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Home My WebLink About20110645 Ver 1_Year 1 Monitoring Report_2014_20150414Annual Monitoring Report 1110/:,11 Project Name: East Fork Pigeon River Wetland Monitoring Year 1 EEP Contract No.: 006035 EEP Project No.: 94203 Haywood County, North Carolina Data Collected: 08/27/2014 - 10/28/2014 Date Submitted: 11/24/2014 Submitted to: ass stem En i'a eMeht PROGRAM NCDENR -EEP, 1652 Mail Service Center Raleigh NC 27699 -1652 Page Intentionally Blank Prepared by: EQUINOX balance through proper plonning 37 Haywood Street, Suite 100 Asheville, NC 28801 Project Contact: Hunter Terrell Email: hunter @equinoxenvironmental.com This Page Intentionally Left Blank Table of Contents This Page Intentionally Left Blank .................................................................................. ..............................i 1.0 Project Summary ................................................................................................ ............................... 1 1.1. Project History and Background .................................................................... ............................... 1 1.2. Project Goals and Objectives .......................................................................... ..............................2 1.3. Project Success Criteria .................................................................................. ..............................2 1.4. Annual Monitoring Results ............................................................................ ............................... 2 2.0 Methodology ...................................................................................................... ............................... 3 3.0 References ........................................................................................................... ..............................3 AppendixA ..................................................................................................................... ..............................4 AppendixB .................................................................................................................... ............................... 8 AppendixC .................................................................................................................... .............................15 This Page Intentionally Left Blank 1.0 PROJECT SUMMARY 1.1. Project History and Background The East Fork Pigeon River Wetlands Project Site (project site) is located in the French Broad River Basin (HUC8- 06010106) near Cruso in Haywood County, NC. The site is situated between the right - descending bank of the East Fork of the Pigeon River and Old Micheal Road, off of Highway 276. On November 3, 2010, the USACE approved a wetland Jurisdictional Determination on the project site. The mitigation plan for the project was completed by Mactec Engineering and Consulting, Inc (Currently AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, Inc.) in March 2011. The established mitigation goals for the Site were to enhance and protect existing wetlands and wildlife habitat along the East Fork Pigeon River. Specifically, the target goal was the vegetative enhancement of the existing wetland community on the site. The project objectives included: • Enhance existing wetlands by removing identified invasive plant species through manual and/or chemical methods and by planting native species within the site. • Protecting the wetlands on the site with a permanent Conservation Easement. The project did not require Clean Water Act Section 404 / Section 401 permits as no ground disturbing activities within jurisdictional wetlands were anticipated or completed on the site. Additionally, the project was instituted prior to July 28, 2010 and did not require a mandatory IRT mitigation plan review. The control of nuisance plant species within the bottomland hardwood forest and shrub /groundstory open areas on the Site entailed the treatment of the seven invasive nuisance plant species: Bamboo (Phyllostachys sp.), common cattail (Typha latifolia), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), kudzu (Pueraria montana), and Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense). A majority of the invasive species were mapped in the 2011 mitigation plan; however Chinese privet and multiflora rose were essentially scattered throughout the entire bottomland hardwood forest. The control methods entailed the treatment of small -sized plants with foliar spray and larger stems by hack and squirt. The chemical `aquatic glyphosate' was used for the herbicide applications. The cut bamboo was placed in a slash pile