HomeMy WebLinkAboutHabitat Management Plan 601105001
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Ken Shock . .,. "'9'1 ....f~.C\\.ii
Blueberry Hill Large Lot Subdivision, Lot 11OIG'rE r~i \\-; 1\ i!
No Effect Biological Evaluation 1\.. ,JiA j
For ~E? 1. ~
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) v
Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) \tt\\.%~~~ t~~~\'i ~t~
Spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) dU
Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
Hood Canal Summer Run Chum (Oncorhynchus keta)
v"'- .'...'
Ken Shock is proposing to cross a narrow portion of wetland that lies in a north south
orientation across this 5 acre parcel to achieve access to a future building site, which lies
west of the wetland. The wetland fill will involve 945 square feet near the northern tip of the
Category II emergent and forested wetland community. A seasonal drainage enters the
northwest corner of the wetland and a culvert is proposed to accommodate that flow of water
so that hydrology is maintained. The project lies in the NE JA of the SE JA of Section 10,
Township 26 N, Range 1 W. WM and is just west of Coyle Road north of its intersection
with Blueberry Hill Road. The fill of wetland is less than 1/2 acre in waters of the US and a
Nationwide Permit is required from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The discussion of
Essential Fish Habitat is included with this biological evaluation. Site photos documenting
current conditions of the proposed driveway route are included at the back of the BE and are
referenced throughout the BE.
Project Description
The parcel on which the wetland fill is proposed is 5 acres in size and is part of the
Blueberry Hill Large Lot Subdivision, which is comprised of 10 individual 5 acre parcels
lying east and west of Blueberry Hill Road. Blueberry Hill Road provides access to all lots
of the subdivision from Coyle Road and ends at a cul-de-sac at the southeast corner of this
parcel. This is the legal access point to the lot and no access is permitted to the lot from
Coyle Road because there is a large open space tract along the west side of the subdivision.
The wetland fill is necessary to achieve construction of a driveway to the building site lying
on the west half of the site. The driveway will leave Blueberry Hill Road at the cul-de-sac
across the east half and will run along the north property line to the proposed building site.
The building site is the only suitable location as there is a large enough area outside the
required 100 foot buffer to construct the home. The drainfield is also proposed on the west
side because the well is proposed on the east side and the drainfield is required to be at least
100 feet from the well site. Single family homes have already been constructed on lots to the
south and southeast with no homes on the adjacent eastern lot. The building site has been
placed where it will require the least amount of vegetation removal and will involve only
removal of a few red alder trees. The small conifer forest at the south end will not be
removed.
1
The wetland fill will take place at the northern tip of this linear wetland that begins just off-
site to the north and extends across this and the adjacent southern 5 acre parcels. The
wetland lies in a shallow depression and there is no actual stream channel formed but there is
,some sheet flow through the system. It contains both forest and emergent communities with
some scrub/shrub communities created in the old clear cut area in the southeastern portion.
There is no stream association and water appears to just sheet flow through the system,
which ends just north of the intersection of Coyle Road and Blueberry Hill Drive. It appears
to sheet flow into the ditch along Coyle Road and flows southerly through the ditch. Its
ultimate destination was not determined as part of this project.
The project involves constructing a single lane, 12 foot wide driveway with small shoulders
across the north end of the on-site Category II wetland system. There will be 945 square feet
of wetland fill and installation of an 18 inch diameter corrugated metal culvert to permit flow
of water via a seasonal channel from a wetland off-site to the north. The culvert will also
permit continued flow of water from the remaining off-site portion of this wetland so that
there will be no impact to that area of wetland. The height of the fill will be just enough so
that the road will be strong enough to support heavy equipment during homesite construction
and the long term use for the single family home. The amount of fill is being kept low to
keep the wetland impacts to a minimum by reducing the amount of shoulder required to
support the road
Road work will occur in the summer months when water levels are at their lowest so that
there will be few if any water quality impacts. Equipment to be used in driveway
construction will include dump trucks and road grading equipment to lay the road base pit
run over which the driveway gravel will be placed. The culvert will be placed on grade in a
diagonal direction under the road base as shown on the site plan attached to this document.
