Chesnut_Park_EnvironmentalAssmt_TM_2023-.pdf

01890-006-01 1 August 2023 Wetland and Listed Wildlife Species Assessment

TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM

Chesnut Park Project

TO: Sean P. Menard, PE, CDT, ENV SP, Assoc. DBIA (Jones Edmunds)

FROM: Laura Coveney, MS, AA

DATE: August 3, 2023

SUBJECT: Wetland and Listed Wildlife Species Assessment

Jones Edmunds Project No. 01890-006-01

1 INTRODUCTION

The proposed Pinellas County Chesnut Park Surface Facilities Design Project is at the south end of John Chesnut Sr. Park adjacent to Brooker Creek at 2200 East Lake Road South, Palm Harbor, Florida (Figure 1). This project entails installing additional monitoring wells and associated support infrastructure including a small building for electrical and disinfection equipment.

On May 11, 2023, I conducted an environmental assessment within the project area that included a pre-construction gopher tortoise survey of the entire project footprint in accordance with Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) guidelines, an assessment of the presence/absence of other listed wildlife species or their habitat, and a delineation of jurisdictional wetlands and surface waters. This Technical Memorandum presents the results of this assessment.

2 SITE DESCRIPTION

The project site is a limited access portion of the John Chesnut Sr. Park just south of

Brooker Creek and west of East Lake Road South. The on-site vegetative communities within the project boundary were categorized using the 1999 Florida Land Use, Cover, and

Classification System (FLUCCS) developed by the Florida Department of Transportation. The project area comprises one upland community, one surface-water community, and one wetland community. Each on-site community is described below.

The site is undeveloped and the uplands are dominated primarily by pine flatwoods

(FLUCCS 411) with a canopy of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and fairly open understory and ground cover that includes saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), gallberry (Ilex glabra), grapevine (Vitis rotundifolia), and scattered poison ivy

(Toxicodendron radicans) (Figure 2).

The west side of the project is dominated by Stream and Lake Swamps (Bottomland)

FLUCCS 615, and is part of Tarpon Lake. Dominant vegetation includes bald cypress

(Taxodium distichum), swamp fern (Blechnum serrulatum), leatherfern (Acrostichum danaefolium), and cattail (Typha spp.).

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FIGURE 1

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FIGURE 2

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The project area is bordered on the north edge by Brooker Creek. This surface water

(FLUCCS 510, Streams and Waterways), contains little to no vegetation with a few Carolina willow (Salix caroliniana) along the edges.

3 LISTED WILDLIFE SPECIES

3.1 GOPHER TORTOISE

On May 11, 2023, I performed a pedestrian survey for gopher tortoise (GT) burrows at the

Chesnut Park Surface Facilities Design Project. The review was conducted in accordance with FWC guidelines to determine if GT burrows would be impacted by the proposed project.

The survey was completed by walking the easement and areas 25 feet or more outside the easement where access was available.

No GT burrows or signs of tortoises were identified within the proposed construction limits or within the areas 25 feet adjacent to the construction area. Based on the results of this survey, no wildlife permitting for GT will be required.

3.2 EASTERN INDIGO SNAKE

Eastern indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi) are federally listed as Threatened. Eastern indigo snakes have large home ranges and use a variety of habitat types that include uplands, wetlands, hammocks, and disturbed areas.

We observed no eastern indigo snakes during our field investigations, although a formal eastern indigo snake survey was not conducted. Based on existing vegetation communities, the project site has potential to be used by eastern indigo snakes. However, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Eastern Indigo Snake Programmatic Effect

Determination Key (August 2017 Addendum), this project will likely Not Likely to Adversely

Affect the eastern indigo snake due to the following:

1. The project is not in open water or salt marsh.

2. The permit will be conditioned for use if the USFWS’s most current guidance for

Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo Snake during site preparation and project construction

3. The project will impact less than 25 acres of eastern indigo snake habitat (e.g., sandhill, scrub, pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, high pine, dry prairie, coastal prairie, mangrove swamps, tropical hardwood hammocks, hydric hammocks, edges of freshwater marshes, agricultural fields [including sugar cane fields and active, inactive, or abandoned citrus groves], and coastal dunes).

4. Any permit will be conditioned so that all GT burrows, active or inactive, will be excavated before site manipulation in the vicinity of the burrow. If an eastern indigo snake is encountered, the snake must be allowed to vacate the area before additional site manipulation in the vicinity. Any permit will also be conditioned so that holes, cavities, and snake refugia other that GT burrows will be inspected each morning before planned site manipulation of a particular area, and if occupied by an eastern indigo snake, no work will commence until the snake has vacated the vicinity of the proposed work.