and burned on the site. New shoots of bamboo, which developed after the initial treatment, were treated with aquatic glyphosate. All invasive control treatments and planting efforts were conducted by Habitat Assessment & Restoration Professionals (HARP) (Charlotte, NC). The nuisance plant species were treated for two growing seasons prior to the planting of the site. EEP postponed the planting of the site to allow for an additional growing season of nuisance species control prior to planting. Additionally, EEP will be completing follow up invasive treatments through the 5 year monitoring term. The 2011 mitigation plan estimated an approximately 5.64 acre wetland planting area. Based on 2013 site conditions and the implemented invasive plant treatment areas, approximately 2.26 acres of the total area of USACE jurisdictional wetlands on the site (13.95 acres) were planted in December 2013. The wetland areas that were excluded from the planting operation encompassed: (1) a deepwater wetland drainageway which occurred along the southern shoulder of Old Michael Road and was determined to be an historic channel of the East Fork Pigeon River; (2) the stream banks of East Fork Pigeon River (bankfull bench and spoil areas); and (3) the heavily forested portions of the bottomland hardwood forest. Therefore, the planting operation primarily encompassed the areas of the bottomland hardwood forest that were open and lacking an overstory of trees or a dense shrub component. The planting of trees (seedlings) within these open areas will essentially restore the hardwood overstory of the wetlands. East Fork Pigeon River Site 1 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 The 2011 Mitigation plan and project implementation did not include any enhancement activities for the East Fork Pigeon River or the unnamed perennial stream that occurs within the western portion of the Site. These surface waters are essentially unimpaired and provide suitable habitat for fish and benthic macro - invertebrates. The proposed stream preservation assets have a minimum 30 -foot buffer from edge of bank on each side of the channel. 1.2. Project Goals and Objectives The established mitigation goals for the Site were to enhance and protect existing wetlands and wildlife habitat along the East Fork Pigeon River. Specifically, the target goal was the vegetative enhancement of the existing wetland community on the Site. The project objectives included: • Enhance existing wetlands by removing identified invasive plant species through manual and/or chemical methods and by planting native species within the Site. • Protecting the wetlands on the Site with a permanent Conservation Easement. 1.3. Project Success Criteria The project success criteria are as follows: Vegetation success within the wetland areas that were planted and proposed for Wetland Enhancement (2.26- acres) will be based on the criteria established in the USACE Stream Mitigation Guidelines (2003). This document states that vegetation monitoring results indicate the following planted stem density minimums in the corresponding monitoring years: 320 stems /acre through year three, 288 stems /acre in year four, and 260 stems /acre in year five. Vegetation monitoring will not be conducted in the wetland preservation areas; however, the entire site will be monitored via yearly photo points. Invasive plant species and beaver colonization will be suppressed on the entire site until project closeout; however, there will be no success criteria linked to treatment of the invasive plant species or beaver removal. 1.4. Annual Monitoring Results MY vegetation monitoring consisted of establishing three vegetation plots in three of the four newly planted areas and collecting initial vegetation data. Results from vegetation monitoring indicate that all plots are currently meeting the interim success criteria of 320 planted stems per acre (Table 6). Planted stem density averaged 796 stems per acre across all plots. Stem density ranged from 526 stems per acre to 1,133 stems per acre. A total of six woody species were documented in the vegetation plots. Visual assessment, performed on 10/28/2014, focused on planted stems outside of the permanent vegetation plots and the status of invasive exotic vegetation. Although no quantifiable data related to planted stems were collected during the visual assessment, observations suggest that the planted stems are surviving throughout the easement. Dead stems were noted; however, these were limited to isolated stems and not large areas. Several small areas of dense dodder vine (Cuscuta pentagona) growth within the bamboo treatment area were noted and could potentially affect planted stems. In addition to planted stems, an inventory of invasive exotic vegetation was performed as well as an assessment of previous treatment efficacy. