20150726 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20150916

_ L,-] North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission _
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
September 16, 2015
Ms. Tasha Alexander
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801 -5006
SUBJECT: Comments on Jensen Culverts
UT to Broad River, Buncombe County
Dear Ms. Alexander
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to permit one new 36 ft culvert and two already installed ( "after- the - fact ") 20 ft
culverts on an unnamed tributary to the Broad River in Buncombe 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).
There are wild Rainbow Trout in the vicinity of the project, and in- stream work should be
avoided between January 1 and April 15.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife:
1. Culvert replacement should be performed in the dry. The culvert should be buried in order to
allow free movement of sediment and aquatic organisms.
2. Effective sediment and erosion control measures must be used and maintained to stabilize the
stream banks quickly after the culvert is installed. In order to stabilize the stream banks, we
recommend using matting over straw and a quick growing temporary seed mix. We
recommend planting native trees and shrubs to provide permanent and natural bank
stabilization.
3. Any matting used on site 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.
4. We recommend that removal of riparian vegetation along streams be avoided as much as
possible outside of the impact areas.
5. The stream should not be excavated except in the immediate vicinity of the culvert location.
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699 -1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Jensen Culverts Page 2 September 16, 2015
UT to Broad River, Buncombe Co
6. In- stream work should be avoided during the trout moratorium period of January 1 to April
15 to avoid impacts to Rainbow Trout spawning.
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.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator
Habitat Conservation Program
ec: G. Peter Jensen, landowner
Zan Price, NC Division of Water Resources