20150112 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20150219

0 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 0
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
February 19, 2015
Mr. John Thomas
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105
Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587
SUBJECT: Country Meadows
Goff Creek and UT to Goff Creek, Stokes County
Dear Mr. Thomas:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to impact 212 feet of stream on Goff Creek and an unnamed tributary (UT) to Goff
Creek in Stokes County. 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).
This project involves installing an 82 ft culvert on Goff Creek and installing rip rap apron on an
additional 34 ft. Four utility crossings on Goff Creek and a UT to Goff Creek are also proposed.
This project should not affect trout and the activities do not need to be avoided during the trout
spawning moratorium.
We have the following recommendations:
1. Effective erosion controls should be used to minimize losses of sediment downstream. Coir
matting over seed and straw should be used on stream banks that have erodible soil. Matting
used for bank stabilization should be free of nylon mesh; nylon mesh netting frequently
entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade resulting in a hazard that may last for years.
2. Stream channels at utility crossings and at the inlet/outlet of the culvert should be restored to
near pre- disturbance conditions.
3. The design plans included in the application note that the culvert will be either reinforced
concrete pipe or corrugated metal pipe. We recommend that the culvert material have a
roughened inner surface (like corrugated metal pipe) in order to facilitate bedload retention
and movement of aquatic organisms.
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699 -1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Country Meadows Page 2 February 19, 2015
Goff Creek & UT, Stokes County
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at
(828) 400 -4223 if you have any questions about these comments or need further assistance.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: Michael Brame, Pilot Environmental
Sue Homewood, NC Division of Water Resources