20230808 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20230706

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
July 6, 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 5: South Fork Mitchell River
South Fork Mitchell River, Surry County
Dear Ms. Boggs:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to restore 214 ft of the South Fork Mitchell River 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.
The project proposes to stabilize eroding reaches of stream by installing in -stream structures
including a constructed riffle, a log vane, a boulder vane, and a brush toe. A 25-ft wide native
riparian buffer would be established. 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.
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.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

SCC Site 5 — S Fork Mitchell Page 2 6 July 2023
S Fork Mitchell River, Surry 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: David Brown, Jennings Environmental
Seren Homer, NC Division of Water Resources