Construction of the driveway will involve removal of about 8 red alder trees and a clump of
three western red cedar trees in the wetland and buffer areas but will otherwise will only
remove herbaceous understory species in both the wetland and upland (see Shock Wetland
Mitigation Photos #3-7). Home construction and drainfield installation will occur following
construction of the driveway, which could take place during the next 6 to 9 months through
the summer, fall and winter of 2006.
Mitigation for the wetland fill will be in the form of enhancement of the clear cut areas of the
wetland to improve habitat and remove invasive species. The area of mitigation will include
both upland buffer and wetland at the south end of the site to compensate for wetland and
buffer impacts. The mitigation plan, which is described in a separate report submitted with
this application,. will involve installation of additional native plant species in the proposed
enhancement area as well as along the driveway where it crosses the wetland (see mitigation
plan drawing). Implementation of the mitigation plan will take place during the upcoming
winter season when the plants are dormant.
2
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Action Area
The Blueberry Hill Large Lot Subdivision is located in a very -'1Ir,!1 area of the Toandos
Peninsula where there are few paved roads and few homes on relatively large lots. This
subdivision is comprised of 10 5-acre parcels surrounded to the east by large un-platted tracts
of land that based on aerial photo views is undeveloped and comprised of second to third
growth forest. To the west, there are additional platted 5 acre parcels (west of Coyle Road)
that are also surrounded by large tracts of un-platted land. The 1990 aerial photo (two views
attached) show the area in and around the Blueberry Hill Large Lot Subdivision as having
been clear cut with the remaining forest areas that appear to consist of a mixed
deciduous/coniferous tree canopies. Streams in this area eventually drain into either Hood
Canal to the east or Dabob Bay to the west both of which are at least ~ mile from this site
and separated by large expanses of forest.
Wetland and Water Resources
There are no stream systems mapped within the vicinity of this site except to the west of
Coyle Road. The on-site wetland is not associated with that stream but may eventually flow
to the stream via ditches along Coyle Road. There is a seasonal drainage channel that enters
the wetland near its northern tip that originates at a wetland off-site to. the north. It appears
that the wetland overflows during periods of heavy rainfall and has created a shallow channel
into the on-site wetland. The stream channel ends abruptly at the wetland boundary and
water appears to mostly pond within the wetland with some sheet flow through the wetland.
There is no stream or defined channel through the wetland except as it exits the south
property line where the adjacent property owner historically placed a culvert under a
driveway. South of this culvert, the wetland appears to curve more to the southwest and
continues to sheet flow into the ditch along Coyle Road. Water is conveyed southerly in this
ditch toward a dip in the roadway just south of the intersection with Blueberry Hill Drive.
The source of hydrology to the off and on-site wetlands appears to mostly be rainfall and
surface water runoff. There is no indication that groundwater is a source of hydrology as no
seeps were observed, there are no significantly steep slopes adjacent to the wetland and the
wetland appears to be a seasonally flooded system. The on-site wetland is mostly an
emergent system with small forest and shrub components that is dominated by slough sedge
and hardhack spiraea with red alder and western red cedar occurring in the small forest
components (Shock Wetland Mitigation Photos #1, 4, 12 and 13). Water parsley and lower
percentages of slough sedge occur in the wetland where the off-site stream drainage enters
(see Shock Wetland Mitigation Photo #2).
