Jonathan Hartsell

15th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit and 5th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference

Last week, Blue Ridge RC&D and the Appalachian RC&D Fire Adapted Communities Coalition, attended the 15th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit and 5th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference in Asheville, NC. Fire researchers and practitioners from all over the world attended and shared valuable information, stories and insight regarding wildfires and humanity. Our coalition provided a panel session that had over 60 people attend. It was great to meet humans from across the globe with the same issues and concerns that we are dealing with. Excited to share and implement some new outreach and mitigation projects in 2019!

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Wildfire Preparedness Day- May 5th, 2018

On May 5th, the Buck Mountain Community, in Wilkes County, hosted a Wildfire Preparedness day/Firewise Fair. Over 50 people attended and learned how to reduce wildfire risk around their homes and community. Information packets were provided to all attendees and a cook-out followed the outdoor information session. The community and local fire and emergency personnel also simulated a mock emergency (UTV crash) and response. The event was extremely successful and Buck Mountain was presented with their new Firewise USA communities sign. As a result of the event, existing partnerships were strengthened and new partnerships were developed. Thanks to Buck Mountain, the North Carolina Forest Service, Champion Fire Department, Wilkes County Emergency Management, Wilkes County Sheriff's Department, Wilkes County EMS, and Wilkes County Soil & Water Conservation District for a very successful event! 

Roots of Resilience Film Festival: Cultivating Sustainable Community in the High Country

https://sd.appstate.edu/events/roots-resilience-film-festival

Friday, April 28 at 7:00 pm
PSU 201AB Blue Ridge Ballroom
Free and open to the public; refreshments provided

Sustainability endeavors are growing strong in our community.  In the High Country, we share a rich history of working together to ensure that our mountain region will forever be a wonderful place to call home. The Roots of Resilience Film Festival celebrates some of these efforts through a series of seven mini-documentaries, each spotlighting local people and organizations working on various dimensions of cultivating sustainable community, including:

  • ASU Office of Sustainability (campus sustainability)
  • Blue Ridge Conservancy (land protection)
  • Blue Ridge RC&D (fire-adapted communities)
  • Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (sustainable agriculture)
  • New River Conservancy (water protection)
  • Todd Listening Project (community development)
  • Valle Crucis Community Park (environmental education)

This event is hosted by participants in the Sustainable Development course Outreach Skills for Sustainability, including students and instructor Laura England (englandle@appstate.edu).

Special thanks to Tom Hansell of University Documentary Film Services for assisting the class in planning and creating these mini-documentary films. 

Appalachian RC&D Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) Coalition website

http://appcofac.org/

The intent of the Appalachian RC&D FAC Coalition is to expand the success of the Fire Adapted Communities concept up the Appalachian Mountain Chain from Georgia to Virginia to help reduce the risk of wildfire in communities in the Wildland Urban Interface most of which border National forests. The Appalachian RC&D Coalition is made up of 6 RC&D Councils in Georgia (1), North Carolina (4), and Virginia (1) along the Appalachian Chain. The FAC Appalachian Coalition will draw from learning processes that have been developed by the Chestatee-Chattahoochee RC&D council (CCRCD) in North Georgia since 2013 that has transformed Towns County in North Georgia into a Fire Adapted Community by using the FAC Fire Learning Network methods where people educate their neighbors, family, and friends as to Fire Adapted principles and practices. The Georgia FAC hub presently has three additional communities in development stages. The newly created Appalachian RC&D Coalition will serve as the mechanism to spread the FAC concept to communities at risk from wildfires in this area.

Energy Cost-share Assistance Program (ECAP) website

The four North Carolina mountain RC&D's have a new website for our Energy Cost-share Assistance Program. Farmers and small businesses can navigate through the renewable energy and alternative energy cost-share and grant programs to see if they would be eligible for assistance. The ECAP partnership can provide technical assistance and resources. Please contact us with any questions.

http://www.energycap.org/

Shade Your Stream- Logo Contest

Shade Your Stream • Logo Contest

 

Western North Carolina conservation organizations seek a logo for the Shade Your Stream initiative

 

About Shade Your Stream

Shade Your Stream is a campaign to encourage landowners to plant or maintain woody plants along streams on their property. The plants’ roots hold soil in place, preventing erosion, while branches and leaves shade the stream, helping keep water temperatures cooler and more favorable to fish and other aquatic animals. The end result is that simply by planting trees and shrubs, landowners improve water quality and stream health.

