The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) awarded seven grants totaling $188,430 to environmental groups working to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitats, expand public use and access to waterways, and increase water quality awareness in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties. 

Last week, Gov. Josh Stein and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson stopped by Canton to talk to media, local leaders and State Reps. Lindsay Prather and Eric Ager about the town’s construction of a new wastewater treatment plant. He also highlighted the role the state played in bringing the project to fruition while calling on federal legislators to provide more funding to ensure more towns can complete similar crucial infrastructure improvements. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources is now accepting proposals statewide for projects that address stream restoration, water-based restoration and water management until June 30.

DWR is seeking proposals for projects through the current spring 2026 application cycle of the Water Resources Development Grant Program.  

Join the fun and the community at Lake Junaluska Cleanup Day held from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, March 7, at Lake Junaluska.

The cleanup will focus on clearing debris that has collected along the shorelines of and entrance roadways to Lake Junaluska. Volunteers should dress accordingly for the weather and potentially muddy conditions. All work will be done outside, rain or shine. 

The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) awarded 12 grants totaling $350,365 to environmental groups working to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitats, expand public use and access to waterways, and increase water quality awareness in Buncombe, Haywood, and Madison counties. With these grants and since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has distributed $10,594,556 in grants.  

Flowing over nutrient-rich limestone rock that fueled a diverse assemblage of species, Abrams Creek was once one of the most productive streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That changed in 1957, when wildlife managers intent on expanding opportunities for anglers stocked it with non-native rainbow trout — after applying the fish pesticide rotenone to the entire lower portion of the creek, hoping to protect the trout from competition. Chilhowee Dam was completed later that year, cutting the creek off from downstream fish populations. 

Haywood Waterways is putting out a call for volunteers to collect water samples.

In 1996, the Volunteer Water Information Network program was established as a water quality monitoring program for many Western North Carolina counties.

Jackson County commissioners have approved a sweeping new conservation framework designed to balance growth with preservation across some of the most ecologically significant lands in Western North Carolina, located in the southern part of the county. 

Since Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, residents have learned countless lessons and encountered unforeseen circumstances, even long after the initially recovery phase began. 

The ideal habitat of the Eastern hellbender that Tracy Davids described was pretty much what she saw on Tuesday morning as she stood ankle-deep in the Davidson River. 

“Relatively shallow, fast-moving, highly oxygenated water because (hellbenders) breathe through their skin,” said Davids, senior southeast representative for the Defenders of Wildlife environmental organization.