The wetland meets the criteria for a Category II system because it contains two vegetation
communities and has generally good buffers around all sides with good corridors to other
potential habitat areas (see Wetland Analysis Report for Lot 1 Blueberry Hill Large Lot at
345 Blueberry Hill Drive for more wetland information). The southeastern portion of the
wetland has been somewhat impacted by clear cutting activities as seen in the Shock Wetland
3
Mitigation Photos 12-15 and at this time, there are mostly native species beginning to inhabit
portions of the cleared wetland and buffer. Mitigation for the driveway crossing is proposed
in the clear cut portions of the wetland and buffer to encourage continued growth of native
plant species. It will involve installation of additional native species that will improve the
diversity of the system. See the Wetland Mitigation Plan submitted with this application for
more information.
Species Listing
This evaluation. is being prepared in response to the ESA listing downloaded from the
USFWS website (http://.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.htm) and National Marine Fisheries
Service website. The listings indicated the potential presence of marbled murrelet, spotted
owl, bald eagle, and bull trout in the Jefferson County area. Species of concern include
Coho salmon, long-eared myotis, long-legged myotis, northern goshawk, northern sea otter,
northwestern pond turtle, pacific lamprey, pacific Townsend's big eared bat, peregrine
falcon, river lamprey, tailed frog, and western toad. The river lamprey and pacific lamprey
are currently being considered for listing. The NOAA website (www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-
Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations) list Puget Sound Chinook as threatened.
Site visits were made in early January 2006 when the delineation was completed with two
additional visits made in early and late spring 2006 to identify the potential for mitigation.
No individuals of the listed species were identified on or in the vicinity of the site and there
was no stream identified that would indicate the site or wetland is used by the listed fish
species or by food fishes. There is no Essential Fish Habitat in this system because there is
fish habitat and it is at least ~ mile from the Hood Canal and Dabob Bay habitat areas.
There also does not appear to be habitat features available for the most of the listed species
of concern but there may be some habitat for the tailed frog and western toad within the
wetland and the bat species in the upland forest around the site.
Bald Eagle Occurrence
Although specific data concerning the presence of bald eagle habitat or nesting sites was not
obtained for this BE, it was clear during the field visits that there is little in the way of
habitat features that eagles would utilize in the immediate vicinity of the project site. They
likely fly over the site during the day but there are no feeding areas and very few tall trees for
perching while looking for food. They are more likely found along the shoreline of the Coyle
Peninsula, which is at least ~ mile away east and west of the site. The project is not
situated within potential bald eagle habitat so there will be No Effect to individual bald
eagles nor will there be impact to bald eagle habitat.
Spotted Owl
As indicated on the Terraserver aerial photos, the Blueberry Hill Large Lot subdivision was
clear cut in 1990 so the forest that is currently growing on and around the site is only 16
years old. There are large expanses of forest around the clear cut areas that may be mature
forest but based on observations made during visits to this area, the forest community does
4
not appear to be old growth. Since spotted owls are typically found in old growth forests
on the Olympic Peninsula and there are no old growth forested communities on or near
this site, the proposed driveway crossing will have No Effect on spotted owl habitat or
individuals.
Marbled Murrelet
Marbled murrelets typically occur in areas with old growth forests within 50 miles of marine
waters. As stated earlier, the aerial photos obtained from Terraserver indicate that this site
and much of the land around the site was clear cut in 1990 so there is little in the way of old
growth forest in the vicinity. The areas not cleared around. the site appear to have been
comprised of fairly young forest in 1990 and some areas have since been cleared so there do
not appear to be any old growth or mature forested communities in this area. This project
will have No Effect on marbled murrelet or its habitat because there are no habitats
available in the project area and this species is likely not found in the vicinity of this
project.
Bull Trout Occurrence
Bull trout do not occur within the on-site wetland because there is no stream association and
there does not appear to be connection to streams that would be utilized by bull trout. The
project area has no use by.bull trout so the project itself will have No Effect on bull
trout or its habitat.
Chinook . Occurrence
There is no stream associated with the on-site wetland that provides habitat for Chinook
salmon and there does not appear to be a connection to a Chinook bearing stream system or
directly to Hood Canal and Dabob Bay. Because there are no streams associated with the
wetland and there is habitat within this system, this project will have No Effect on the
Chinook salmon ESU or individuals.
