Neuse River Waterdog Survey GoPro Adventure

Chris Sheats, PWS, Biological Survey Lead/Senior Project Manager

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was petitioned by the Center for Biological Diversity to list the Neuse River Waterdog (Necturus lewisi) as either Threatened or Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973.

In order to prepare for the listing, SEPI biologists Chris Sheats, PWS and Bob Lespic, PWS of our awesome Environmental team conducted trapping surveys for North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) projects over waterways in the Neuse and Tar River basins, where the Neuse River waterdog is known to occur.

Our biologists did not find the waterdog, but did have some other interesting discoveries along the way. Take a look!

Also, a big congrats to Chris for earning several impressive environmental permits:

• NC Wildlife Resources Commission Endangered Species Permit for the Neuse River Water Dog.
• Endangered Species Permit for Statewide Freshwater Mussels
• Endangered Species Permit for Carolina Madtom

This puts SEPI in an elite group of firms who can provide specialized services in NC for threatened + endangered species. Congrats Chris!

For a complete list of SEPI’s approved NCDOT codes, click here.

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