20221733 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20230104

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
January 4, 2023
Ms. Brooke Davis
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Kiser Property UT French Broad River Restoration
UT French Broad River, Henderson County
Dear Ms. Davis,
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to restore 489 ft of an unnamed tributary (UT) to the French Broad River in
Henderson County. I visited the site on November 28. Our comments on this application are
offered for your consideration under provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466
et. seq.) and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-
667d).
The project should not impact trout reproduction, and project activities do not need to be avoided
during the trout spawning moratorium.
The project involves restoration of a UT by addressing dimension, pattern, and profile with in -
stream structures such as constructed riffles, boulder/log steps, and boulder/log vanes, floodplain
grading, and a native riparian buffer. The planted buffer width will range from 25 ft in width.
Work will be done in the dry. In addition, 550 ft of another UT will be stabilized with bank
grading and planting.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife resources:
1. In -channel work should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in
sediment and erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up. Disturbed
areas should be seeded, mulched and/or matted as soon as possible, preferably at the end of
each workday.
2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of nylon or plastic mesh, as this type of
mesh netting frequently entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade, resulting in a hazard that
may last for years.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Kiser Property Restoration Page 2 January 4, 2023
UT French Broad R, Henderson Co
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at
[phone] if you have any questions about these comments.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: Andrew Moore, NC Division of Water Resources
David Brown, Jennings Environmental