Initial Evaluation Letter_WEI Yadkin 03_Little Cabin_SAW-2023-02304

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343

June 24, 2024

Regulatory Division

Action ID No. SAW-2023-02304

Re: NCIRT Initial Review of the Wildlands Yadkin 03 Umbrella Mitigation Banking
Instrument and Little Cabin Mitigation Site Prospectus

Mr. Tim Morris
Wildlands Engineering, Inc.
1430 South Mint Street, Suite 104
Charlotte, NC 28203

Dear Mr. Morris:
This letter is regarding your prospectus document dated April 5, 2024, for the
proposed Wildlands Yadkin 03 Umbrella Mitigation Banking Instrument and associated
Little Cabin Mitigation Site. The proposal consists of the establishment and operation of
a private commercial umbrella mitigation bank, and the associated 43-acre Little Cabin
Mitigation Site, located off Beeson Farm Road in Sophia, Randolph County, North
Carolina (35.8174° N, -79.8784° W). The proposed Little Cabin Mitigation Site would
include stream restoration, enhancement, and preservation, in addition to wetland
restoration and enhancement activities within the Yadkin River watershed (8-digit
hydrologic unit code (HUC): 03040103).

The Corps determined the Prospectus was complete and issued a public notice (P/N
# SAW-2023-02304) on May 6, 2024. The purpose of this notice was to solicit the views
of interested State and Federal agencies and other parties either interested in or
affected by the proposed work. Incorporated in this email and attached are comments
received in response to the public notice from the North Carolina Department of Natural
and Cultural Resources State Historic Preservation Office, NC Wildlife Resource
Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

IRT COMMENTS TO BE ADDRESSED IN THE DRAFT MITIGATION PLAN:

REPLY TO
ATTENTION OF:
The Corps has considered the comments received from members of the Interagency
Review Team (IRT) and information that was discussed during an IRT site review on
February 8, 2024. We have determined that the proposed umbrella mitigation bank
appears to have the potential to restore aquatic resources within the 8-digit HUC
03040103 of the Yadkin River Basin; however, we request that you address the
enclosed agency concerns in the draft mitigation plan.
Please provide a response to the attached comments with your draft mitigation plan
submittal. We appreciate your interest in restoring and protecting waters of the United
States. If you have questions regarding this letter, please contact me at
[e-mail].
Sincerely,
Casey Haywood
Mitigation Project Manager
Regulatory Division - Wilmington District
Electronic Copies Furnished:
NCIRT Distribution List

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
State Historic Preservation Office
Ramona M. Bartos, Administrator
Governor Roy Cooper Office of Archives and History
Secretary D. Reid Wilson Deputy Secretary, Darin J. Waters, Ph.D.

Location: 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh NC 27601 Mailing Address: 4617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-4617 Telephone/Fax: [phone]-6898

June 7, 2024

Erin Davis [e-mail]
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105
Wake Forest, NC 27587

Re: Little Cabin mitigation site, 4462 Beeson Farm Road, Randolph County, SAW-2023-02304,
ER 24-1263

Dear Ms. Davis:

Thank you for your letter of May 6, 2024, regarding the above-referenced undertaking. We have reviewed
the submission and offer the following comments.

We have conducted a review of the project and are aware of no historic resources which would be affected
by the project. Therefore, we have no comment on the project as proposed.

The above comments are made pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Regulations for Compliance with Section 106 codified at 36
CFR Part 800.

Thank you for your cooperation and consideration. If you have questions concerning the above comment,
contact Renee Gledhill-Earley, environmental review coordinator, at 919-814-6579
or [e-mail]. In all future communication concerning this project, please cite the
above referenced tracking number.

Sincerely,

Ramona Bartos, Deputy
State Historic Preservation Officer

From:Munzer, Olivia
To:Davis, Erin B CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
Subject:[Non-DoD Source] Re: [External] Notice of Final Prospectus Review/ Wildlands Yadkin 03 UMB- Little Cabin/
SAW-2023-023040/ Randolph County
Date:Friday, June 7, 2024 10:29:31 AM
Good morning Erin,
I do not have any comments on the final prospectus.
Have a great weekend.
Olivia Munzer
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
336-269-0074

From: Davis, Erin B CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 8:22 AM
To: Tugwell, Todd J CIV USARMY CESAW (US) <[e-mail]>; Steve Kichefski
<[e-mail]>; Dunnigan, Emily E CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
<[e-mail]>; Bowers, Todd <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>; Causey, Caroline F
<[e-mail]>; Polizzi, Maria <[e-mail]>; Merritt, Katie
<[e-mail]>; Friedman-Herring, Andrew <[e-mail]>;
Wilson, Travis W. <[e-mail]>; Munzer, Olivia <[e-mail]>;
[e-mail] <[e-mail]>; [e-mail]
<[e-mail]>
Subject: [External] Notice of Final Prospectus Review/ Wildlands Yadkin 03 UMB- Little Cabin/ SAW-
2023-023040/ Randolph County

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails with the
Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.
IRT Members,

The below referenced Sponsor submitted a Final Prospectus for NCIRT review. This proposal is to
establish a new umbrella mitigation bank. The Final Prospectus has been posted to the bank site
cyber repository on RIBITS. Please note that you must be logged in to access documents in the cyber
repository.

Per section 332.8(d)(4), we are initiating the IRT 30-day review of the Final Prospectus with this
email. The Public Notice was posted to RIBITS on May 6, 2024 (email below), with the public notice
comment deadline of June 5, 2024.

Review Timeline:
30-Day IRT Comment Start Date: May 8, 2024
30-Day IRT Comment Deadline: June 7, 2024
Initial Evaluation Deadline: July 7, 2024
From:Matthews, Kathryn (Kathy)
To:Davis, Erin B CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
Cc:Mann, Leigh
Subject:[Non-DoD Source] Re: Public Notice for Wildlands Yadkin 03 UMB - Little Cabin Mitigation Site Action ID: SAW-
2023-02304 (USFWS Project Code 2024-0082712)
Date:Monday, May 13, 2024 2:08:21 PM
Hi Erin,
This is in response to the public notice for the Little Cabin Mitigation Site, in Randolph County.
I don't have any significant comments on the project as proposed.
Based on the information provided and other information available, it appears that the
proposed action is not likely to adversely affect any other federally-listed endangered or
threatened species, their formally designated critical habitat, or species currently proposed for
listing under the ESA at these sites. We believe that the requirements of section 7(a)(2) of the
ESA have been satisfied for your project. Please remember that obligations under section 7
consultation must be reconsidered if: (1) new information reveals impacts of this identified
action that may affect listed species or critical habitat in a manner not previously considered;
(2) this action is subsequently modified in a manner that was not considered in this review; or,
(3) a new species is listed or critical habitat determined that may be affected by the identified
action.

We look forward to further coordination on this project as it moves through the NC IRT review
process. Thanks!
We are temporarily lacking a physical office. Electronic and phone correspondence is preferred.
For snail mail, please use the P.O. Box listed below, rather than our former physical address.
We will update our physical courier address when we move into the new space (expected by
June 2024). Thanks!
Kathy Matthews
NC Renewable Energy Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 33726
Raleigh, NC 27636-3726
NEW Phone! 984-308-0852
From: CESAW-PublicNoticeList <[e-mail]>
Sent: Monday, May 6, 2024 2:28 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Notice