Giving Billboard Companies More Power and Money is Wrong for North Carolina!

Action Expired

A bill on the move in the North Carolina General Assembly would benefit billboard companies at the expense of our environment, our local governments and taxpayers.

H581, the “Revisions to Outdoor Advertising Laws,” would give extraordinary new powers to billboard companies allowing them to relocate existing billboards anywhere they choose, even where they are not currently allowed; cut more trees to increase billboard visibility; switch traditional signs to flashing digital billboards regardless of local regulations; and charge taxpayers more money if they have to relocate a sign because of construction.

Take action today and tell your legislators today to oppose H581. Ask them to stand with our communities and oppose billboard industry special interests.

west buncombe billboard

Honoring David Malpass: Co-Founder of ECO and WNC Environmental Hero

David Malpass David Malpass passed away on May 17. He co-founded, along with his wife Mary Jo Padgett, the Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) — an environmental nonprofit that thrived in Henderson County for 27 years and later merged with the Western North Carolina Alliance and the Jackson Macon Conservation Alliance to become MountainTrue.

With ECO, David and Mary Jo helped establish an organization with a lasting legacy of getting people out into the natural world, and empowering them to protect our environment.

“David had a powerful spirit, and was quick to win people over with his charm and good looks, but it was his passion and love of nature that drove his actions,” says Katie Breckheimer, MountainTrue’s Board president.

“David Malpass was a character — a pied piper-type of character,” explains Chuck McGrady, North Carolina Representative and former executive director of ECO. “He was passionate about the things that were important to him, with a quick smile and no fear of expressing his feelings.”

Kevin Gaylor, a former ECO member, remembers David fondly. “David always struck me as a kind of Moses figure with his booming voice, just having come down from the mountain with tablets in his hands. He was full of passion, vision and laughter, and these qualities are what put Hendersonville’s environmental movement in motion.”

Under his tenure, volunteers designed and built a nature trail in a large county park, soon followed by a volunteer-built boardwalk into the park’s wetlands. “Whenever I visit Jackson Park and walk the trails, I’ll think of David and his work in making this community more connected with the natural world,” says his friend Gary Eblen.

A proud tree-hugger, David pushed for the creation of Hendersonville’s first tree ordinance in 1989, and then became a member of its first Tree Board. In a partnership with the American Chestnut Foundation, experimental disease-resistant chestnut trees were planted around the county.

The community’s 1990 20th Anniversary Earth Day celebration was a grand event of epic proportion thanks to the leadership of the newly formed ECO. When a waste incinerator was proposed for the community, ECO made sure there were educational public forums about the technology, and organized the community to ensure that the plant would be located elsewhere. These efforts are only part of the legacy that David Malpass left behind. He will be sorely missed.

Tell Congress to Take AmeriCorps Off the Chopping Block

Action Expired

Laura McPherson, Mary Kate Dodge and Jack Henderson are MountainTrue’s hardworking and dedicated AmeriCorps.

Laura McPherson is our Forest Keeper. She combats non-native invasive plant species and restores native plant habitats by coordinating and leading volunteer work days and invasive species educational programs. Mary Kate Dodge is our Outings and Outreach Coordinator; she helps organize our educational events and helps us raise awareness about the work we do protecting Western North Carolina’s environment. Jack Henderson is our Water Quality Administrator and runs our river cleanups and water testing and monitoring programs.

Their work is critical to our mission.

Each year, AmeriCorps Project Conserve places more than three dozen dedicated members with local environmental nonprofits. Since its inception, 268 members have served 455,600 hours, increasing community understanding of conservation and the environment and creating sustainable improvements to at-risk ecosystems in our communities.

The federal agency that supports the AmeriCorps service program — The Corporation for National & Community Service — is at risk! It is one of 18 agencies that are recommended for elimination in the White House’s recent budget proposal.

Please take a moment to call your Congress members and let them know that AmeriCorps is making a difference in our community.

NC Senator Richard Burr (202) 224-3154
NC Senator Thom Tillis (202) 224-6342
NC Representative Mark Meadows (202) 225-6401
NC Representative Patrick McHenry (202) 225-2576
Click here to find your Senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm
Click here to find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Photos from Our SMIE Water Quality Training in Henderson Co.

SMIE 1 On Saturday, March 11, MountainTrue held our Stream Monitoring Information Exchange (SMIE) bio-monitoring training at Blue Ridge Community College.