Hood Canal Summer Run Chum
There is no stream associated with this wetland and there is no direct channelized connection
to chum streams or into Hood Canal and Dabob Bay. Chum salmon do not. occur on or
near the project site, the project will have No Effect on Hood Canal Summer Run
Chum or their ESU.
Coho Salmon Occurrence
There is no stream associated with this wetland system and there is no surface water
connection to a Coho Salmon stream or to Hood Canal and Dabob Bay. The proposed
driveway will not impact Coho salmon habitat as there is no usage within this system so
the project will have No Effect on usage by Coho salmon.
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Species of Concern
There are no habitat features for Peregrine falcon, sea otter, Northwestern pond turtle,
Pacific lamprey, river lamprey, tailed frog or western toad within the project area so the
proposed culvert replacement will have No Effect to these species or their habitats. There
are generally young forested communities in the vicinity of the site that may be used by the
myotis species (long eared and long-legged), Pacific Townsend's big eared bat and northern
goshawk. The project will involve removal of only a few red alder trees that are 20 to 30
years of age and these trees do not appear to be utilized by my otis species. River and
Pacific lamprey are being considered for federal listing but the wetland does not appear
to have features suitable for lampreys, therefore, the project will have No Effect on
these species. In summary, the proposed project will not impact the habitat of the
species of concern and will not involve taking or jeopardy to individuals of these species.
Essential Fish Habitat
The wetland over which the proposed driveway will be constructed is not associated with a
stream system and therefore has no fish usage. It does not appear to be a significant source
of water to any downstream essential fish habitat as it is associated with seasonal sheet flow
that drains into the ditch along Coyle Road. The ditch is part of a continuous roadside ditch
system and is not a ditched stream. It appears to drain south and may eventually flow into a
stream system with or without fish that drains into Hood Canal but once again does not
provide a source of hydrology. The site is at least ~ mile from Hood Canal to the east and
Dabob Bay to the west and since the project will involve only 945 square feet of fill at the
north end of the wetland, any sediment generated on the site will be removed by the wetland
before it discharges into the roadside ditch system. Therefore, this project will have No
Effect on the Essential Fish Habitat in downstream waters including Hood Canal and Dabob
Bay.
Closing
It is our understanding that this satisfies our responsibilities under Section 7 (c) of the
Endangered Species Act and Essential Fish Habitat at this time, and we are sending you this
copy of our assessment for your files. We will Continue to remain aware of any change in
status of these species and will be prepared to re-evaluate potential project impacts if
necessary. Please call me if you require any additional information or have any questions
about this project.
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RECE IVEI)
SEP 1 42006
JEffERSON COUNTY DCI
Joanne Bartlett
Professional Wetland Scientist
6
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APPENDIX A-5
JEFFERSON COUNTY WETLAND AND STREAM INVENTORY
Jefferson County Central Services GIS at:
http://maps.co.jefferson.wa.us/output/temp_esa _ GISSERVER30003 71614033 .jpg.
Green polygons represent the inventoried wetlands and purple lines represent streams.
Wetland Invento Information Collected for Tax Parcel No. 601105001
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For Informational Purposes Only
Jefferson County does not attest to the accuracy of the data contained herein and makes no warranty
with respect to its correctness or validity. Data contained in this map is limited by the method and
accuracy of its collection. Features depicted on this map must be verified in the field.
fi
Wiltermood Associates, I~c.
1015 SW Harper Road
Port Orchard, W A 98367
(360) 876-2403
SHOCK WETLAND MITIGATION PHOTOS
This series of photos provides different views of the wetland in the proposed driveway area. Photo #1 looks
south from the proposed driveway location and shows the slough sedge dominated community.
