20151154 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20151207

II North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
December 7, 2015
Ms. Tasha Alexander
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: French Broad River Accesses: Jean Webb park & Craven St Bridge BAA
French Broad River, Buncombe County
Dear Ms. Alexander:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to remove boating access steps and construct a replacement structure at Jean Webb
Park, as well as construct a new concrete boat ramp, floating dock, and associated parking near
the Craven Street bridge on the French 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).
This project should not affect trout and the activities do not need to be avoided during the trout
spawning moratorium. The French Broad River does contain the rare dragonfly, the Mustached
Clubtail (NC Significantly Rare) in the vicinity of the project.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to wildlife:
1. Be vigilant with sediment and erosion control during site staging, construction, and cleanup.
Disturbed areas should be seeded, mulched and/or matted as soon as possible, preferably at
the end of each work day.
2. Coir matting over seed and straw should be used to stabilize disturbed soil as quickly as
possible. Matting used for bank stabilization 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.
3. The planting plan submitted via email in response to an information request from the US
Army Corps of Engineers includes Tall Fescue and Sericea Lespedeza, which are invasive
and should be avoided. We recommend a temporary seed mix of an annual grain, such as
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

NCWRC French Broad River Accesses Page 2 December 7, 2015
French Broad River, Buncombe Co
Rye, Oats, or Wheat, Red Clover, and Creeping Red Fescue. We also recommend adding a
native perennial seed mix; please see the attached document on seed mixes for disturbed sites
for specific recommendations.
4. Disturbance of woody riparian vegetation at the site should be minimized, and roots should
be left in the ground in order to allow for resprouting. Where woody vegetation is removed,
native trees and shrubs should be reestablished via live stakes, bare root plantings, or
containerized plants in order to provide bank stability, shade, and wildlife habitat. In
addition, native trees and shrubs should be established at the Jean Webb Park site where
stairs are removed. An excellent plant list is provided in NC State's Small-scale Solutions to
Eroding Streambanks, available at https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/online-BYSRGuide2015.pdf?fwd=no .
5. All heavy equipment operated near water should be inspected and regularly maintained in
order to prevent contamination by fuel, lubricants, or hydraulic fluids.
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 or need further assistance.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
Attachment: Seed Mixes for Re -vegetating Disturbed Sites
ec: Sara Sherman & Amanda Bushon, NCWRC
Zan Price, NC Division of Water Resources