The following is a summary of the proposed action, as described in the frenchcreek environmental assessment of april 22, 2024

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the National Fish Habitat Partnership (CFDA 15.686) program, provides $105,300.00 to the Crawford County Conservation District in Venango, PA to restore and stabilize the left bank of French Creek and remove sediment accumulation at the mouth of the Coulter Run tributary. The project aims to improve habitat for native freshwater mussels, including benefits to critical habitat for the Longsolid and Rabbitsfoot mussels, as well as proposed salamander mussel critical habitat. The grant will fund activities to reduce channel obstructions, stabilize the eroding bank, and enhance the physical and biological features of the creek ecosystem. The project is expected to be completed by September 30, 2026.

This project is located on french creek in crawfordcounty, venango township, pennsylvania at the confluence with coulter run, upstream of state ROUTE19 bridge that crosses french creek near venango, PA. Coulter run is a relatively small tributary thathistorically carried a high sediment load when IT was rerouted to its current location . The sediment is OFA size and quantity that precludes adequate transport by the waters of french creek. Consequently, theconfluence is an area of deposition for the sediment transported from coulter run. The area ofdeposition is approximately 5,700 M2 (1.4 acres), which has created a peninsula extending into frenchcreek, blocking flow in approximately two thirds of the cross section of creek. The pinching of thechannel has resulted in high flow velocities in the remaining third of the total cross section, located onthe inside of the bend of french creek on the river left side. The resulting increase in the flow velocitieshas caused erosion of the river left bank, destabilizing the bank, and allowing bank material to sluff intofrench creek. The objective of this project is the restoration and stabilization of theriver left bank, and to remove the aggradation at the mouth of coulter run to reduce the obstructedportion of the cross section and improve habitat for the native freshwater mussels, including benefits tothe physical and biological features (PBF) of the longsolid, and rabbitsfoot, critical habitat and proposedsalamander mussel critical habitat. These actions are also expected to stabilize the eroding bankbenefiting local landowners.