Enhancement of the wetland will occur in the foreground of this photo once the driveway is constructed to
screen the wetland from driveway noise and light. The trees that require removal for driveway construction
will be felled into the wetland to provide additional habitat features. Photo #2 looks down into the wetland
where the swale from the northwest enters the wetland. This area is dominated by water parsley and slough
sedge. Photo #3 looks along the proposed driveway route from the western buffer. The stake in the
foreground appears to be survey point and the flags in the middle background represent the north property
line. The driveway will lie just to the right of the flags. The trees in the photo are the only ones that will
actually be removed as part of the driveway construction. Photo #4 was taken from an upland hummock in
the proposed driveway route and looks into the emergent dominated wetland at the point where the off-site
drainage enters this system. A culvert will be placed under the road in this location to allow continuation of
water flow.
Photo #1
Photo #3
Photo #2
Photo #4
SHOCK WETLAND MITIGATION PHOTOS
These photos show areas of buffer through which the driveway will cross. Photo #5 looks southerly into the
buffer from the driveway location while Photos #6 and #7 look southwesterly and westerly, respectively,
into the buffer area through which the driveway will cross. The area in Photo #6 will be enhanced with
conifer trees to encourage the development of a coniferous understory and eventually overstory canopy in
this location. Photo #7 actually looks along the proposed driveway route and it is clear that very little actual
woody vegetation will be removed from the western buffer during driveway construction.
Photo #5
Photo #6
Photo #7
SHOCK WETLAND MITIGATION PHOTOS
This series of photos shows the conditions of the eastern buffer. Photo #8 looks down the slope toward the
wetland along the driveway route and shows that there is little in the way of woody vegetation that will be
cleared for construction of the driveway. Photo #9 looks to the left of the driveway route (south of the
driveway) to show the condition of the vegetation in the remaining buffer. Photos #10 and 11 show the
condition of the buffer outside the driveway crossing from a clearing outside the buffer and indicates that the
remaining vegetation is very thickly dominated by many conifer trees and shrubs.
Photo #8
Photo #10
Photo #9
Photo #11
SHOCK WETLAND MITIGATION PHOTOS
These photos show the existing conditions of the proposed mitigation areas. Photo #12 was taken from the
south property line and looks north through the emergent wetland, which is dominated by slough sedge and
patches of salal remaining from the historic forested mosaic community. Photo #13 was taken from the
same location as Photo #12 but looks northeasterly into the developing scrub/shrub wetland community that
is dominated by hardhack spiraea. There is no enhancement proposed for the area in Photo # 12 but the area
in Photo #13 will be enhanced with shrub clumps and western red cedar trees. The trees and shrubs will be
planted so that they will eventually overhang the slough sedge area. Photos #14 and 15 were taken from a
point about 50 feet east of Photos 12 and 13 to show the area of buffer to be enhanced. This area is mostly
comprised of low growing shrubs and open grassy areas with a few scattered conifer trees. Additional native
shrubs are to be installed in clumps and western red cedar trees are proposed as part of the mitigation plan.
Photo #12
Photo #14
Photo #13
Photo #15
SHOCK WETLAND MITIGATION PHOTOS
These photos show the enhanced buffer area from the cul-de-sac at the property's southeast comer. Photo
#16 looks in a southwesterly direction across the enhanced buffer area, which from this vantage point, is
mostly dominated by grasses with patches of salal and evergreen huckleberry and scattered conifer trees.
Photo #17 looks in a westerly direction and shows the thicker conifer cover toward the north end of this
buffer area. Photo #18 is taken from the same location as Photos 16 and 17 but looks in a more
northwesterly direction across the enhanced buffer area. Photo #19 was also taken from the cul-de-sac and
is included because it shows the vegetation occurring in the western buffer where the three conifer trees in
the background are situated. One or more of these trees may have had to be removed if the driveway was to
be constructed along the south edge. Proposing the driveway along the north property line has resulted in
avoiding removal of significant vegetation.
Photo #16
Photo #18
Photo #17
Photo #19