Dear Friends and Supporters,

More than once I’ve heard the saying that our region’s recovery from Helene is a marathon, not a sprint. Having run a handful of marathons, I can say that preparation is essential; and that during the race you will face inspirational moments, like running past bystanders high-fiving you, and painful moments when your legs rebel against the rest of your body. And, after nearly every race, I cry when I cross the finish line. Tears of exhaustion, joy, gratefulness, and sadness. The saying, in reference to our storm recovery, makes sense. I have all these emotions sometimes multiple times in one day. And, perhaps some of you do, too.

MountainTrue is prepared for this marathon. Our staff and volunteers have been amazing – and are prepared for the long haul. While recognizing some families are still very much trying to meet basic needs, MountainTrue is shifting to cleanups, restoration, and rebuilding. This will look different in different places. Read more below, and we will continue to keep you updated. 

Marathoners never run alone and often depend upon the support, coaching, and encouragement of those around them. Thank you for your support and being part of our MountainStrong Team.

Bob Wagner

Executive Director

Clean Waters Team

Public Safety Announcements

⚠️ Read our Volunteer Safety Guidelines blog – always wear your PPE when participating in a cleanup or if you know you’ll come in contact with mud/sediment leftover from Helene. 

⚠️ MountainTrue’s Riverkeepers and Clean Waters Team ask that you stay out of rivers and waterways at the moment. 

Watershed Reports: Messages from MountainTrue’s Riverkeepers

📝 Broad Riverkeeper

📝 French Broad Riverkeeper

📝 Green Riverkeeper

📝 Watauga Riverkeeper

Brandon Jones w/ Catawba Riverkeeper helping the French Broad Riverkeeper distribute free well-testing kits yesterday, 10/29.

Well Water Testing Updates

💧The Watauga Riverkeeper continues to offer free well testing in partnership with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Waterkeepers Carolina. 

💧The French Broad Riverkeeper tested around 100 samples from wells around the watershed yesterday; test results are still pending and will be available this afternoon (stay tuned for info on our Instagram pages). 

💧Who should test: If your well has been flooded or flood waters pooled around your well, then we recommend having your well tested for bacteria pollution. We don’t recommend testing every well and there aren’t resources to test every well, so we’re asking that only wells that were flooded during Helene be tested. Where to get a well-testing kit:

     ✔️ Johnson County, TN: Tennessee/NC State Line Resource Center (11878 US-421, Trade, TN) from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday – CLOSED Wednesday & Sunday. 

     ✔️ Watauga County, NC: The Greenhouse (164 Depot Street Boone, NC 28607) to pick up supplies and check-in with our team on Monday or Thursday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Completely fill sample bottle with well water from your sink and return to us within 24 hours of collection time (ex. if you collect sampling supplies on a Thursday evening, wait until Sunday night to collect your water sample). Drop off your water sample and I.D. sheet back at the Greenhouse on Monday or Thursday between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Results will be communicated to you within 36 hours.

Soil and Water Pollution Testing Update

🔬The Broad Riverkeeper has been working with Rutherford Outdoor Coalition to test Broad River water quality below Lake Lure. On October 10, we got confirmation from the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) that Lake Lure’s wastewater treatment plant was severely damaged by floodwaters, resulting in raw sewage spilling into the Broad River. We immediately went out to take water samples and run an analysis in our lab. From a sample taken 1/2 mile below the Lake, results showed off-the-chart bacteria levels – greater than 2420 mpn E.coli/100 ml. Further downstream at Grays Road and Coxe Road accesses, and at the Broad River Greenway, bacteria levels were fairly low – between 30 and 88 mpn E.coli/100 ml. Five days later, the bacteria level just below the lake had dropped significantly, but 20 miles downstream, levels were rising. By October 21, high levels of bacteria were showing up 50 miles downstream at our Broad River Greenway. We’re happy to report that our latest sampling on October 23 showed low levels of bacteria at six locations from just below the Lake down to the Broad River Greenway. 

While water quality may be improving, there are many new obstacles in our rivers. Volunteer scouts paddled from Grays Road to Coxe Road last Saturday and found three strainers (log jams) in that section alone. Trees and other debris create very hazardous conditions for paddlers. Don’t venture out alone. If you decide to go paddling, wear your PFD, allow extra time for navigating through obstacles, and be prepared to climb through some trees. This is especially relevant to the Broad River above the confluence with the Green River. Feel free to contact your Broad Riverkeeper at david@mountaintrue.org for more info.

Watauga Riverkeeper cleanup volunteers at last week’s Guy Ford River Access cleanup.

