Western Regional Office
The Western Regional Office is located in Murphy, serving communities in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties in North Carolina, and Town and Union counties in Georgia.
90 Tennessee St. Suite D
Murphy, NC 28906
Phone (828) 837-5414
Callie Moore, Western Regional Director
Tony Ward, Western Regional Program Coordinator
MountainTrue West News
What do Healthy Mountain Rivers Mean to You?
Protecting our mountain waters wouldn't be possible without the help of members, volunteers, and supporters like you.With your help, we will maintain E. coli sampling at 85 popular swimming areas this summer. Samples will be taken, processed, analyzed, and published...
Get Your Gardening Gloves on Our New Native Planting Guide
MountainTrue has published a brand new guide to help you replace harmful non-native invasive plant species with native alternatives that benefit wild birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. This beautifully designed and durable guide conveniently folds up to fit in your wallet — perfect for your next visit to the garden center or nursery.
MountainTrue is Objecting to the Revised Forest Plan for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests. These are our Reasons.
The U.S. Forest Service released its Revised Forest Plan in late January. Since then, MountainTrue’s Public Lands Field Biologist, Josh Kelly, and Western Regional Director, Callie Moore, have been hard at work crafting our organizational response to the 2000+ paged plan. While there are some bright spots in the Forest Service’s Revised Plan, they are far outweighed by its shortcomings, which can be characterized by the agency’s arbitrary decision-making and prioritization of timber harvest at the expense of old-growth forests, Natural Heritage Areas, and water quality.
Raleigh Report: With District Maps in Place, We Preview the Primary Election
Now that the months-long political mud wrestling match known as redistricting is over, it’s a good time to take a look at what the state’s new legislative and congressional maps mean for Western North Carolina. We won’t go over the legislature’s – and the courts’ – torturous path to finalizing districts maps. Suffice to say that the process reached its inglorious end with decisions by both the NC and US Supreme Courts. The House and Senate maps will remain in place for a decade, but the congressional map will be redrawn next year because it was imposed by a court rather than adopted by the legislature.
Microplastic pollution is widespread throughout the waters of Western North Carolina
Testing by MountainTrue shows that microplastics are present throughout the Broad, French Broad, Green, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, New River and Watauga River Basins. Western North Carolina — Regional conservation organization MountainTrue has documented the high...
MountainTrue Wins Historic Investments for WNC
As you may know, lawmakers at the North Carolina General Assembly finally approved a budget in November after months of wrangling among themselves as well as with Governor Cooper. The new spending plan represents the first full budget approved by the legislature and...
Tell FERC to Protect Mountain Rivers
On October 4, 2021, the Oconaluftee River below Ela Dam — once a high quality mountain river — was completely filled with sediment during a reservoir drawdown for a repair by the dam's owner, Northbrook Carolina Hydro II, LLC. Tell FERC to protect rivers in the...
Highlands, NC Becomes the Country’s First BearWise Certified Town
It took a decade of effort, but this scenic Western North Carolina town did what no other town or city in the country has done to date: become a BearWise certified community. However, this major accomplishment was no easy feat.
Swim Guide Watershed Report: Hiwassee River Watershed
See how the Hiwassee River Watershed fared this year as we continue our data review from the 2021 Swim Guide season. We’ll let you know which areas were the cleanest and where we saw ongoing bacteria pollution problems. We’ll conclude with achievable solutions for the future and a call to action so you can continue to help us protect the places we share.
October 2021 E-Vistas Newsletter
Check out what the team at MountainTrue has been up to. In this edition, we have a deep-dive analysis on the NC Energy Bill that was signed by Governor Cooper last week, updates on pollution coming from The Cottages of Boone and our work to save ash trees from the emerald ash borer, and volunteer opportunities to help eradicate invasive plants in both the Western Region and in the High Country. To our volunteers, members and supporters, thank you for everything that you do to protect the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains.