19990974 Ver 1_More Info Received_20071017

Proposed Amendment to the Planting Plan for TC Roberson Stream ...
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Subject: Proposed Amendment to the Planting Plan for TC Roberson Stream Mitigation Project
From: "Barbara Wiggins" <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:54:00 -0400
To: "'Kevin Barnett"' <[e-mail]>, "'Beckwith, Loretta A SAW"'
<[e-mail]>, "'David McHenry"' <[e-mail]>
CC: "'Fish and Wildlife Associates"' <[e-mail]>, "'Eric Kulz"' <[e-mail]>, "'Marshall
Roberts"' <[e-mail]>
Attached is a proposed amendment to the Planting Plan for the lower E Section stream restoration on
the TC Roberson campus that was prepared by FWA for Buncombe County School System. They
have approved the proposal and would like to submit this amendment for your consideration.
Please send comments, questions and concerns to me on the amendment. We hope that this will
address the requirements of the stream restoration project while addressing the concerns and desires of
the school community. As soon as we receive approval from the two agencies, we will implement the
activities as described in the proposed amendment.
Eric -this will not include the B Section of the stream where the buffer was impacted by mowing.
The buffer will be replanted in that area and permanent markers and/or fencing will be considered to
protect the buffer in that area. I will get the timetable on the buffer replanting to you as soon as the
school system contracts for the plantings.
Barbara Wiggins, CLM
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TC Roberson Revised Vegetation Planting Plan 10-07.doc
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T.C. Roberson Stream Restoration Project
Proposed Revised Vegetation Plan
Lower E Section
September 2007
T.C. Roberson Stream Restoration Project has been in place for 3 years post construction. The
vegetation planting for the upper B Section and the Lower E Section has generally been very
successful, with high survival rates of the trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that. were planted.
There was some flood damage in 2004 in the stream and there has been some mowing of the
riparian buffer in the upper B Section which will have to be addressed through the restoration
and replanting of the buffer in that location. The lower E Section has had very high survival
rates of the species that were planted within and beyond the 30' buffer zone.
The School Board, local school staff and the school community have been expressing
dissatisfaction with the overall appearance of the stream restoration buffers. During the same
time that the lower E Section was constructed on the campus, a new parking lot was constructed
on the east side of the stream. This created the need to observe activities occurring in the east
parking lot from the main campus buildings. The growth of the vegetation within the stream
restoration project was so thick that visibility of the parking lot was being blocked. This heavy
growth, typical to young growth along stream restoration projects, was also not appealing to
view for most of the school community.
Fish and Wildlife Associates (FWA), who have been involved with the monitoring of the stream
restoration project and vegetation success since 2005, was contracted to evaluate the lower E
section for possible solutions to the school's perceived and actual problems. FWA reviewed the
vegetation data from the previous 3 years, expanded the tree counts to the full lower stream
section, and performed a field survey of existing conditions. A meeting with the appropriate
agencies (US ACOE and NC DWQ) field staff was held to discuss possible resolutions. Based
on comments from the federal and state agency staff and observations by FWA, a'revised
vegetation planting plan to the 401 Permit NCDWQ #99-0974 is proposed.
Existing Vegetation
As shown in the following table for the Post Construction Report of 2007, the tree and shrub
counts for the Lower E section have remained high with an 88% survival rate of extremely
dense and diverse plantings. There are currently over 2,400 plants (trees and shrubs) per acre,
with a mixture of shrubs within the floodplain of the stream and mainly trees on the slope and
top of terrace leading to the parking areas on the campus. Herbaceous plant growth, so
important at many stream restoration projects, is not as high a priority on the upper terrace areas
of this stream section because of the successful tree and shrub growth.

Table 1. Vegetation Survival Plots
2005 2006 2007
Plant #s Plant #/acre Plant #s Plant #/acre Plant #s Plant #/acre
Stream B Stem Count 139 4633 110 3667 68 2267
0.03 acre
Stream E Stem Count 163 2717 130 2167 144 2400
0.06 acre
Stream B Herbaceous 57 1900 - 1400
1 meter lot = _° Stems Stems
3700 3700
Stream E Herbaceous 452 stems - Stems
1 meter lot ~ ,
Because the E stream has very wet soils next to the stream but dry conditions upslope, there
were two distinct vegetation communities involved in this section. There was one tree species
(Black willow) and several obligate shrub species located in the wetlands next to the stream.
Shrubs that were surviving and growing well in the wetter areas were silky dogwood, silky
willow, button bush, and tag alder. Many of the shrubs in the wetland areas were large enough
that they were merging with other shrubs, especially the livestakes near the stream channel.
These were becoming impossible to count as separate shrubs and becoming one large clump of
stems. Herbaceous plant species, especially rushes and sedges, were a major component in the
wetland community. Trees and shrubs on the upland areas included sycamore, black willow,
black gum, red maple, red oak, black cherry, hawthorn, dogwood, black walnut, tulip poplar,
and privet (last two were volunteers). These were joined in the buffer on the west side of the
terrace with landscaping plants (cedars) for the campus and on the east side with red maples.
FWA noted that these planted species were joined by volunteer species throughout the section.
These volunteers included black walnut, tulip (yellow) poplar, privet, multiflora rose,
blackberry, honeysuckle, bittersweet and poison ivy. Some of these volunteers will add to the
stabilization of the stream buffer, but many of these are invasive, have negative impacts to the
native riparian species, or add to the overgrowth and weedy look of the vegetative buffer
without providing major contribution. FWA also noted that, especially on the east side of the
stream project, the planting extends beyond the 30' buffer limit and into the landscaped edge
near the parking lot. Much of the weedier areas were actually outside of the buffer and could
be landscaped accordingly.
Balancing the requirements of the planting plan for the stream restoration project and the desire
for a more open view shed across the stream with less understory growth of weedy species,
FWA proposed the following plan modifications to the Buncombe County School Board.

