20180455 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20180419

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
April 19, 2018
Ms. Amanda Fuemmeler
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Rogers Mechanical Site – after-the-fact
Brown Branch and UT, Watauga County
Dear Ms. Fuemmeler:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to account for unpermitted impacts to 252 ft of Brown Branch and an unnamed
tributary (UT) and 0.78 acre of wetland in Watauga 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).
Past and proposed project activities likely did not and will not impact wild trout spawning;
proposed activities do not need to be avoided during the trout moratorium period. However,
downstream of the project site is the South Fork of the New River, part of the South Fork New
River Aquatic Habitat, a natural area rated Exceptional by the NC Natural Heritage Program due
to the extraordinary diversity of rare species it contains. Rare and listed species within the
vicinity of the project include the Kanawha Minnow (Phenacobius teretulus, US Federal Species
of Concern (FSC), NC Special Concern (SC)), Tonguetied Minnow \[Exoglossum laurae, NC
Significantly Rare (SR)\], Kanawha Darter (Etheostoma kanawhae, NC SR), and Rosyface Shiner
(Notropis sp., NC SR). These species are particularly sensitive to excessive fine sediment, and it
is especially important to control sediment on site.
The application documents unpermitted activities associated with site development that resulted
in culverting 252 ft of Brown Branch and an UT to Brown Branch, trout buffer clearing on 200 ft
of stream, woody and herbaceous vegetation removal from 0.78 acre of wetland, and fill in 0.03
acre of wetland. A corrective action plan (CAP) proposes to remove fill, regrade, and replant the
impacted wetlands with native woody and herbaceous vegetation. In addition, it proposes to
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Rogers Mechanical Site, ATF Page 2 April 19, 2018
Brown Br & UT, Watauga County
remove a 20-ft culvert from Brown Branch and shorten a 220-ft HDPE culvert on UT to Brown
Branch, resulting in a permanent HDPE culvert of 149 ft.
The CAP proposes to live stake the banks of Brown Branch and de-culverted UT to Brown
Branch; as it appears that the site was previously forested and the regulated trout buffer is 25 ft,
we recommend that the planted buffer be at least that width. However, NCWRC’s standard
recommendation is that a woody buffer of at least 30 feet be planted on both sides of the stream
as infrastructure allows 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.
The 149-ft culvert that will be left in place must be properly buried to allow sediment deposition
and movement of aquatic organisms, such as salamanders. We recommend against using HDPE
material, as this slick material is less likely to hold stream substrate and provide for movement of
aquatic organisms like fish and salamanders.
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.
3.Brown Branch and its UT should be replanted with a woody buffer of at least 30 ft in width.
4.The 149-ft culvert should be properly buried and composed of material that will retain stream
substrate and allow for movement of aquatic organisms. We recommend against using slick-
walled HDPE.
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: Sean Martin, CWS, Inc.
Sue Homewood, NC Division of Water Resources