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), and Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) were documented throughout drier, upland areas of the easement and scattered in low densities throughout the easement (Figure 2). Previous treatments have greatly reduced densities of these species; however, regrowth is occurring throughout the easement. The main bamboo area has shown good efficacy, but re- sprouting is beginning to occur throughout the treatment area. One small patch of Kudzu persists along Old Michael Road at the edge of the easement. Treatment of Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) appears to have been successful; no evidence of populations were observed during the visual assessment. Although not an East Fork Pigeon River Site 2 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 invasive - exotic, cattails (Typha latifolia) can be aggressive and create a monoculture in some wetlands. Initial treatment efforts appear to have greatly reduced the density of cattails within the easement; however, stems still persist in very low densities in some areas (Figure 2). Summary information/data related to the occurrence of items such as beaver or easement encroachment and statistics related to performance of various project and monitoring elements can be found in the tables and figures in the report appendices. Narrative background and supporting information formerly found in these reports can be found in the restoration plan on EEP's website ( NCEEP 2014). All raw data supporting tables and figures in the appendices are available from EEP upon request. 2.0 METHODOLOGY Vegetation plot monitoring data were collected following the standard CVS -EEP Protocol for Recording Vegetation, Level II, Version 4.2 (Lee et al. 2008). A total of three plots were monitored for this project. 3.0 REFERENCES Lee, Michael T., R.K. Peet, S.D. Roberts, and T.R. Wentworth. 2008. CVS -EEP Protocol for Recording Vegetation, Version 4.2 ( http : / /cvs.bio.unc.edu /methods.htm) NCEEP (North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program). 2014. Final Wetland Mitigation Report- East Fork Pigeon River Wetlands Project. Haywood County, North Carolina. Raleigh. East Fork Pigeon River Site 3 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 This Page Intentionally Left Blank Appendix A General Tables and Figures This Page Intentionally Left Blank Appendix A Figure 1. Vicinity Map of the East Fork of the Pigeon River Wetland Site 2S I )til l �( _ /fit f 110 • "� 215 -� - C nton �r �,+►- �� r � l 3 i 1 1 Jy rr J .r E� 4 !J Figure 1: Vicinity Map East Fork Pigeon Project No. 94203 Haywood County, North Carolina East Fork Pigean River 17 1 � t r /'wli• �f Directions: rrom Asheville, take 1 -40 West for spprnximately 18 miles. Take exit 3I for Carolina 215 toward Cancon. Follow 215 co Pisgah Drive and tum right, Go approximately a 0.5 miles and rum right omo NC -110_ Fallow NC 110 far approximately 5 rum left left onto 4S -276 and follow for 2.3 miles. Slight right onto Old Micheal Road. In approximately 0.7 miles easement is on right. The sulnect project site is an environmental restoration site of the N DENR Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) and is —passed by a recorded conservation easement, but is bordered by land under private ownership. Accessing the site may require traversing areas Dear or along the easement boundary and therefore access by the general public is not permitted. Access by author d p onnel f late and lied —I agenci r their designees cons sctn v I ed in the development. oversight and s[owmdshtp -f the r t u'cm siu; s permitted w thm the terms and timefcames of their defined roles. Any intended site vistration or activity by any person outside of these previously — ctiuncd roles and aetwiti. requires prior coordination with E &P Date: September 2034 1 sheet: l of 1 Notes: 0 0.5 1 2 Miles East Fork Pigeon River Site 5 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 110 2S I )til l �( _ /fit f 110 • "� 215 -� - C nton �r �,+►- �� r � l 3 i 1 1 Jy rr J .r E� 4 !J Figure 1: Vicinity Map East Fork Pigeon Project No. 94203 Haywood County, North Carolina East Fork Pigean River 17 1 � t r /'wli• �f Directions: rrom Asheville, take 1 -40 West for spprnximately 18 miles. Take exit 3I for Carolina 215 toward Cancon. Follow 215 co Pisgah Drive and tum right, Go approximately a 0.5 miles and rum right omo NC -110_ Fallow NC 110 far approximately 5 rum left left onto 4S -276 and follow for 2.3 miles. Slight right onto Old