20170976 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20170815

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
August 11, 2017
Mr. David Brown
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Slatten Branch Culvert Replacements
Slatten Branch, Jackson County
Dear Mr. Brown:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to replace two perched culverts and restore passage, impacting 137 feet of Slatten
Branch in Jackson 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).
The project is intended to restore passage for Brook Trout found in Slatten Branch, and in -
channel work should be avoided during the Brook Trout moratorium of October 15 to April 15.
The application proposes to replace two perched culverts with either spanning bridges or
oversized box culverts. The channel below the perched culverts will be restored to allow stable
and passable channel. The box culverts would be sized to allow a channel with a natural
dimension, pattern, and profile to pass through the culverts. We recommend the use of spanning
structures to ensure long-term stability of the channel within the structures. In addition, we
recommend the use of stream simulation design.
We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife resources:
1. Work should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in sediment and
erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up. Disturbed areas should be
seeded, mulched and matted as soon as possible, preferably at the end of each work day.
2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of plastic or nylon mesh, as this type of
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]

Slatten Br Culvert Replacements Page 2 August 11, 2017
Slatten Br, Jackson County
3. We recommend the use of spanning structures and stream simulation design for this project
to ensure long-term stability of the channel within the structures.
4. We recommend that a woody buffer as wide as possible be planted on both sides of the
stream in order to ensure project success. A wide forested buffer can ensure greater bank
stability, filter overland pollutants, and provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.
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.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: Jake McLean, Wildlands Engineering
Kevin Mitchell, NC Division of Water Resources
Andy Brown, Trout Unlimited