Many have seen heavy machinery in Madison County waterways and have expressed concerns about excessive woody debris removal and impacts to wildlife in the French Broad River. MountainTrue shares those concerns. We wanted to share an update for how this cleanup is going and how you can help ensure it goes smoothly. 

MountainTrue, funded by a grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, is focused on removing small, hand-pickable trash from waterways that machines can’t reach. Our work focuses on extracting man-made debris from areas inaccessible to machinery and restoring stream banks to help prevent erosion. MountainTrue will not be removing woody debris.

Meanwhile, with funding from FEMA, Madison County has hired Southern Debris Removal (SDR) to conduct larger debris removal using heavy machinery from bank to bank on the French Broad River, up to the traditional high water mark (Not the Helene flood mark.) SDR’s work is overseen by the Madison County Soil & Water Conservation District, the local government agency responsible for directing their efforts.

MountainTrue is working closely with Madison County Soil & Water to protect the river from unnecessary disturbance and ensure that dangerous debris is removed. To ensure that this complicated process is done as safely and effectively as possible, we could use your help.

How You Can Help

As residents and members of the local boating community, you have more eyes on this process than anyone. We’re calling on you to help guide this operation toward the best possible outcome by witnessing, documenting and reporting what you see.

SDR, like all contractors paid with FEMA funding, is required to follow FEMA Waterway Debris Removal Guidelines.

What actions would violate those guidelines?

• No timber matting under vehicles or machines entering/exiting waterways (these mats look like railroad ties embedded in the bank)
• Spilled petroleum or hazardous substances
• Excavation (digging) of soil or woody debris instead of pulling
• Removal of live trees leaning less than 30%
• Removal of root balls with less than 50% exposed
• Clumps of soil still attached to tree roots
• Removal of downed trees that were there before the storm
• Use of vehicles or machinery in wetlands

SDR is contracted to work countywide and may enter any navigable waterway. However, they are not allowed to remove pre-storm debris. On creeks that didn’t flood (like Big Pine Creek), there should be little to no debris removal. If you see them working on our little creeks, it’s worth documenting. MountainTrue is funded to carefully remove debris from smaller tributaries impacted by Helene.

If you see anything that violates these guidelines, including actions that create unnecessary environmental or safety hazards, you can submit this form: Madison County Debris Removal Concerns.

When submitting, include as much of the following as you can:

• Date, time, and location of the incident
• Close-up photos or videos showing the issue
• Zoomed-out photos or videos that give context to the location
• If safe to obtain, a photo of the machine’s ID sticker (usually located on the side) can also be helpful, but it’s not required

What happens next?

MountainTrue staff will review your submissions and pass them along to the Madison County Soil and Water Department if we feel that there is strong evidence that SDR is in violation of the guidelines. 

To be clear, this is a complicated and necessary process. We are not seeking confrontation with machine operators, just accountability. Please keep in mind that debris removal employees are doing tough work in challenging conditions. How we engage matters and how we approach them may shape how they care for our community in return. 

Let us know what you see. With your help, we can advocate for this cleanup to be done right and protect our rivers. For more information on Madison County Soil & Water Conservation District’s work with SDR, see its post here.

Additional information about the debris removal process in Madison County

SDR’s work will occur in two phases.

Phase 1: Waterway Debris Removal (WDR)

• During this stage, SDR may operate in the river channel (bank to bank) and remove debris up to the traditional high‑water line (not the Helene flood mark). Think of it like they are working on a highway right-of-way.
• No landowner permission is required to remove debris up to the traditional high‑water line from within the river.
• Machines may not operate above the high-water line unless the owner has signed a Right of Entry (ROE) during this phase.

If you see machines driving up the banks, tire tracks left above the traditional high water line, or debris that has been removed above the high water line during this stage, those are all causes for suspicion – please take a video and report it via the above form. 

Phase 2: Personal Property Debris Removal (PPDR)

• Begins after the WDR phase is completed for a given river section.
• Some areas (like Sections 7 and 10) may enter this phase before others (like Sections 8 and 9)
• Property owners must sign up for this phase to have debris removed above the traditional high‑water line, otherwise SDR is not allowed to enter the property.

Can I still access the river?

• All public access points and river parks will remain open throughout SDR’s stay in Madison County.
• You are absolutely within your rights to be present at river parks, observe work, and take videos.
• SDR cannot ask you to leave public access points or parks.

Dear MountainTrue Members & Friends,

We’re thrilled to share a major milestone in our region’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.

MountainTrue is partnering with the State of North Carolina to launch one of the largest river cleanup efforts Western North Carolina has ever seen. Backed by $10 million in state funding through the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), this program will put people back to work, restore our rivers, and bring our communities together.

This is more than a cleanup—it’s a recovery effort grounded in our core values: clean water, healthy ecosystems, and resilient communities.

