20171091 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20170824

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
August 23, 2017
Mr. David Brown
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) Parking Improvements
UT to Lamance Creek, Transylvania County
Dear Mr. Brown:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to impact 149 feet of an unnamed tributary (UT) to Lamance Creek in Transylvania
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).
There are Brown Trout in the project vicinity, and activities should be avoided during the period
of October 15 to April 15. Trout are especially sensitive to excess sediment.
The application proposes to install a junction box to capture stormwater from multiple pipes and
culvert 134 ft of UT to Lamance Creek for a parking lot.
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. Work should be completed in the dry.
3. 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.
4. Project activities should be avoided between October 15 and April 15 to avoid impacts to
Brown Trout spawning.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

PARI Parking Improvements Page 2 August 23, 2017
UT Lamance Cr, Transylvania County
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: Mike Lovoy, Advantage Civil Engineering
Kevin Mitchell, NC Division of Water Resources