20160424 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20160512

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
May 12, 2016
Mr. William Elliott
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Montreat Road Sidewalk Extension Phase IV
UT Flat Creek, Buncombe County
Dear Mr. Elliott:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to extend an existing culvert, impacting 22 feet of an unnamed tributary (UT) to Flat
Creek in Buncombe County for a sidewalk extension. 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).
There are Rainbow Trout in the vicinity of the project, and we request that activities be avoided
from January 1 to April 15 to protect egg and fry stages of trout. In addition, Flat Creek and the
upper Swannanoa River have a small population of Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranehus
alleganiensis, US Federal Species of Concern, NC Special Concern), a species sensitive to
excess sediment.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to the aquatic community:
1. Work on the project should be avoided between January 1 and April 15 in order to avoid
impacts to Rainbow Trout spawning.
2. Due to the presence of Eastern Hellbender and Rainbow Trout in the vicinity of the project,
we ask that particular care be used to retain sediment on-site. Effective sediment and erosion
control measures must be used and maintained to stabilize the stream banks quickly after the
culverts are installed. Coir matting over seed and straw should be used on any exposed soils
near the stream.
3. Matting used for 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.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Montreat Rd Sidewalk Extension, Phase W
UT Flat Cr, Buncombe County
May 12, 2016
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
ec: Jesse Gardner, Civil Design Concepts
Zan Price, NC Division of Water Resources