MountainTrue volunteers monitor stream health throughout Henderson County and go out into the field to do bio-monitoring twice per year, in April and October. Through the SMIE bio-monitoring program, we sample aquatic macro-invertebrates, or aquatic insects, as indicators of water quality. Bugs tell us a lot about the health and vitality of our rivers and streams.

Participants learned basic stream ecology, how to identify aquatic macro-invertebrates, why macro-invertebrates are terrific indicators of water quality, and the sampling protocol. The event was led by MountainTrue Water Quality Administrator Jack Henderson and volunteer members of the Clean Water Team.

After a morning classroom session, the class headed out to the Big Hungry River field side, where participants got to put their newly learned sampling methods and identification knowledge to practice.

Thank you to Blue Ridge Community College for hosting!

Class training

Learning starts in the classroom …

Bringing out the nets

… then it’s put in practice in the field …

Sorting and identification

… where bugs are identified and give us clues to river health.

Public Lands are Priceless, not Worthless

Action Expired

America’s public lands are a sacred legacy for us all, but Congress is well on its way to changing that. On Congress’ first day in session, the House approved a package of rules in House Resolution 5 that sets a zero-dollar value on federally protected lands that are transferred to states. By devaluing federal lands, Congress is paving the way to hand them over to states that cannot afford to manage these lands and will likely seek to raise funds by selling off our national treasures to developers or to mining, fracking and logging industries.

All three WNC lawmakers voted yes on this bill, now they need to hear from you that they’ve made a huge mistake: America’s public lands are priceless, not worthless, and need to be protected for all to enjoy and experience!!

Call your representatives NOW, using the script below, and click here to let us know you made that call!

Rep. Virginia Foxx, 5th District (Ashe, Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Rowan, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin): 202-225-2071

Rep. Mark Meadows, 11th District (Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Jackson, Macon, Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Swain, Haywood, Madison, Yancey, McDowell, Polk): 202-225-6401

Rep. Patrick McHenry, 10th District (Cleveland, Rutherford, Catawba, Lincoln, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell, Avery): 202-225-2576

Sen. Richard Burr: 202-224-3154

Sen. Thom Tillis: 202-224-6342

**Click here if you’re not sure who represents you

WHEN YOU CALL:

Ask for the staff person in charge of public lands (if there isn’t one, it’s OK, just ask their name and continue)

Introduce yourself, make it personal (“I’m a mom, a teacher, a retiree, a business owner”) and give them your zip code, whether they ask for it or not.

Sample script (make it your own! The more personal the better!):

“One of the things I love most about living in Western North Carolina is access to high quality, federally protected public lands. The Pisgah and Nantahala Forests, and all our public lands are a sacred legacy that need to be protected for all Americans and future generations. Representative/Senator [insert name]’s affirmative vote on House Resolution 5 endangers that legacy by paving the way to hand over control of these lands to the States.

States don’t have the funding and resources to protect and manage these lands, for example the expense of managing wildfires alone would break state budgets. Tracts of land or rights will be sold off to private developers and industry just to raise the money to manage lands. Our national parks and forests are priceless, not worthless, as the [Rep./Senator] seems to believe by voting ‘Yes’ on HR 5, and they’ve made a huge mistake that will transfer these national treasures from American taxpayers to private companies at no benefit to taxpayers.

President Trump has reiterated his campaign promise to not transfer public lands to states, he needs to keep that promise and Congress needs to stand with the American people. Keep all federal lands under federal management. Protect our natural legacy.”

Feb. 9: Hendersonville Green Drinks: Green, Sustainable Brewing

Hendersonville, N.C. — On Thursday, February 9, Hendersonville Green Drinks welcomes Stan Cooper, Co-Manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., who will speak about sustainability initiatives at the Mills River brewery.

In June 2016, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was the first production brewery in the United States to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified, Platinum — the highest level awarded—for its Mills River, North Carolina, brewing facility.

What: Hendersonville Green Drinks: Green, Sustainable Brewing.
Who: Stan Cooper, Co-Manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Where: Black Bear Coffee Co. 318 N. Main St. Hendersonville, NC
When: Thursday, February 9, networking at 5:30 p.m. , presentation at 6:00 p.m.

About Hendersonville Green Drinks
Hendersonville Green Drinks is presented by MountainTrue and the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. Come to Green Drinks to learn more about current environmental issues, have relevant discussions, and meet with like-minded people. This is a monthly event and everyone is welcome. You don’t have to drink at Green Drinks, just come and listen. Black Bear Coffee offers beer, wine, coffee drinks and sodas. A limited food menu will be available.