20231688 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20240110

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
January 10, 2024
Mr. Shannon Healy
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Sullivan Park — Brooklyn Creek Restoration
UT Mud Creek, Henderson County
Dear Ms. Healy:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to restore 930 ft of an unnamed tributary (UT) to Mud Creek, which is also known as
Brooklyn Creek, in Henderson 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 restore a small stream that has been ditched and is unstable. Pattern,
profile, and dimension will be restored by installing instream structures including constructed
riffles and boulder or log j-hooks and vanes, grading stream banks, and planting a native riparian
buffer. Work will be done in the dry, with flows pumped around the work area. In addition, two
stormwater channels will be reconfigured with a regenerative stormwater conveyance design.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to the aquatic community:
1. 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.
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.
3. The application notes that the planted buffer will be at least 25 ft in width. We recommend
that a woody buffer of at least 30 feet be planted on both sides of the stream as infrastructure
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Sullivan Park Restoration Page 2 January 10, 2024
UT Mud Cr, Henderson Co
allows in order to ensure project success. A wide forested buffer can ensure greater bank
stability, filter overland pollutants, and provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.
4. The planting specifications include Water Oak. This is a piedmont and coastal plain species,
and we recommend eliminating this from the planting plan unless it is found in the vicinity of
the project.
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
Andrew Moore, NC Division of Water Resources