The Gatlinburg Bypass in Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains closed as crews continue cleanup efforts following a significant landslide that occurred the morning of Saturday, Sept. 27. 

Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024, nearly destroying the Armstrong State Fish Hatchery in McDowell County. Flooding and landslides caused major damage and killed more than 600,000 fish, severely reducing trout production. 

The N.C. Department of Transportation is calling on volunteers to help clean up roadsides during the 2025 Fall Litter Sweep, scheduled for Sept. 13-27.

The statewide cleanup, held each spring and fall, brings together neighbors, civic groups and businesses to remove litter from North Carolina roadsides. 

MountainTrue, a nonprofit conservation organization serving Western North Carolina, is partnering with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) to launch a comprehensive River Debris Cleanup Program to address ongoing impacts from Tropical Storm Helene.

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Spring Litter Sweep kicked off April 12 and runs through April 26. This biannual cleanup event invites residents across the state to bag litter and beautify roadsides, all while helping protect North Carolina’s natural charm. 

Every year, millions of people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience its clear mountain streams, verdant views, and diverse forms of natural beauty. The mountains exert a powerful spell — but too often, that spell is broken by the sight of plastic bottles and candy wrappers scattered beside trailheads and overlooks, fast food bags and old tires flung along roadsides and plastic bags or balloons hung in treetops. 

After Tropical Storm Fred moved through Western North Carolina in 2021, litter cleanup throughout the East Fork and downstream along the Pigeon River was an unfunded effort, leaving local responsibility on the backs of property owners, volunteers and programs like Adopt-a-Stream.

Haywood Waterways is hosting a cleanup session for Waynesville’s Richland Creek.

The cleanup will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 7.

Meet at the Vance Street pavilion located along Richland Creek down the hill from the Waynesville Recreation Center at 550 Vance Street in Waynesville. 

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services urges farmers and homeowners to evaluate pesticides and other chemical storage areas when cleaning up from Hurricane Helene. 

Haywood Waterways is calling for volunteers to take part in a county-wide cleanup event that removes tons of trash from local waterways and roadways.