 

Though created and first implemented in the Little Tennessee River basin of Western North Carolina, Shade Your Stream is currently being used by local watershed organizations across Western North Carolina. Implementing the campaign is typically a three-step process, 1) generating landowner interest, 2) passively providing information to landowners, and 3) actively engaging and teaching landowners.

 

Logo specifications

·         Circular or square in shape

·         Entries should be a 6” x 6” jpeg, 300 dpi. Winner must provide final logo as a vector file.

·         Submission email must include the name, age, address, and email of the entrant

·         Should function well in both color and black and white

·         Work must be original

 

Selection process

·         One logo will be selected by a team of stream conservation and environmental education professionals from across Western North Carolina. The creator of the winning entry will be notified by July 1, 2016.

 

Finalizing the logo

·         The creator of the selected logo agrees to work with the selection committee to apply minor adjustments to finalize the logo. If this is not possible, another entry will be selected. Winning entry becomes the sole and exclusive property of Mainspring Conservation Trust, Inc., including all rights for use, display, copying, publishing, etc.

 

Prizes

·         Winning designer receives $350.

 

Deadline for entries

·         5:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 1, 2016

 

Submit entries, via email, to your local conservation organization implementing Shade Your Stream:

·         Cherokee or Clay County – Tony Ward, Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition, restore@hrwc.net

·         Graham , Jackson, Macon, or Swain County – Jason Meador, Mainspring Conservation Trust, jmeador@mainspringconserves.org

·         Henderson or Transylvania County – Tom Fanslow, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, tom@carolinamountain.org

·         Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watuaga, Wilkes, or Yancey County – Jonathan Hartsell, Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council, jhartsell@blueridgercd.org

·         Haywood County – Stephen Brinson, Haywood Waterways, stephen.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com

Shade your Stream: Streambank Repair Workshop and Livestake Giveaway

April 8, 2016, from 9am – 4pm.

Have you ever wondered how to care for your stream, but weren’t quite sure where to begin?  Then this workshop is for you!   Learn how to protect your property and improve the natural environment by stabilizing the stream in your backyard.   Experts from NC Cooperative Extension, Stream Engineers, and Blue Ridge RC&D will provide practical, cost-effective solutions using natural materials and native plants to create a healthy streamside environment.  

Across Western North Carolina, streambank erosion—and the resulting build-up of sediment in stream channels—is having negative impacts on water quality and habitat for “critters”, including trout that live in the streams.   Recently, Toe River Watershed Partnership, and partners,  received funding to restore a section of Grassy Creek behind the Spruce Pine Commons Shopping Center and we will get a first hand look at the restoration project and how it will connect habitat’s and clean water. 

The workshop will start off at the Parkway Fire and Rescue Department for some classroom instruction and lunch, tour the Grassy Creek Restoration project and then take part in an actual "hands-on" stream repair exercise at a local property in Spruce Pine (Mitchell County, NC).   Attendees will have the opportunity to observe, ask questions of experts, and install livestakes for streambank protection.   

Live stakes are an effective way to reduce streambank erosion.   At this point you may be wondering, “What is a live stake?”  It is a long hardwood cutting from a native shrub, adapted to moist conditions, planted outdoors without rooting hormones.   In the mountain region, we use silky dogwood, elderberry, ninebark, silky willow, and buttonbush. 

These woody plants have extensive root systems that stabilize the soil on stream banks during rainfall and high water flow.  The shade produced by the shrubs help maintain the cooler temperatures that our mountain fish and aquatic life need to survive, while the leaves help provide habitat and food for insects and fish. (Leaves fall into the stream, aquatic insects eat and live in the leaves, trout eat the insects) “Shading our Streams” with vegetation is really important because it acts as a filter to prevent sediment, fertilizers, pesticides, bacteria, pathogens, and heavy metals from entering our rivers.

At the end of the workshop, participants can take home” free” livestakes to implement the skills they just learned on their own creek banks and wet areas in the landscape.  This is a free workshop, lunch will be served, but space is limited, so register soon!

Who Should Attend: HOA officers, homeowners/landowners, local government personnel, landscapers, landscape contractors, RLAs, engineers, utility workers, park managers, students and environmental educators.

Space is limited and you must register: please call or email Jonathan Hartsell at Blue Ridge RC&D (828) 284-9818 or jhartsell@blueridgercd.org