Student Volunteers

Thank you to the wonderful group of student volunteers from Yancey County who helped remove invasive plant species, clean up the local rivers and streams, and improve pollinator habitat at the high school.

Building Pollinator Habitat

Cub Scout Pack 515 helped build and plant a pollinator garden along the greenway in downtown Bakersville. The garden is filled with native flowering plants that will attract pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and birds. 

Invasive Removal

A huge thank you to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for bringing a crew of interns over for some invasive species removal at the Cane River dam removal site. We focused on Japanese Knotweed, a rigorously growing and rapidly spreading herbaceous perennial.

North Toe Paddle & Clean

The Paddle & Clean on the North Toe River was a success! We had two canoes, two kayaks, and eight single rafts all full of tires, metal, miscellaneous trash, and a whole lot of smiles. Thank you to the local volunteers that came out to help keep our rivers clean. It was a good day on the river.

Cane River Benthic Invertebrates

Mountain Heritage AP Environmental Science students collecting benthic invertebrates in Cane River. They collected several pollution intolerant species from the river, which is good news as an indicator of healthy water quality.

https://ncdenr.s3.amazonaws.com/…/NCDWRMacroinvertebrate-SO…

The link above is a guide to classifying benthos samples. This is one of the ways North Carolina water quality specialists assess water quality.

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. 

Grassy Creek Workshop

Planting native live stakes and removing invasive species along the Grassy Creek restoration site with the help of our local partners. Live stakes were planted on the stream side to enhance streambank stability and stream quality. 

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/