Dear Friends and Supporters,

Daffodils have pushed through the earth in my front yard, announcing that spring is coming, despite winter’s lingering presence. This annual cycle is a reminder that amidst the brokenness around us—the trees, riverbanks, buildings, and lives—we have a choice: to focus on the devastation or to re-create something better.

While mourning our losses is important, it’s crucial not to wallow in despair. The resilience and creativity of our region inspires me. Just as the daffodils herald spring, many individuals, nonprofit organizations, public officials, and businesses are rising to the occasion, working to improve our communities.

MountainTrue embodies this spirit. We’re not just aiming to restore things to their pre-Helene state, but to make them better. What are our collective values and what do we want to create for future generations? Our Healthy Communities staff is initiating a community planning process, led by planners, architects, and engineers, in Swannanoa and other communities to address these questions. Read below for how you can help create a better future for our communities, join us on the trail documenting landslides or at one of our regular river cleanups. Spring is coming to WNC!

Bob Wagner

Executive Director

Healthy Communities Program Updates

Appalachian Design Center: helping communities post-Helene

With support from the Community Foundation of WNC, MountainTrue’s Appalachian Design Center (ADC) is set to launch a recovery and resilience planning initiative in Swannanoa, a Buncombe County community significantly impacted by Hurricane Helene. This funding will also allow us to engage with three additional communities, and we’re currently exploring opportunities in Madison and Henderson counties. With help from the American Institute of Architects, we’ve recruited 100+ volunteer architects, engineers, landscape architects, and planners for the ADC team. In Swannanoa, the ADC will develop plans for immediate recovery from the storm while positioning the community to access FEMA and state funding. We’re taking a long-term approach by collaborating with residents and businesses to prepare for future disasters. This includes designing resilience hubs, implementing flood mitigation strategies, and planning housing in areas less vulnerable to flooding and debris slides. 

ADC volunteers needed!

If you’re a designer interested in volunteering and ready to pledge some hours, or if your community needs design assistance, sign up here. To make this initiative a success, we need volunteers from a variety of design disciplines, including:

✔️Architects

✔️Engineers (structural & civil)

✔️Landscape Architects

✔️Environmental Consultants

✔️Land Planners

✔️Surveyors

✔️Soil Scientists

Help influence the direction of millions of 💵 in state disaster response funds

On Monday, February 24, there will be a regional listening session regarding the HUD Action Plan for NC, presented by the NC Department of Commerce Division of Community Revitalization, about the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) action plan. The listening session will go from 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Land of Sky Regional Council office (339 New Leicester Highway, Suite 140, Asheville, NC, 28806). Currently, there’s no RSVP form or virtual registration link, but those should be coming soon. Contact Susan Bean at susan@mountaintrue.org to get more details once they’re available. 

Resilient Forests Program Updates

MountainTrue is seeking volunteers to document landslides

We’re seeking volunteers for a new citizen science program to help document landslide impacts to roads and trails on public lands, with a particular focus on Nantahala, Pisgah, and Cherokee National Forests. All you need to participate is the desire to get out in the woods and a smartphone. The data collected will be shared with land stewardship agencies and other partners, and will be useful in setting priorities for infrastructure repair following the storm. To participate, please fill out this volunteer interest form.

Conservation Conversations @ Ecusta Brewing Co in Brevard: 2/26

Join us from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26, at Ecusta Brewing Company in Brevard for Conservation Conversations🍻 Meet the community organizations working to conserve our forests + rivers and connect people with nature. We’ll provide time for socializing and sipping, then jump into a conversation on the current conservation issues and what we’re doing to address them, plus ways for you to get involved. Register here!

Clean Water Program Updates

Post-Helene river cleanups are underway throughout WNC 

Each county and municipality is charged with directing its own endeavors in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, contractors, and nonprofit partners like MountainTrue. The scope of the Army Corps’ work is primarily limited to using machinery to remove debris and large items (log jams, cars, shipping containers, etc.), that threaten public infrastructure (bridges, roads, water/sewer lines, etc.), whereas our work focuses on the removal of smaller trash by hand with staff and volunteers, and the occasional contract service.

French Broad Riverkeeper

MountainTrue volunteer Keith Kolomechuk collects garbage from Whittier Branch Island.

Post-Helene cleanups update

Since late September ’24, our French Broad Riverkeeper team has organized and led 20 cleanups within the watershed, mobilizing 550 volunteers and removing 123,000 pounds of garbage. We’ll have plenty more opportunities to help out in 2025 and beyond, especially in Transylvania, Buncombe, and Madison counties. In addition to river cleanups, we’re also ramping up our volunteer-based livestaking efforts to restore stability to damaged streambanks and riparian areas all across the watershed. Check out our Events Calendar for dates and details.