Proposed Vegetation Enhancement
This plan involves four main components :removing of unwanted or unneeded plant species,
thinning of shrub and/or tree species where the density of growth is well over the minimum
necessary for stream stabilization, maintenance of the edge plantings using mulch and trimming
to improve the visual appearance of the stream buffer area and height trimming of shrubs and
vegetation in the wetlands.
Removal of Invasives and Nuisance Species -HIGH PRIORITY
All invasive tree, shrub and herbaceous species will be removed. Some plants located at the
landscaped edge of the buffer can be mowed (one large blackberry patch on the east side), but
most will require hand removal. Some hand application of approved herbicides may be required
for those species (bittersweet, multiflora rose, privet) which will resprout from stumps. This
will require annual survey and removal to ensure the continued removal of seed sprouts. This
will improve the appearance of the buffer almost immediately in several locations.
Thinning of Tree and Shrub Species -MEDIUM PRIORITY
In the natural progression of vegetation growth in the riparian buffer, the larger trees will
eventually shade out most of the lower shrubs and herbaceous cover that is currently present in
the buffer. This process is proposed to be speeded up to provide the benefit of less weedy
environment for the school and to guarantee the root systems needed for stream stabilization.
FWA will select and flag individual plants at the appropriate density and diversity of tree and
shrub species in the E section. This will ensure the minimum stem count of 300 trees per acre
on the terrace areas. This will include a variety of the existing species and not just the tallest
ones, although the Sycamore trees appear to be having the most success and may be the
preferred choice. Input from the school and maintenance department on which trees are
preferred will be requested. All other species will be maintained in relative well mixed
diversity. Hawthorns are currently over represented and will be thinned. Areas which may have
too little trees may be replanted with one larger (8'-10') specimen if needed to meet the density
of 8'-10' spacing.
Mulching and Trimming/Weed-eating -LOW PRIORITY
Trees and shrubs closest to the parking lots may be mulched to provide a clear indication of
what plants are to grow and which plants can be "weeded" or mowed outside of the mulched
areas. This will transition into the slopes of the terrace on both sides of the stream. Most of the
plants in this sloped area are shrubs and herbaceous plants and most of the tallest growth occurs
in the summer, when there is less demand for manicuring the school grounds. The transition
area may be trimmed back at the end of the summer of herbaceous plants which will address
many of the visual concerns and allow for a more pleasant observation platform of the stream
and wetland environment.

Wetland Hei h~ t Adjustment -LOW PRIORITY (Only as needed)
Most of the vegetation in the wetlands are low growing herbaceous plants and shrubs and are
currently not creating any major concern for aesthetics or safety viewing of the parking lot. If
the growth of trees and/or shrubs create a problem in the future, FWA recommends that the
shrubs and herbaceous plants be trimmed to a height of 5'-6'. This is well within the height of
the stream channel and would be below any visual pathway. This trimming can be scheduled
once or twice a year, as the height of plant growth requires it.
Volunteer trees and shrubs throughout the stream buffer will be allowed to grow where
appropriate for density and diversity and removed where excess capacity has been reached.
This will be determined by the School Board through appropriate personnel or contractors.
Implementation and Monitoring
FWA proposes the School Board implement the thinning and mulching during the winter of
2007-2008. Planting of additional trees will be performed during this same period. These two
activities should address the majority of the school community concerns. If additional concerns
exist, the last two activities can be utilized only as needed.
The revised planting will be monitored under the existing stream restoration monitoring plan for
two more years (2008-2009). The critical component of the revised planting plan will be in the
implementation of the physical maintenance of the buffer (whether the school maintenance staff
or contractors will be able to maintain minimum requirements). Two years of detailed
counts/monitoring should be enough to show success or failure of the planting revision on the
maintenance component. An additional three years of photodocumentation during the summer
growing season of the Stream E buffer would provide the state and federal agencies with a total
of 5 years post-planting revision efforts.
The School Board can choose to implement these steps internally with land maintenance staff;
contract with specialists in landscaping to perform these duties; or use a combination of School
staff and contractors to ensure maintenance of the required stream buffer and plantings while
training local staff in maintaining optimum conditions for safety viewing and community goals.