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3.3 BALD EAGLE

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was removed from the USFWS Endangered

Species list in 2007 and the FWC Imperiled Species list in 2008 but is still protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Act, as well as the state bald eagle rule (Rule 68A-16.002, Florida Administrative Code [FAC]). A federal permit is required for activities proposed within 660’ of an eagle’s nest. A potential bald eagle nest was identified within the property adjacent to the proposed work area (Figure 3). Eagle nesting season is defined as October 1 to May 15, and although the nest was observed within this timeframe, no eagles were present at the time. As my inspection was very late in the nesting season and evidence of recent avian activity (whitewash and scattered bones from prey) was observed, I cannot definitively determine the nest activity status or the species utilizing it. Based on my field review, I recommend that no activities are conducted within the 660-foot radius eagle protection zone. If avoidance of this area is not possible, a nesting season survey should be conducted in the fall to determine if the nest is active and if so what species is currently utilizing it.

3.3 WOOD STORK

The project area is within three wood stork (Mycteria americana) nesting colony core foraging areas (CFA). A CFA consists of a 15-mile radius around the nesting colony. The proposed project will fill wetlands that provide limited food resources and are adjacent to intense human-use areas.

Using the Determination Key for the Wood Stork in Central and North Florida Peninsular

Florida (US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE], September 2008), the proposed impacts to wetlands at the project site are expected to cause No Effect due to the following:

1. The Project is more than 2,500 feet from a colony site.

2. The Project does not affect suitable foraging habitat (SFH).

Based on this evaluation, no impacts to this species are expected and no permitting will be required.

3.3 OTHER LISTED WILDLIFE SPECIES

The wetlands on and adjacent to the site have the potential for use by wading birds, which are protected by both state and federal laws. The wetlands could be utilized by wading birds for foraging and nesting; however, no nesting or wading were observed during the site review. As a result, no permitting associated with these species is expected.

4 JURISDICTIONAL WETLANDS AND SURFACE WATERS

One wetland and one surface water were identified within the project area (Figure 2). The south edge of the surface water was delineated since it abuts the north side of the project area. This surface water (FLUCCS 510, Streams and Waterways), identified as Brooker

Creek, constitutes the north limit of the project area. This area contains little to no vegetation with a few Carolina willow (Salix caroliniana) along the edges.

FIGURE 3

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A wetland along the west side of the project area is characterized as FLUCCS 615, Stream and Lake Swamps (Bottomland), and is part of Tarpon Lake. Dominant vegetation includes bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), swamp fern (Blechnum serrulatum), leatherfern

(Acrostichum danaefolium), and cattail (Typha spp.). This area extends to the west and south of the line flagged in the field. Both delineation lines were flagged within the proposed project area and do not indicate the entire limits of the wetland but the portion adjacent to the project area.

Both wetlands delineated onsite are classified as Retained Waters by USACE, which means that USACE will retain responsibility for permitting the discharge of dredged or fill material in these wetlands. Retained waters are identified as all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide shoreward to their mean high-water mark, including adjacent wetlands landward to the administrative boundary. The administrative boundary is defined as a 300-foot guideline established from the ordinary high-water mark or mean high-tide line of the retained water.

Since this project involves discharges of dredged or fill material waterward and landward of the 300-foot guideline, USACE will retain jurisdiction to the landward boundary of the project only. Impacts to this wetland and surface water will require a permit from the

Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and USACE and will require mitigation.

Jones Edmunds (JE) will attend a pre-application meeting with USACE and SWFWMD staff and prepare the permit applications for submittal to the appropriate representative agencies. JE will also meet Agency Staff on-site to review and approve the wetland lines. As part of the permitting process with both SWFWMD and USACE, the State Historic

Preservation Office (SHPO) will be notified of the proposed site development. Any follow-up questions or RAI’s that may be issued from SHPO regarding the project will be directed to

Jones Edmunds for review and completion.

5 COUNTY TREE ORDINANCE

Pinellas County Code Part III Chapter 166 addresses Environmental and Natural Resource

Protection including tree removal. This section states that trees on private lands that are

4 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) or greater require a permit for removal. Trees that are exempt from permitting are Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera), and punk tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia). If tree removal is required for project construction and as this project is in John Chesnut Sr. Park, which is

Pinellas County-owned land, coordination with County Natural Resources staff should be initiated before tree removal.

Pinellas County Code also regulates wetland buffers and listed species, and these County

Codes mirror State and Federal laws. Permits acquired from State and Federal agencies will ensure site development also meets the requirements set forth by the County.