Micheal Road. In approximately 0.7 miles easement is on right. The sulnect project site is an environmental restoration site of the N DENR Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) and is —passed by a recorded conservation easement, but is bordered by land under private ownership. Accessing the site may require traversing areas Dear or along the easement boundary and therefore access by the general public is not permitted. Access by author d p onnel f late and lied —I agenci r their designees cons sctn v I ed in the development. oversight and s[owmdshtp -f the r t u'cm siu; s permitted w thm the terms and timefcames of their defined roles. Any intended site vistration or activity by any person outside of these previously — ctiuncd roles and aetwiti. requires prior coordination with E &P Date: September 2034 1 sheet: l of 1 Notes: 0 0.5 1 2 Miles East Fork Pigeon River Site 5 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 Appendix A Table 1. Project Components and Summation East Fork of Pigeon Wetland / Project No. 94203 Feature Mitigation Quantity (Linear Ratio Mitigation Units Environmental Resource Technical Report Approach Footage /Acreage) Restoration Plan (SMU/WMU) Stream Permit Date N/A N/A Initial Wetland Delineation Perennial Stream P 664 5:1 133 East Fork of the p 1,411 5:1 282 Pigeon River Invasive Exotic Treatment - June 2012 Invasive Exotic Treatment Total: 2,075 Total: 415 Wetland Invasive Exotic Treatment - Nov 2013 Invasive Exotic Treatment Bottomland E 2.26 2:1 1.13 Hardwood Forest - March 2014 Year 1 Monitoring Oct 2014 Bottomland p 11.69 5:1 2.34 Hardwood Forest Year 4 Monitoring Total 13.95 Total 3.47 Table 2. Project Activity & Reporting History East Fork of Pigeon Wetland / Project No. 94203 Activity or Report Data Collection Complete Actual Completion or Delivery Land Acquisition - Dec 2010 Environmental Resource Technical Report N/A N/A Restoration Plan N/A N/A Permit Date N/A N/A Initial Wetland Delineation - Oct 2010 Initial Invasive Exotic Reconnaissance - Oct 2010 Topographic Survey - Nov 2010 Initial Mitigation Plan / As -built - March 2011 Invasive Exotic Treatment - June 2012 Invasive Exotic Treatment - Nov 2012 Invasive Exotic Treatment - July 2013 Invasive Exotic Treatment - Nov 2013 Invasive Exotic Treatment - Dec 2013 Wetland Planting - Dec 2013 Final Mitigation Plan (Year 0 Monitoring - Baseline) - March 2014 Year 1 Monitoring Oct 2014 Nov -14 Year 2 Monitoring Year 3 Monitoring Year 4 Monitoring Year 5 Monitoring N/A - Item does not apply. - Information Unavailable East Fork Pigeon River Site 6 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 Appendix A Table 3. Project Contacts East Fork of the Pigeon Wetland / Project No. 94203 Designer Primary Project Design POC AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, INC. 4021 Stirrup Creek Drive, Suite 100 Durham, North Carolina 27701 Richard Harmon (919) 381 -9909 Construction Contractor Construction Contractor POC N/A N/A N/A N/A Planting Contractor Planting Contractor POC Habitat Assessment and Restoration Professionals 301 McCullough Drive, 4th Floor Charlotte, North Carolina 28262 (704) 841 -2841 Seeding Contractor Seeding Contractor POC Habitat Assessment and Restoration Professionals 301 McCullough Drive, 4th Floor Charlotte, North Carolina 28262 (704) 841 -2841 Seed Mix Sources - Nursery Stock Suppliers - Monitoring Performers (YO) - 2013 AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, INC. 4021 Stirrup Creek Drive, Suite 100 Durham, North Carolina 27701 Monitoring POC Richard Harmon (919) 381 -9909 Monitoring Performers (Yl) - 2014 Equinox 37 Haywood Street, Suite 100 Asheville, North Carolina 28801 Monitoring POC Hunter Terrell (828) 253 -6856 N/A - Item does not apply. - Information Unavailable East Fork Pigeon River Site 7 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 This Page Intentionally Left Blank Appendix B Appendix B Visual Assessment Data This Page Intentionally Left Blank w VV �s 125 250 500 M Feet PPII .4. r —i r F - WT--,q hL -- - — Prepared for: �.- Figure 2. Current Condition Plan View � Photo Point Vegetation Vegetation Plot .