MountainTrue

Lake Lure is back! 🎉 It has been nearly 20 months since Hurricane Helene swept through the Hickory Nut Gorge. Hickory and Reedy Creeks rose, combined with the Rocky Broad River and rushed down through Chimney Rock Village and into Lake Lure, taking riverside communities with them. Trees, vehicles, boulders, and pieces of roadway, homes and businesses crashed into – and piled up – at the bridge between Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. The weight of the debris caused the iconic Flowering Bridge to collapse on one side, rendering it damaged beyond repair. Consequently, the lake ended up being the final resting place for the majority of the Gorge’s debris and had to be dredged and refilled before the town could welcome residents and visitors back. This month officially marks a major milestone in Helene recovery for WNC. Lake Lure is finally back to “full pond” status and is just as sparkling in the sunlight as it has always been in the past. The town of Lake Lure is excited to welcome residents and visitors back to the Lake, and will be hosting a public celebration (with fireworks! 🎆🎇) on May 23rd. Since September of 2025, MountainTrue has been hosting monthly river cleanup events from Bat Cave through Chimney Rock. Last Friday, we were finally able to officially celebrate our efforts by paddling from the Rocky Broad River under the Memorial Highway Bridge and into Lake Lure for the first time since the storm. What an incredible accomplishment! The milestone is a true testament of the hard work, dedication, and resiliency of the folks who have worked so hard to clean up and rebuild throughout the Gorge. We are thrilled to be able to officially welcome folks back to our WNC rivers and lakes! We can’t wait to wave at you from across the water! We are so grateful to Paul and Cara Brock of Lured Market & Grill for allowing us to use their properties for paddling access last week. Many thanks to ROC for joining us on the paddle, and providing shuttle access. It takes a village, and we are so honored to be part of this Rocky Broad Village community.

There’s lots of activity happening in the studios and on the island. Check out some of the upcoming events planned for May and June. . Of particular note is the 2nd community input session at 5:30 on Tuesday, June 2nd, offered by @mtntrue and their Appalachian Design Center. This is a follow-up from a well attended gathering on 4/19. This volunteer group of design professionals will be sharing ideas for the future of the Island green space, as well as Skyway Park, based on the responses that were gathered in the first session.

After Hurricane Helene, we have a pipe problem in the French Broad River. Come out to @riversiderhapsody tomorrow night to hear how MountainTrue has been cleaning up thousands and thousands of pipes across 70 river miles from Woodfin to Douglas Lake. For the last year and a half, we’ve been the ones cleaning up IPEX's inventory—pulling pipe out of the river by the thousands. Still, tons of pipe remain in and around the river. Meanwhile, we’ve tried everything to get IPEX’s attention about it—direct outreach, working with local officials, even bringing in the media. They have have remained silent. We remain committed to getting all of their pipes out of the river, but we need IPEX to ensure that this doesn't happen again. We’re hosting 3 information sessions in the next few weeks, starting Tuesday, May 12 in Woodfin. Come join us to learn what all MountainTrue has done to clean up the pipe in the last 18 months, and how we can put pressure on IPEX to do better. Signup at the link in our bio. 🛶 Tuesday, May 12 WOODFIN: @riversiderhapsody Brew House, 5:30-6:30

🎣 The 2026 Fly Fishing Film Tour is coming to Trailside Brewing on June 11! Celebrate 20 years of unforgettable fly fishing stories with an all-new lineup of films featuring wild places, conservation stories, and adrenaline-filled moments on the water. 🎬 Film Starts: 7PM 🚪 Doors Open: 6:15PM 🍻 Food & drinks available for purchase 🎟 Tickets available now — click the link in our bio Sponsored by @mastgeneralstore Co-hosted by @hendersonvilleoutfitters + @mountaintrue Grab your fishing crew and join us! 🎣 • • #wncflyfishing @flyfishingfilmtour #wncmountains #westernnorthcarolina #pisgahnationalforest #westernnc

We love our volunteers! Thank you so much to the fine folks at Modera Wealth Management for cleaning up Sweeten Creek and the Swannanoa River with us yesterday! Y’all were amazing!! 🤩 Come on back anytime!

We’re excited to share that House Bill 369, which would remove mandatory minimum parking requirements statewide, is on the move! If you’ve followed this legislation recently or attended any of our events across the region this spring focused on why MountainTrue supports this bill, you know that we believe this reform will be good for both improving water quality and also creating more affordable housing options on small lots in cities and towns. Now we’re excited to provide an easy way for you to contact your NC state Senator & ask them to please support HB 369 when it comes up for a vote. Let's get parking reform across the finish line - learn more & take action @ the link in our bio.

