Pictured above: Streambank restoration work completed mid-October 2023 along the Tuckasegee River at Island Park in Bryson City, NC.

Recently, MountainTrue and the Town of Bryson City, NC, completed a project to re-grade and stabilize eroding banks at Island Park on the Tuckasegee River. The partners also restored an area at the upstream end of the island where a portion of an old stone wall had broken apart and fallen into the river. MountainTrue received a grant from the North Carolina Land & Water Fund for the restoration work. The Town of Bryson City, MountainTrue, volunteers, and Wildlands Engineering all provided matching funds for the project. 

In February 2020 and again in April 2020, Bryson City’s Island Park — located on an actual island in the Tuckasegee River — experienced substantial flooding, with the river completely covering the island. Damage was extensive and included downed trees and massive debris jams from tree trunks that washed downstream, got stranded on the island, and washed out sections of stream bank. Walking trails were also heavily damaged, and the island was completely closed to the public until spring 2021. The Town of Bryson City conducted an extensive cleanup of downed trees and debris jams using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding. As part of the effort, the walking trail that looped around the island was relocated further inland, creating space to restore eroding stream banks and enhance the riparian buffer.

In the summer of 2020, Joan Parks — one of MountainTrue’s Creation Care Alliance members who also serves on the board of the Bryson City-based nonprofit Tuckasegee River Alliance (TRA) — contacted our Western Regional Office for assistance with habitat restoration on the island. TRA was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2019 and worked with Recreation Engineering & Planning of Boulder, CO, to develop a Feasibility Study for “Tuckasegee River Improvements” that same year. While the plan was largely focused on enhancing river recreation and access by creating a River Park along the river corridor in downtown Bryson City from the island to the Everett Street Bridge, recommendations included addressing the huge problem of nonnative invasive plants (NNIPs) and fixing bank erosion in several locations on the island.

Pictured above: Volunteers work to remove NNIPs at Island Park in December 2021. *click on the photos to make them larger*

Since the fall of 2020, MountainTrue and TRA have hosted seven volunteer work days on the island with 45 participants. To date, a total of 442 hours has been spent on eradicating and controlling NNIPs, including a large patch of kudzu formerly in the center of the island, approximately two acres of Chinese privet, and thick infestations of English ivy. Volunteers contributed 199 hours, or 45% of the total effort.

In 2024, MountainTrue and TRA will again host a series of workdays to tackle a few resprouts of pesky NNIPs and to plant native trees and shrubs in the restored areas. Watch our Volunteer Opportunities page to sign up for an upcoming workday! Check out the photo carousels below for before and after shots of work sites at Island Park. 

Before: click on the photos to make them larger + to navigate through the photo carousel

After: click on the photos to make them larger + to navigate through the photo carousel