— . —1 Problem Areas Criteria ®t � � I � O ` , ,�(! -�� . Easement L East Fork Pigeon River Wetlands . r N I - Dense criteria Met ti Planted Areas Date: 10/28/2014 Sheet: 1 of 1 - Eko (stem e1 Monitoring Year 1 NCEEP Project No. 94203 J I._,. Cattails (Typha latifolia)- Present -Criteria Unmet Very Low Density Notes: aMMM ®Treated PROGRAM Haywood County, North Carolina 3Iugla l3a'I x1luuoijualul a2lud Slq L Appendix B Table 4. Vegetation Condition Assessment East Fork of the Pigeon Wetland / Project No. 94203 Planted Acreage: 2.29 Number Combined % of Vegetation Category Definitions CCPV Depiction of Planted Polygons Acreage Acreage 1. Bare Areas Very limited cover of both woody and herbaceous material. N/A 0 0.00 0% 2. Low Stem Density Areas Woody stem densities clearly below target levels based on Stipple Orange Dots White 0 0.00 o 0% MY3, 4, or 5 stem count criteria. Background Totals 0 0.00 0% 3. Areas of Poor Growth Rates or Vigor Areas with woody stems of a size class that are obviously N/A 0 0.00 0% small given the monitoring year. Cumulative Totals 0 0.00 0% Easement Acreage: 16.53 Number % of Vegetation Category Definitions CCPV Depiction of Combined Easement Polygons Acreage Acreage Areas or points (if too small to render as polygons at map Cross Hatch 4. Invasive Areas of Concern scale). (Red - Dense/Yellow - 9 1.60 u 10% Present) 5. Easement Encroachment Areas Areas or points (if too small to render as polygons at map Stipple Purple Dots White 0 0.00 o 0% scale). Background N/A - Item does not apply. East Fork Pigeon River Site 10 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 Appendix B East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 1 East /Southeast East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 2 West East Fork Pigeon River- Permanent Photo Station 3 North East Fork Pigeon River Site NCEEP Project No. 94203 Monitoring Year 1 of 5 East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 4 North East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 5 Upstream East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 6 Southwest 11 Equinox Annual Monitoring Report East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 7 East East Fork Pigeon River- Permanent Photo Station 8 South/Southeast East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 9 Southwest East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 10 South/Southwest East Fork Pigeon River- Permanent Photo Station 11 Southeast East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 12 Northwest East Fork Pigeon River Site 12 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 12 East East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 13 Upstream East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 13 Downstream East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 14 East/Southeast East Fork Pigeon River- Permanent Photo Station 15 North East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 16 West East Fork Pigeon River Site 13 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 17 East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 20 Northwest North East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 18 North/Northeast East Fork Pigeon River - Permanent Photo Station 19 South/Southwest East Fork Pigeon River Site 14 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 This Page Intentionally Left Blank Appendix C Vegetation Data This Page Intentionally Left Blank Appendix C Table 5. Vegetation Plot Criteria Attainment East Fork Pi eon River Wetland / Project No. 94203 Vegetation Plot Vegetation Scientific Name Common Name Survival Tract Mean ID Threshold Met? MYO (2014) 1 Yes 100% 2 Yes 3 Yes Table 6. Planted and Total Stem Counts (Species by Plot with Annual Means) East Fork Pigeon River Wetland / Project No. 94203 Current Plot Data (MYO 2014) Annual Means Scientific Name Common Name Species Type Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 MYO (2014) PnoLS P -all T PnoLS P -all T PnoLS P -all T PnoLS P -all T Cornus amomum Silky dogwood Shrub 1 1 1 3 3 3 4 4 4 Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green ash Tree 3 3 3 6 6 6 3 3 3 12 12 12 Liriodendron tulipifera var. tulipifera Tulip -tree, Yellow Poplar, Whitewood Tree 6 6 6 6 6 6 Nyssa sylvatica Blackgum Tree 6 6 6 6 6 6 12 12 12 Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis Sycamore, Plane -tree Tree 13 13 13 6 6 6 5 5 5 24 24 24 Sambucus canadensis Common elderberry Shrub 1 1 1 1 1 1 Stem count size (ares) size (ACRES) Species count Stems per ACRE 28 1 28 28 13 1 13 13 1 18 18 18 59 1 59 59 1 1 1 3 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.07 4 4 4 3 3 3 5 5 5 6 6 6 1133 1133 1133 526.1 526.1 526.1 728.4 728.4 728.4 795.9 795.9 795. 9 East Fork Pigeon River Site 16 Equinox WEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 Appendix C Vegetation Monitoring Plot 1 Monitoring Year 1 — August 27, 2014 Vegetation Monitoring Plot 2 Monitoring Year 1 — Aug 27, 2014 East Fork Pigeon River Site 17 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5 Appendix C' Vegetation Monitoring Plot 3 Monitoring Year 1 —Aug 27, 2014 East Fork Pigeon River Site 18 Equinox NCEEP Project No. 94203 Annual Monitoring Report Monitoring Year 1 of 5