20160022 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_20151209

United States Department of the Interior
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Asheville Field Office
160 Zillicoa Street
Asheville, North Carolina 28801
December 9, 2015
Ms. Rebekah Newton
Clearwater Environmental Consultants, Inc.
32 Clayton Street
Asheville, North Carolina 28801
Dear Ms. Newton:
Subject: Pre -Construction Notification for the Cane River Dam Removal Project; Burnsville,
Yancey County, North Carolina
Log No. 4-2-16-057
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has reviewed your letter and Pre -Construction
Notification (PCN) for the above -referenced project dated November 12, 2015. We submit the
following comments in accordance with the provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination
Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 661-667e); the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. §4321
et seq.); and section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531-1543) (Act).
Project Description
According to your letter and PCN, your client (Blue Ridge RC&D) proposes to remove the
breached Cane River Dam (Dam) and restore instream habitats within the Cane River near Pine
Swamp Road in Burnsville, North Carolina. Specifically, the project aims to create and stabilize
aquatic habitat and facilitate floodplain connectivity along 2,650 linear feet (If) of the Cane River
by installing various instream and riparian features' and by removing the remnants of the 245 -
foot -long breached Dam and appurtenant powerhouse. Additionally, the project intends to
control bank erosion upstream of the Dam which is encroaching on Pine Swamp Road (right -
descending streambank). The proposed project would result in permanent impacts to 2,6501f of
jurisdictional perennial stream, which is approximately 50 -feet wide at the site. According to the
PCN, the project would not impact jurisdictional wetlands as none are present within the
proposed limits of disturbance.
1 Such features include: boulder cluster, shelter structures, constructed riffles, vegetated soil lifts, brush mattresses,
brush toes, j -hooks, log vanes, and temporary ford crossings.

Federallv Protected Species and Recommendations
The Service has records of occurrence for the federally endangered Appalachian elktoe
(Alasmidonta raveneliana) within the proposed project area. Additionally, suitable habitat for
the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), occurs at the site.
Since this proposed project is, in part, a Service -funded action, we will conduct an intra -Service
section 7 consultation and a biological opinion regarding these species, and will provide the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) with our findings. Based on these findings, and in the
interest of reducing impacts to natural resources, we will prescribe specific design, construction,
and management measures, and request that they be included as special conditions in the
proposed Nationwide Permit. The measures will be outlined in our intra -Service consultation
and biological opinion.
The Service appreciates the opportunity to comment on this project. Please contact Mr. Byron
Hamstead of our staff at 828/258-3939, Ext. 225, if you have any questions. In any future
correspondence concerning this project, please reference our Log Number 4-2-16-057.
Sincerely,
anet A. Mizzi
Field Supervisor
Electronic copy to:
Ms. Tasha Alexander, Asheville Regulatory Field Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208, Asheville, NC 28801-5006