20080868 Ver 2_Chronology of Mick Schalfale Involvement_20081114

Chronology of Mike Schafale's involvement related to recognition of PCS Nonriverine
Wet Hardwood Forest sites
January 26, 2005: Bonnerton area visited with the NC Wetlands Functional Assessment
team, including John Dorney (NC DWQ), David Lekson (Corps of Engineers), plus Julia
Berger (CZR) and numerous others. The site had been chosen as a good example of a
hardwood flat. Mike Schafale recognized it as a very good example of a Nonriverine
Wet Hardwood Forest community not previously known to the Natural Heritage Program
and told the group that it might be state significant.
April 15, 2005: Bonnerton area visited in a follow up visit with David Lekson, Julia
Berger, Tom Steffan (CZR), and Ed Schwartzman (DWQ Unique Wetlands Program).
This group also visited the Sparrow Road and Drinkwater Creek sites, not previously
known to the Natural Heritage Program, and the previously known Suffolk Scarp Bogs
site.
November 18, 2005: Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seeps, Sparrow Road
Wet Hardwood Forest, and Drinkwater Creek Wet Hardwood Forest entered into Natural
Heritage Program database as Significant Natural Heritage Area (SNHAs). Bonnerton
Road was designated state significant.
November 21, 2005: Report on Bonnerton, Sparrow Road, Drinkwater Creek, and
Suffolk Scarp Bogs SNHAs sent to William Walker and David Lekson. The Bonnerton
site report indicates it is state significant.
February 2006?: Bonnerton site suggested to NC Division of Parks and Recreation park
system expansion committee as a potential state natural area if it is not mined and if the
owner is interested in giving it up. Criteria for potential state natural areas include state
or national significance.
June 12, 2006: Email to Tom Walker, asking about the current status of the mine permit
and the potential fate of the hardwood flats sites.
March 26, 2007: Visited Hell Swamp mitigation site at the request of Julia Berger to see
what turned out to be a small intact remnant of Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest on the
adjacent tract.
April 17-20, 2007: Report on the Hell Swamp site visit sent to Julia Berger, with follow
up email.
October 17-November 7, 2007: Email with Julia Berger and Jeff Furness about Hell
Swamp mitigation site and whether the owners of the intact Nonriverine Wet Hardwood
Forest remnant there had been contacted.
November 7, 2007: Letter sent to Julia Berger in response to her earlier letter about
natural heritage resources at Hell Swamp.
November 29, 2007: Field visit to PCS Bonnerton site, with John Dorney, Rebecca Fox,
Scott Jones, Jeff Furness, Ross Smith, Julia Berger, Sam Cooper, Geoff Gisler, and
Heather Jacobs. We visited parts of the existing SNHA and additional areas, one of
which was added to the SNHA.
December 2007: Observations from November field visit and additional aerial photo
interpretation entered into Natural Heritage Program database. Bonnerton site boundary
changed to incorporate newly observed areas.
December 7, 2007: Sent notes on the November visit to Rebecca Fox and John Dorney.
December 11-14, 2007: Email with Rebecca Fox about changes to the SNHA boundaries
after the November field trip.
January 11, 2008: Finished revising the Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest status and
trends document. This involved aerial photo inspection of all known Nonriverine Wet
Hardwood Forest sites in North Carolina, which revealed that a number had been
destroyed or partially destroyed since they were last inspected in 1998 or later. New
analysis was done on which sites were best. Virginia Natural Heritage Program was
asked about how many sites they had. This led to the recognition that the Bonnerton site
was now nationally significant because some better sites had been lost.
January 11, 2008: Sent the 2008 Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest manuscript to John
Dorney and Rebecca Fox.
January 14-25, 2008: Email with Rebecca Fox about the acreage and boundaries of the
Bonnerton site SNHA.
February 1 I-18, 2008: Natural Heritage Program biologists review significance ratings
of all SNHAs. National significance of Bonnerton site upheld.
February 13, 2008: Email with Rebecca Fox about changing of SNHA designation of
Bonnerton site to national significance.
May 6, 2008?: Phone call from William Walker about the significance of Nonriverine
Wet Hardwood Forests and the PCS sites. (Call to my cell phone while I was in the field.
My memory of the date is uncertain).
June 5-11, 2008: Email correspondence with Rebecca Fox about restoration potential in
Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forests and the Hell Swamp mitigation site.
July 10-15, 2008: Evaluation and response to C. Brown affidavit about history of logging
in the Bonnerton wet hardwood site sent to Rebecca Fox and John Dorney at their
request.
August 26, 2008: Email answer to several questions by William Walker, Corps of
Engineers, about details of SNHA designation and analysis of Nonriverine Wet
Hardwood Forests.
November 14, 2008: Met with John Dorney and John Payne to explain the process of
SNHA designation and significance rating.
chronology
Subject: chronology
From: Mike Schafale <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:32:35 -0500
To: John Dorney <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
Greetings,
Here is the time line you request for my involvement with the PCS site and the SNHA
designation. I hope this is what you need.
I have included my work with CZR on one of their mitigation sites, though I'm not
sure that is relevant.
Michael P. Schafale
Ecologist North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
office of Planning and Conservation, Department of Environment and Natural
Resources
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1601
919-715-8689
[e-mail]
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