High Country Office
MountainTrue's High Country Office is located in Boone, serving communities in the Watauga, New, and Elk river watersheds. VolunteerAbout the High Country Office
164 Depot Street
Boone, NC 28607
The High Country Office partners with and protects communities in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Burke, Watauga, and Wilkes counties through the following programs, events, and initiatives:
- Watauga Riverkeeper
- Water monitoring programs
- Riverkeeper Float Fest
- Muddy Water Watch and reducing sediment pollution in the Watauga River Watershed
- Sustainable land use
- Sustainable transportation alternatives — improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and better public transportation
High Country Team



Volunteer with us!
We have many regular volunteer opportunities throughout the warmer months – visit our events calendar to view upcoming volunteer opportunities. Please note that volunteer event dates and times are subject to change due to weather conditions with short notice. Follow the Watauga Riverkeeper Instagram and Watauga Riverkeeper Facebook Page or email emma@mountaintrue.org to receive the most up-to-date information on event changes/cancellations.
High Country News
News About MountainTrue’s Work In the Coming Weeks — And Our COVID-19 Activity Guide
As our mountain communities brace for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, MountainTrue is doing our part to help reduce the spread of the virus, and mitigate the health risks to our communities and our staff. As of Monday, March 16, our four offices in Asheville, Boone, Hendersonville and Murphy are closed to the public. Our staff will still be working hard to protect the places we share, but many of us will be doing so from home or out in the field where we’ll be following recommended protocols. Following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and public health officials, we are also canceling all of our public events, hikes and training sessions for this spring, and our volunteer-based water monitoring programs, river cleanups and public lands workdays will be on hiatus until further notice.
Tell Beech Mountain Town Council: Fix Your Pipes. Save Our River.
The Watauga Water Intake Project would reclassify the Watauga River, opening it up to any number of water withdrawals and increased development. As of October 2018, Beech Mountain is still losing 150,000 gallons of water from leaky pipes per day – or 47% of Beech Mountain’s annual water use. Yet Beech Mountain has recently increased funds for the Watauga Water Intake Project to $2.15 million in this budget cycle. Take action here to tell Beech Mountain Town Council: The Town shouldn’t take on an expensive water intake when almost half of the water supply is currently leaking.
Update NC’s Spill Notification System to Keep People and Waterways Safe
The public has the right to know about major pollution spills that impact our waterways as soon as possible, and through the technology the public uses today. Sign the petition below to tell the NC Department of Environmental Quality: Update your spill notification system for modern times to keep North Carolina’s people and waterways safe.
Healthy Forests = Good Fishing
Fred Mix has been an avid fisherman since before he could speak. In all his time fishing, he’s never been as concerned about the health of our rivers and streams as he is now.
Ask The General Assembly To Support WNC Rivers in the Budget
Over the past few months, MountainTrue has been working with lawmakers to support a number of conservation projects that could end up being adopted in the next state budget. These projects will help clean up hazardous spills like the one that happened last year on the Watauga River, fund expanded water quality monitoring and improved river access for anglers, boaters and swimmers. Contact your legislators to urge them to support clean water for WNC and ensure that they make it into the final budget.
Keep Beech Creek Flowing! Say No To The Permit Revision.
Today is the last day to make comments on the Beech Creek permit revision. Tell the Army Corps of Engineers to keep Beech Creek flowing here!






