action to address the sensitive
aquatic species present at the site. We will move forward with plans to bring on an approved biologist and coordinate
the relocation plan through Brena and Olivia. The plan will be documented in the Mitigation Plan.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
John Hutton I Vice President
0: 919.851.9986 ext. 102 M: 919.723.8203
Wildlands Engineering, Inc. [wild landseng.coml
312 W. Millbrook Road, Suite 225
Raleigh, NC 27609
From: Jones, Brena K. <[e-mail]>
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2020 11:14 AM
To: John Hutton <[e-mail]>
Cc: Munzer, Olivia <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [External] Liberty Rock IRT Meeting Summary
Hello —
As Olivia noted, we visited this property on 2/28/20 to do a site check for fishes, mussels, and crayfish. These were
preliminary efforts to identify if animals might be present and might warrant further investigation. We found 3 species
of native crayfish, 2 in the stream and a 3rd in burrows in the wetland and floodplain areas. Also instream were 3 native
snail species and 3 native mussel species, including the Eastern Creekshell (Villosa delumbis), a Species of Greatest
Conservation Need (SGCN) as identified in the NC Wildlife Action Plan. Mussels were present in fairly high densities. We
observed a fair amount of good quality sand/cobble substrate in runs and riffles that mussels were inhabiting. As only
one of three surveyors was experienced in mussel surveys and these were only cursory efforts in a portion of available
habitat, I am confident there are more animals out there and it is very likely that there are more species. There is the
potential for other rare species, including the Carolina Creekshell (Villosa vaughaniana) and the Savannah Lilliput
(Toxolasma pullus), both listed State Endangered.
Due to the presence of these native communities, our first recommendation would be to avoid disturbance of these
instream habitats, to stabilize any actively eroding banks, and to re-establish native riparian vegetation where absent,

both to minimize impacts to wildlife and reduce costs. However, as you informed us on the phone, DMS plans for a
relocation of the entire stream channel and if that cannot be done, would return the site to active cattle pasture. A
return of livestock to the stream and riparian zone would not be a desirable outcome for these species either, so if
channel relocation is the only course that will be pursued, WRC would like to provide technical assistance to develop a
plan for aquatic species protection and relocation. I've included some additional comments in red below on your bullet
points.
We appreciate the opportunity to review and comment on this project and will continue to work with you to try to
provide the best outcome for the natural resources. Please let me or Olivia know if you have any additional questions.
Thank you,
Brena
Brena Jones
Central Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Research Coordinator
Division of Inland Fisheries
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
1718NCHwy 56W
Creedmoor, North Carolina 27522
office:919-707-0369 H mobile:[phone]
fax: [phone]
From: John Hutton <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 9:09 AM
To: Jones, Brena K. <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [External] Liberty Rock IRT Meeting Summary
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s am nc. ov
Hi Brena,
Just checking back with you on this.
Thanks
From: John Hutton
Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2020 12:48 PM
To: Brena K. Jones <[e-mail]>
Subject: FW: [External] Liberty Rock IRT Meeting Summary
Hi Brena,
I wanted to close the loop on our discussion about the Liberty Rock mitigation site. I was going to send the following
response to Olivia's email dated 2/29. Can you look this over and make sure you agree with this synopsis? I don't want
to send it out without making sure you and I agree on the plan.
Thanks and hope you are doing well (at least as well as can be expected at this time).
Hi IRT,

I wanted to follow up on this email and a conversation I had with Brena following the mussel survey. We talked through
the design approach and sequencing of the project and generally agreed on the approach laid out below. While we
don't have all the details nailed down at this time, we have a good framework to work from. Brena — please let me
know if I missed anything from our conversation.
• Wildlands will contract with an aquatic biologist to be approved by WRC to assist in developing an inventory of
species of concern present at the site and a relocation plan. Biologist will need to hold a current NCWRC
Endangered Species Permit for mussel surveys; we can provide a list of who those people are if needed.
• Wildlands and the approved biologist will develop the relocation plan, with input from WRC, which will be laid
out in the mitigation plan.
• The relocation may involve different relocation sites (the restored reach or some future identified preservation
reach) for different species of concern depending on their tolerance level for sediment and disturbance. It
would not be a question of tolerance levels; due to the fact that this is a relatively small reach in the headwaters
of the Rocky, I would likely recommend that all get relocated to the same place. I would not put anything in a
newly constructed channel until it had several years to stabilize.
• Either before or during construction activities Wildlands staff, under the direction of the approved aquatic
biologist, will relocate species of concern according to the relocation plan.
• Wildlands will conduct limited monitoring during the seven year monitoring period of some species of concern
to assess survivability at the relocation sites. We will need to talk about this, to make sure permitting needs are
covered.
We believe this satisfies the concerns of the resource agencies on this project but appreciate any feedback as we move
into the assessment and design phase for this project.
Thank you.
John Hutton I Vice President
0: 919.851.9986 ext. 102 M: 919.723.8203
Wildlands Engineering, Inc. [wild landseng.coml
312 W. Millbrook Road, Suite 225
Raleigh, NC 27609
From: Munzer, Olivia <[e-mail]>
Sent: Saturday, February 29, 2020 7:59 AM
To: Greg Turner <[e-mail]>
Cc: Todd Tugwell <[e-mail]>; Kim Browning <[e-mail]>; Haupt, Mac
<[e-mail]>; Davis, Erin B <[e-mail]>; Dow, Jeremiah J <[e-mail]>;
Crocker, Lindsay <[e-mail]>; Shawn Wilkerson <swiIkerson@wild landseng.com>; John Hutton
<[e-mail]>; Jeff Keaton <[e-mail]>; Jason Lorch <[e-mail]>;
Tasha King <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [External] Liberty Rock IRT Meeting Summary
In the notes, please add that one of the wetlands that drains into Reach 5 has a ton of parrot feather. I pointed this out
on our way back to the trucks.
All- We went out yesterday to look for mussels and crayfish. We did a cursory survey of fish, mussels, and crayfish to get
an idea of what we were dealing with. We found a lot of mussels for the basic survey that we did and in addition to the
ones I found during our initial site visit, we found 3 species including a Species of Greatest Conservation Need. We also
found several native crayfish but not the Greensboro burrowing crayfish. Again we did not do complete, official surveys.

Brena is going to write a summary and recommendation. Let me know if you have questions.
Olivia Munzer
NCWRC
On Feb 19, 2020, at 17:28, Greg Turner <[e-mail]> wrote:
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Todd, Kim, Mac, Erin, Jeremiah, Lindsay, and Olivia,
Thank you for coming out to the Liberty Rock site yesterday morning. Please find attached a summary of
the meeting and, for reference, a copy of the concept map from the technical proposal.
If you should have any questions, additions, or corrections, please let us know. As a reminder, Jeff
Keaton (CCed) is the Wildlands project manager for this site.
Thanks again,
Greg Turner, PE I Water Resources Engineer
0:919.851.9986 x109 M: 910.471.7327
Wildlands Engineering, Inc. [wild landseng.coml
312 West Millbrook Road, Suite 225
Raleigh, NC 27609
<Liberty Rock IRT Site Walk Summary 2020-02-18.pdf>
<Liberty Rock Technical Proposal - Concept Map.pdf>
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