River Cleanups Update

🗑️ Thanks to the generous support of the Polk County Community Foundation and many individual donors, the Green Riverkeeper has been managing cleanup efforts on the Lower Green with Precision Grading to remove cars, homes, RVs, trailers, and more from the river.

🗑️ MountainTrue’s French Broad, Green, and Watauga Riverkeepers will continue to host cleanups in the coming weeks; look for cleanup info + updates in these weekly emails and on our Instagram and Facebook accounts: MountainTrue Instagram, Facebook + Twitter, French Broad Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook, Green Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook, Watauga Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook. 

🗑 Upcoming river cleanups: 

     ✔️ Asheville, NC/Buncombe County: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. this Thursday, October 31. Learn more + register for the MountainTrue x RiverLink cleanup.

     ✔️ Sugar Grove, NC/Watauga County: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. this Friday, November 1. Learn more + register.

     ✔️ Boone, NC/Watauga County: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 7, w/ Blue Ridge Conservancy and the Middle Fork Greenway. Learn more + register.

     ✔️ Boone, NC/Watauga County: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 9 @ Deer Valley Athletic Club. Learn more + register.

     ✔️ Saluda, NC/Polk County: time TBD on Saturday, November 9. Cleanup focused on the Lower Green; more details to come, but this will mostly be a roadside cleanup effort with one small river area to focus on. 

Resilient Forests Team

The scope of damage to our forests is coming into focus. Helene was a record-setting rain event, but it was also a wind event without a historical precedent. Over 50,000 acres of forest were heavily impacted by high winds in North Carolina alone, and Tennessee and Virginia also suffered severe winds. MountainTrue is working with other conservation organizations, foresters, and ecologists to provide recommendations and resources for landowners wondering what to do with all the downed trees. MountainTrue board member Nick Holshouser made a map of the damage caused by Helene using satellite measurement of the “greenness” of the forest after Helene vs. before. You can check out this interactive map here.

Public Safety/Access Announcements

All NC mountain State Parks remain closed. The Grandfather and Appalachian Districts of Pisgah National Forest are likewise closed. The Pisgah Ranger District is open to the public, as is Nantahala National Forest and Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Fire danger is high, and the ability to fight fire is hampered by storm damage. Please refrain from burning brush until significant rain occurs.

Before (left) and after (right) the MountainTrue & Wildwood Consulting chainsaw crew cleaned up the Canton Watershed in Haywood County, NC.

Chainsaw Crew Updates

Chainsaw crews have continued work in residential communities in Mitchell County and Asheville, most recently cleaning up the Hominy Creek Greenway and the Asheville Botanical Garden. MountainTrue is currently fundraising for more tree cleanup work. 

Healthy Communities Team

MountainTrue is launching a community-driven design program to help rebuild areas in Western North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene. By engaging volunteer architects, engineers, and planners, the Recovery and Resilience Design Team will address urgent needs and promote sustainable development, ensuring communities are healthier and more resilient against future disasters. If you are a designer interested in volunteering, or if your community is in need of design assistance, reach out to our Director of Healthy Communities, Chris Joyell (chris@mountainture.org).

Creation Care Alliance (CCA)

A truckload of firewood ready to be delivered to Yancey County.

In the past month, Sarah and the Creation Care Alliance network have distributed over $20,000 in emergency funds and supplies to communities severely impacted by Helene. You can learn more about these accomplishments, and the partnerships that made them possible, through this recent blog post on the CCA website. 

How You Can Help: 

     ✔️Connect as a Congregation: We’re gathering information to help connect congregations to relief support and ways to help. Let us know what you need, or have to offer, here.

     ✔️Volunteer: We need volunteers to help with various tasks. If you can lend a hand, please fill out our volunteer form. We will connect you with a volunteer location from there.

     ✔️Housing: If you have extra space to offer, please consider opening your home to someone in need. Fill out our form to let us know you’re interested. 

     ✔️Transportation: If you have an extra vehicle or another way to connect someone to reliable transportation, fill out this form today.

     ✔️Spread the Word: Share this message within your networks and encourage others to get involved.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Last night, over a thousand people gathered in Pack Square in downtown Asheville for an interfaith service led by our political leaders to mourn our region’s losses. As the crowd swayed and sang “Lean on Me” led by a local choir, the connectedness of a suffering but hopeful people was palpable. 

As we approach the one-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene’s landfall, it’s been inspiring to witness our mountain communities come together in powerful ways. Those less affected have stepped up to help their neighbors whose lives were disrupted, homes damaged, or lost.