MountainTrue sent our largest lobbying group ever to Raleigh earlier this week to thank state legislators for their support of our debris removal efforts after Hurricane Helene. House Bill 47, passed in 2025, was instrumental in funding not only our significant debris removal program and environmental restoration efforts, but housing, small business grants and other vital recovery efforts. We brought legislators signed thank you cards, maps showing the progress of our debris removal work and small bundles of one of the most prevalent types of debris we’ve found in the French Broad River — PVC pipe. Thanks to those who supported our recovery! In addition to a message of gratitude, MountainTrue is asking legislators to continue supporting our region’s ongoing recovery from Helene. We need more funding for unmet debris removal needs, of which there are many. MountainTrue is also requesting funding for dam safety and removal and a landslide hazard mapping and warning system, among other priorities. Many thanks to Sen. Ted Alexander, Sen. Kevin Corbin, Sen. Tim Moffitt, Rep. Karl Gillespie, Rep. Brian Turner, Rep. Eric Ager, Rep. Jake Johnson, Rep. Anna Ferguson, staff of House Speaker Destin Hall, GROWNC Director Matt Calabria, and NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson and staff for meeting with us this week to consider our ongoing recovery needs.

Are you PRO-HOUSING and PRO-ENVIRONMENT? Join the Block Party campaign and help us bring more housing options to Asheville. Sign the Block Party pledge at the link in our bio or by visiting

Coming up next week! First up, @mtntrue will be here sharing info with the community on Tuesday at 5:30. They have been on the river since Helene, cleaning over 5 million lbs of debris (much of that being PVC pipes from our neighbors at IPEX). Come on out and learn more about the work Mountain True is doing and how we can put pressure on IPEX to do better. Then, Friday 5-7 @connectbuncombe will be here raising funds and awareness for the planned public greenway+trail network. 100% of proceeds from every Riverwave Hazy IPA sold during the event will go to support Connect Buncombe and greenway projects in Buncombe County. We love this community and are stoked to be hosting! See y’all there!!🍻 #wncstrongertogether #madewithriverbend #hurricanehelenecleanup #buncombecounty

If you’ve been in or around the French Broad River north of Woodfin in the last year and a half, you’ve definitely seen piles and piles of PVC pipes. Pipes lodged into the riverbed, stuck in debris jams, and scattered across the riverbanks. During Helene, IPEX lost a significant amount of its inventory of PVC and conduit pipe to the river. Thousands and thousands of pipes washed over 70 miles downstream and all the way to Douglas Lake. For the last year and a half, we’ve been the ones cleaning up their inventory—pulling pipe out of the river by the thousands. Much of it landed in hard-to-get-to places, where we have to cut it up and float it out. The work is slow, difficult, and technical, but our crews are badass. Still, tons of pipe remain in and around the river. In the meantime, we’ve tried everything to get IPEX’s attention about it—direct outreach, working with local officials, even bringing in the media. They have have remained silent. Now, we need your help. Help us show IPEX that we haven’t moved on. Their pipe is still everywhere and business-as-usual is not enough. We remain committed to getting all of their pipes out of the river, but we need IPEX to ensure that this doesn't happen again. We’re hosting 3 information sessions in the next few weeks. Come join us to learn what all MountainTrue has done to clean up the pipe in the last 18 months, and how we can put pressure on IPEX to do better. 🛶 Tuesday, May 12 WOODFIN: Riverside Rhapsody Brew House, 5:30-6:30 🚣 Wednesday, May 20 - MARSHALL: Mad Co Brew House, 5:30-6:30 💧 Wednesday, May 27 - HOT SPRINGS: Big Pillow Brewery, 5:30-6:30 If you’re a neighbor to the river like IPEX, you have a responsibility to protect it—and not let one flood become a long-term environmental hazard. Signup for these events at the link in our bio.

🚨The US Park Service proposed nearly 3,000 acres of salvage logging in NC: attend the public meetings + demand protections for forests! There are open houses this week in Asheville and Boone where the public can learn more about the proposed salvage logging. Please attend & ask the Parkway to: ✔️ Keep heavy equipment out of sensitive wildlife habitats and steep slopes ✔️ Obliterate any logging trails created during the project ✔️ Only remove wood within 100’ of the road or 100’ of houses Upcoming open houses: 🌲 Wednesday, May 6 (5–7 p.m.) — Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, milepost 384, 195 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC 🌲 Thursday, May 7 (5–7 p.m.) — Caldwell Community College, Watauga Campus, at the Watauga Student Commons, 460 Community College Drive, Boone, NC Learn more about the project + what it means @ the link in our bio.

Part of the recovery work after Hurricane Helene may sometimes go “unseen”. Managing non-native invasive species you don’t see overnight, planting livestakes look like sticks in the beginning, but blossom into the best kept secrets over a few years, working on restoration plans, fundraising, planning out work for months and seasons is done behind a desk. This week was different. This restoration project you’ll see. It stands out on the banks of Mama Green and shows the hard work of many hands. Our Green Bats debris team, our Clean Water Director, Debris Logistics team and your Green Riverkeeper. What you are looking at is a bare bank that was scoured during the storm. Our teams pulled the bank back this week to test out a few options for stabilization and revegetation. On one part we did a terrace method with matting and logs, put soil on top and hydro seeded. The next space we put soil to sand, hydro seeded and matted. The next was no soil, hydro seeded on sand and matted. The last we hydro seeded over sand, no matting. Throughout the whole project area we used livestakes as hard stakes to keep the matting in place and maybe they’ll even sprout (it’s way past time for livestakes, but we wanna see what happens)! Very excited to monitor this area over the next few months to see what happens! We had a really great time working on this project and look forward to many more on the Lower Green over the next few months, seasons and years💚 📸 Jenni Brown