About the Program

After Helene, federal aid helped address major rivers and large debris, but smaller streams and tributaries were left behind — still clogged with trash, broken infrastructure, and storm debris. That’s where we come in.

Over the next year and a half, MountainTrue will:

• Deploy paid cleanup crews across Western North Carolina
• Remove debris from rivers and streams across our region
• Continue to grow our network of volunteers
• Work directly with landowners to access and restore hard-to-reach areas

In our pilot phase alone, our staff and volunteers have already removed nearly 3 million pounds of debris. This new program lets us scale that success across 26 counties and the Qualla Boundary.

How You Can Get Involved

• Apply for a job: We’re hiring! Visit cleanupwncrivers.com for good, steady work with real impact.
• Volunteer: Check out our volunteer events to lend a hand. To organize a cleanup day with your church, hiking club, or civic group, contact cleanupprogram@mountaintrue.org
• Landowner? If you own riverfront property, we may be able to help clean it up — at no cost to you. Contact us at cleanupprogram@mountaintrue.org
• Donate: Your support helps us go further, reach more places, and restore rivers faster. Every gift matters.

Why This Matters

• It’s creating jobs for people displaced by the storm.
• It’s protecting water quality and public safety.
• It’s helping revive WNC’s outdoor recreation and tourism economy.
• And it shows what’s possible when communities come together.

This is a proud moment for MountainTrue—and a powerful example of what we can achieve with your support. In the weeks ahead, we’ll share more ways you can help spread the word, volunteer, and celebrate the impact we’re making together.

Thank you for being part of this important work. You make all of this possible.

With gratitude,

Bob Wagner, MountainTrue Executive Director

MountainTrue’s River Debris Cleanup Program

After Hurricane Helene, MountainTrue is leading a monumental effort to help Western North Carolina recover and return to being a thriving economy — by cleaning up the rivers, putting people back to work, and bringing communities together.

MountainTrue is partnering with the State of North Carolina to launch one of the biggest river cleanups the region has ever seen. This effort is creating good, steady jobs for people who were displaced by the storm and it’s giving thousands of volunteers a chance to make a real difference in their own backyards.

Clean rivers mean healthier communities, safer neighborhoods, a better environment and a stronger outdoor recreation economy – no one is better equipped to lead this work than MountainTrue. We’re the only grassroots environmental group that serves all of WNC and we’ve already proven this model works. In our pilot program, we removed more than 3 million pounds of trash and debris from local rivers and streams.

With your help, we can accelerate this effort and make sure our rivers—and our region—come back stronger than ever.

What is the program?

• MountainTrue is partnering with the NC Department of Environmental Quality to lead a major river debris cleanup effort across Western North Carolina.
• The program is funded by $10 million in state recovery funds allocated after Hurricane Helene.

Why is this needed?

• Hurricane Helene left significant debris in smaller rivers and tributaries—many of which federal programs like FEMA couldn’t fully address.
• Debris increases flood risk, harms water quality, and threatens our recreation and tourism economy.

What will MountainTrue do?

• Over the next 18 months, we’ll deploy paid cleanup crews and volunteers to restore more than 150 miles of rivers and streams.
• We’re also working with landowners to gain access to hard-to-reach areas and offering free cleanups of affected riverfront property.

What impact will this have?

• We’re creating jobs for people displaced by Helene.
• We’re protecting clean water, improving public safety, and supporting the recovery of local economies that rely on river-based recreation.
• So far, we’ve already removed nearly 3 million pounds of debris through our pilot efforts.

How can people get involved?

• Volunteer – we’re hosting river cleanups across WNC. If you’d like to volunteer with us, find an upcoming cleanup on our events calendar – advance registration is preferred and greatly appreciated! 
• Join the cleanup crew – click the button below to apply for a position in one of our cleanup crews.

More info:

What happens to the trash & storm debris collected from cleanup sites? 

All debris and trash are removed by MountainTrue as quickly as possible. At times, we may make piles of trash over several days. We will remove everything we have collected before moving to a new site. We follow county guidelines when disposing of the trash we’ve collected from waterways. When possible, we make every effort to recycle or repurpose what we pick up. If our crews find important items in the storm debris, we also work to identify and return lost items to their owners. 

Other ways to support this program:

Donate to our MountainStrong Recovery & Resilience Fund, sign up to volunteer with us, and support your WNC Riverkeepers! You can follow MountainTrue and our four Riverkeepers on Facebook & Instagram:

• MountainTrue: Instagram & Facebook
• Broad Riverkeeper David Caldwell: Instagram & Facebook
• French Broad Riverkeeper Anna Alsobrook: Instagram & Facebook
• Green Riverkeeper Erica Shanks: Instagram & Facebook
• Watauga Riverkeeper Andy Hill: Instagram & Facebook