In these challenging times, our community’s heart and strength have shone through—especially from our amazing supporters and volunteers. Whether you’ve brought supplies to local centers, served hot meals, joined a debris clean-up effort, or donated to our MountainStrong Recovery Fund, you’ve made a real difference.

With your help, we’ve raised $109,580, including a $20,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of WNC. If you haven’t contributed yet, we invite you to make a gift today.

Because of your support, we’ve been able to:

     ✔️Coordinate a robust relief effort in Yancey and Mitchell counties through our Creation Care covenant partners and other congregations.

     ✔️Test hundreds of wells and provide water filters to families affected by flooding.

     ✔️Conduct soil sampling to identify storm-related river pollution.

     ✔️Deploy chainsaw crews to clear fallen trees in northern Buncombe County and Bakersville, helping families regain access to their homes and properties.

See this week’s Response Roundup below to learn more about our recovery efforts.

Your generosity is driving MountainTrue’s work not only to lead the recovery but to ensure our region emerges stronger, more resilient, and better equipped to face future climate challenges. We still have much work ahead, and your continued support is critical. Together, we can rebuild our region to be stronger, healthier, and better prepared for tomorrow. Thank you for standing with us and for your unwavering commitment to our mountain communities.

Let’s continue to lean on each other,

Bob Wagner 

Executive Director

MountainTrue’s Roundup: Responding to Hurricane Helene

Clean Waters Team

Public Safety Announcements

⚠️Read our Volunteer Safety Guidelines blog – always wear your PPE when participating in a cleanup or if you know you’ll come in contact with mud/sediment leftover from Helene. 

⚠️MountainTrue’s Riverkeepers and Clean Waters Team ask that you stay out of rivers and waterways at the moment. 

⚠️A message from the City of Asheville Water Resources Department: City of Asheville water customers remain under a boil water advisory — this water is not safe for drinking from the tap; water must be vigorously boiled for at least one minute before consumption. The water is safe for flushing toilets, laundry, showering (do not swallow water while showering), and washing dishes at a minimum of 170 degrees.

Water samples being inventoried and prepared for analysis at MountainTrue’s Asheville office last week; riverkeepers came from far and wide to help the MountainTrue team sample local waterways!

Well Water Testing Updates

💧The Watauga Riverkeeper continues to offer free well testing in partnership with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Waterkeepers Carolina. 63 samples have been processed so far, with 30 more on the way — processed samples produced a 12.5% failure rate, indicating that the majority of wells tested by our team were not contaminated. 

💧The French Broad Riverkeeper continues to offer free well testing. Over 135 drinking water wells have been sampled. Processed samples produced a ~10% failure rate, indicating that the majority of wells tested by our team were not contaminated. 

💧Who should test: If your well has been flooded or flood waters pooled around your well, then we recommend having your well tested for bacteria pollution. We don’t recommend testing every well and there aren’t resources to test every well, so we’re asking that only wells that were flooded during Helene be tested. Where to get a well-testing kit:

     ✔️Buncombe County, NC – 10/29: multiple locations. Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

          📍Barnardsville: Old Fire Station (1679 Barnardsville Hwy)

          📍Fairview: Food Lion parking lot (1350 Charlotte Hwy)

          📍Swannanoa: Blunt Pretzels (120 Alexander Pl)

     ✔️Henderson County, NC – 10/29: El Centro @ Jackson Park (801 4th Ave E, Hendersonville, NC). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

     ✔️Johnson County, TN: Tennessee/NC State Line Resource Center (11878 US-421, Trade, TN) from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily.

     ✔️Madison County, NC – 10/29 : Highland Station Coffee Shop (5247 US-25 #70, Marshall, NC 28753). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

     ✔️Yancey County, NC – 10/29: Rose’s parking lot (120 Reservoir Rd, Burnsville, NC 28714). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

Soil and Water Pollution Testing Update

🔬Last week, Riverkeepers from across North Carolina, Alabama, and Pennsylvania came to help our team conduct expanded surface water and sediment testing throughout our WNC watersheds. Those samples are currently at the lab; we’ll communicate the results once we have them. Huge shoutout to the Haw River Assembly team, Coosa Riverkeeper, and Three Rivers Waterkeeper for their support!

🔬Results from the soil/sediment samples we took in Marshall, NC, the week after Helene are finally in — here’s what you need to know: Mountaintrue has taken almost a dozen water and sediment samples around the watershed at this point. We have the partial results back for one of those sediment samples from Marshall. Those results show we tested for about 135 pollutants and only two were present (isopropltoluene and trimethylbeneze). Out of those two, trimethylbeneze appears to be the one with the most health concerns. This pollutant is associated with petroleum and can present serious human health hazards. However, the scientific literature varies on what levels are problematic in sediments. We found trimethylbenzene at 23.9 ug/kg, which isn’t sky-high, but we still recommend avoiding skin and eye contact and using proper protection when working in or around the mud.