Green Riverkeeper

Crews work to remove storm debris in the heavily impacted Lower Green.

Post-Helene update

Army Corps contractors are now in the river on the Lower Green! You may see photos or videos on social media of heavy machinery in the river, so here are some things to note: 

     🚧 All machinery is equipped w/ & running off of food-grade biodegradable oil. 

     🚧 Turbidity booms are in place across the river to catch any oil if it were to spill, or any big debris (wood or trash) that floats down the river as crews         work on the massive debris piles on the river banks. 

     🚧 Monitors are at every boom to remove things as they float down or report them.

     🚧 Crews are not removing any live trees from the banks.

As your Green Riverkeeper, my ask of the outdoor community right now is to please stay away from Green River Cove Road at the moment. But please still come support small businesses in Saluda! No one should be on the Green until this is complete. The crew aims to be out of the river by 6/1. Follow us on Instagram & Facebook (@greenriverkeeper) for real-time updates.

There will be two cleanup opportunities in March that are being finalized now. These will take place at Big Hungry and on the Lower Green below Lake Adger. Details coming soon, stay tuned!

Watauga Riverkeeper

Volunteers plant live stakes during a recent workday.

2025 live staking season

With the help of so many community members, this live staking season has already been incredibly successful. And we’re just getting started! We’ve planted + donated over 2,000 silky willow, elderberry, and silky dogwood stakes through public workdays and Farmer’s Markets since January. We’ll be back at it next Saturday, February 22; be sure to sign up here! Learn more about live staking on our blog.

Post-Helene cleanups update

Since Helene, the High Country team has hosted and collaborated with other awesome organizations to help river restoration efforts. We’ve participated in 11 river cleanups, used 311 contractor bags, collected and hauled off 30,590+ pounds of trash, and hosted over 168 volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without the folks from Wine to Water, Deer Valley Athletic Club, Girls on the Run, The Speckled Trout Outfitters, New River Conservancy, and the Town of Boone. We’ll continue to host and partner in cleanup efforts, with many volunteer opportunities this February and March. Thank you to everyone who has come out and helped us clear debris – many hands make light work!

Watauga Riverkeeper awarded grant funding

MountainTrue’s Watauga Riverkeeper program was recently selected as a recipient of the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation Grant. This grant is an example of why Blue Ridge Energy established the Members Foundation in 2007 – to support the work of community organizations providing services vital to the quality of life for the cooperative’s members. This funding helps ensure the water flowing through the High Country region remains fishable, swimmable, and drinkable through pollution testing, tracing, and mitigation. Thank you to our friends at Blue Ridge Energy for supporting our mission of protecting the places we share as well as their incredible response to Helene, which affected around 73,000 customers in their service area. A special thank you to the heroes at Blue Ridge Energy. 

Shout out to Mast General Store!

We’re extremely grateful to be one of the recipients of the MountainStrong initiative started by Mast General Store in response to Hurricane Helene. Watauga Riverkeeper and High Country Regional Director Andy Hill received a check from Lisa Cooper on Dutch Creek, a treasured tributary of the Watauga River located right behind the original Mast Store in Valle Crucis, NC. Please continue to support WNC in our time of need – support local businesses, plan your next trip, or volunteer with us or one of the many nonprofits doing great work. We’re still out here cleaning up your waterways, planting trees, removing debris, monitoring water quality, and advocating for WNC in Raleigh! 

Dungeons & Dragons for a good cause 🐉⚔️

Calling all D&D fans: roll some dice with Critical Cause in support of MountainTrue! D&D sessions will be held at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, at ECRS East Boone (474 Industrial Park Dr, Boone NC, 28607). Seats are a $20 donation per person, and promised to be full of great fantasy adventure fun! Contact critical.cause.info@gmail.com for more info and to register. Shout out to presenter Regear NC and sponsors: ECRS Software Corp, Lilys Snack Bar, and Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Food and snacks will be donated by Mellow Mushroom Boone, Dominos, and Ben and Jerry’s. Raffle prizes donated by Dragons Den Boone and Rock Dimensions! 

Broad Riverkeeper

Mark your calendars for these exciting spring outings

🥾 Spring Wildflowers & Headwaters Hike in the South Mountain Gamelands: Friday, 4/4, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. guided by Broad Riverkeeper David Caldwell & MountainTrue Resilient Forests Director Josh Kelly. Registration link coming soon!  

🥾 Earth Day riverside cleanup w/ Thomas Jefferson Academy near Rutherfordton, NC: Tuesday, 4/22, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Learn more + register.

Creation Care Alliance Program Update

2025 CCA Symposium date announced: 5/17

Join CCA and Dan Rhodes and Tim Conder of The Black Mountain School of Theology for a day of inspiration, connection, and healing at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, NC. Learn more + register.