20230894 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20230720

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
July 20, 2023
Ms. Brandee Boggs
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: SCC Watershed Site 4: Big Elkin Creek City Park
Big Elkin Creek, Surry County
Dear Ms. Boggs:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to stabilize 241 ft of Big Elkin Creek in Surry 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).
Project activities should not impact wild trout, and a trout moratorium is not needed for the
project. However, two state listed mussels are found in the project vicinity — Brook Floater
(Alasmidonta varicosa, NC Endangered) and Creeper (Strophitus undulatus, NC Threatened).
Effective sediment and erosion control are essential on the project in order to minimize impacts
to these species.
The project proposes to stabilize and eroding reach of stream by installing a rock toe and
geolifts, grading the stream banks, and planting herbaceous and shrub vegetation. Work will be
done in the wet, with equipment in -stream; coffer dams of gravel and cobble would be used to
isolate flows from work areas.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to the aquatic community:
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 work day.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

SCC Site 4 — Big Elkin Cr Page 2 20 July 2023
Big Elkin Cr, Surry Co
2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of 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.
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: David Brown, Jennings Environmental
Seren Homer, NC Division of Water Resources