🔬The Watauga Riverkeeper is conducting surface water quality testing across the Watauga and New River basins; high levels of bacteria persist across the region. 

🔬The Broad Riverkeeper is conducting surface water quality testing across the Broad River Basin. Two weeks ago, there were very high concentrations of bacteria just downstream of Lake Lure and its damaged wastewater treatment plant. Last week, the bacteria made its way ~20 miles downstream at Grays and Coxe Road accesses. This week, the bacteria showed up at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs, ~40 miles below Lake Lure. Though bacteria levels aren’t extremely high, the Broad Riverkeeper advises folks to not swim in the river at this time.

High Country Outreach Coordinator Emma Crider in front of a pile of construction debris cleaned up from the Watauga River last week.

River Cleanups Update

🗑️~40 volunteers joined the French Broad Riverkeeper to help clean up Firefighter Island along the French Broad Paddle Trail on Tuesday, October 22. Volunteers collected 20 bags of trash and sorted/moved lots of construction debris. Shoutout to Smash Events LLC for donating a delicious catered lunch! 

🗑️~100 volunteers joined the Watauga Riverkeeper to help clean up the Upper Gorge and Guy Ford river access points on the Watauga last Thursday and Saturday. Volunteers collected over 40 bags of trash and cleaned up lots of construction debris; the team returned found personal items back to the owners they could find and followed removal guidelines. The Watauga Riverkeeper team is also documenting large debris for targeted removal — if you know of large debris that needs to be removed, please submit information here.

🗑️Donations raised by Green Riverkeeper Erica Shanks have been used to contract with Jake Jarvis from Precision Grading to clean up portions of the Green River Cove in Saluda, NC. Jake has been working hard to haul trash out of the Lower Green — yesterday, he pulled out a huge dumpster that was filled with sand, a van, trailer, RV parts and more in just a one mile stretch. Jake has done so much for not only the residents down in the Cove, but also the river and we are so grateful for him! Jake is pulling trash out but leaving woody debris. The reason for this is because that woody debris can be used in the future for stream bank restoration efforts, and will create habitat for ecosystems to thrive again one day on the Green River. 

🗑Upcoming river cleanups: 

     ✔️Buncombe County, NC: 10:30 a.m. this Thursday, October 24. Click here for meeting location. 

     ✔️Watauga County, NC: 9 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. this Thursday, October 24 at Clawson-Burnley Park in Boone. Register here.  

Resilient Forests Team

Public Safety/Access Announcements

The Pisgah Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest is now open. 

The MountainTrue and Wildwood Consulting chainsaw crew helping clean up the Asheville Botanical Garden on Monday, October 21.

Chainsaw Crew Updates

With funding from the WNC Community Foundation, MountainTrue and Wildwood Consulting have continued to send chainsaw crews to clean up debris in public and private spaces. Last week, the crews were in northern Buncombe County and Bakersville clearing fallen trees and debris and helping folks access their homes and properties. 

Healthy Communities Team

Our Healthy Communities Team continues to engage in emergency response outreach, transportation infrastructure response, and tenant/renter relief in the wake of Helene in Henderson and Buncombe counties. Healthy Communities Director Chris Joyell talked to the Asheville Watchdog about the need to not give into “flood amnesia” and instead re-examine what and how we build in our flood plains — read the article here.

MountainTrue has partnered with Mountain Housing Opportunities and the Southern Environmental Law Center to secure a commitment from the City of Asheville to re-locate and remediate a storm debris processing site at Ford Street in the Deaverview community. Using this site to store and process debris would have prolonged a history of environmental injustice in this community. The City has committed to cleaning up the Ford Street site with the next two weeks. 

Creation Care Alliance (CCA)

CCA Director Sarah Ogletree (left) poses with volunteers on/in front of donated generators and propane tanks from Portico Church in Charlottesville, VA. These donations are bound for a community in Mitchell County, NC, estimated to be without power through January 2025.

CCA Director Sarah Ogletree has continued matching impacted congregations in remote areas with resources and volunteers from unaffected faith communities through the CCA network. While congregations keep serving as hubs of community resilience and mutual aid, Sarah will continue monitoring distribution needs, connecting people and resources, and working in alignment with other mutual aid groups to create databases of folks who have resources and want to share them with those in need.