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RAD Futures | Charrette Firm Chosen for District Visioning

As we’ve shared in a previous newsletter, RiverLink is delighted to be partnering with Unified RAD and all the stakeholders in the River Arts District in a facilitated visioning and planning process made possible by a generous $100,000 grant. Our goal is to workshop or charrette the full range of stakeholders within the District – led by the creative community and supported by the property owners, businesses, residents, locals and visitors – to imagine and implement new short-, mid- and long-term catalyst projects in the RAD that will support the economic recovery process in a more flood resilient and sustainable manner. Our partner organizations in this effort include: Unified RAD, River Arts District Artists, River Arts District Business Association, ArtsAVL, Mountain Housing Opportunities, Black Wall Street AVL, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Asheville. 

The project’s Steering Committee, which includes representatives from the above partners and stakeholders, has just selected Sasaki as our charretting firm – an internationally acclaimed design firm specializing in Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, and Place Branding. We look forward to getting underway shortly and we'll be inviting community participation in the coming summer months. 

Flowing Knowledge | A Year of Learning with our Partners

With the school year wrapped up, we want to share our heartfelt thanks to the incredible educators and partners who helped us connect students with their local streams and rivers. Through hands-on exploration, we investigated stream ecology, water chemistry and treatment, erosion, stormwater, and more, building lasting connections to our local watersheds.

Our 2024–2025 afterschool partners included: Open Doors, Children First, Youth Transformed for Life, In Real Life, Isaac Dickson, Erwin Middle, and A.C. Reynolds Middle, each of whom joined us for multiple sessions of outdoor environmental learning.

We also partnered with a wide range of schools during the school day, including: A.C. Reynolds Middle, ArtSpace Charter, Asheville High, Asheville Middle, Black Mountain Elementary, Evergreen Charter, Francine Delany, French Broad River Academy, Mountain Community School, Mountain Heritage High, Mountain Sun Community School, Nesbitt Discovery Academy, North Buncombe High, Owen Middle, The Learning Community, Upward Elementary, Weaverville Elementary, Woodfin Elementary, and Woodson Branch Nature School.

We’re so grateful for the time spent with these bright young learners, and we can’t wait to keep growing the next generation of river stewards in the year ahead!

A Comeback Story | Restoring Roots Along the French Broad

RiverLink is thrilled to be planting stands of our native river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) along the French Broad River in Asheville -- restoring a keystone plant that was once widespread along streams and rivers in the Southeast. With support from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, we are removing non-native invasive plants and re-establishing river cane on several of our riverfront properties. Once established, the interlocking web of their woody roots will help prevent streambank erosion—a major source of sediment pollution for the impaired French Broad River. These sites will also serve as a sustainable source of cane material for Cherokee artisans.

Intern Impact | UNCA Students Dive into Summer Research

A warm welcome to Amelia Ayers and Olivia Williams, our UNC Asheville teammates for the summer! Amelia is supporting our Land and Water programs through the UNCA Summer Internship Program. As a McCullough Fellow, Olivia is researching benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Swannanoa River Watershed before and after Hurricane Helene, under the guidance of faculty advisor Dr. David Gillette. A warm welcome to Amelia and Olivia!

Gratitude and back in our office

We knew flooding was likely with two tropical storms (one named Helene) arriving back-to-back last September; we moved our vehicles to higher ground and crossed our fingers. Alas, like so many living and working near a dynamic waterway, RiverLink had four feet of flood water swirling inside our offices in Warehouse Studios. Fast forward nine months—with our program work continuing full throttle—we are thrilled to return to our renovated space at 170 Lyman St. Huge thanks to everyone who supported our efforts along the way, with donations of computers, furnishings, a new (used) truck and van, and other essential equipment and supplies. And tremendous gratitude to our friends at Wildlands Engineering for housing our team in the interim. Y'all drop in and say hello—we’d love to see you.

Other News

• We’re hiring! - RiverLink is currently accepting applications for three exciting roles: In School Coordinator, Out of School Coordinator, and Watershed Coordinator. Help us grow the next generation of water stewards and protect our region’s rivers! Learn more and apply here.
• RiverLink is grateful for a restoration grant of $10,000 awarded by Garden Club Of America — which will help create the largest public pollinator meadow in Asheville, at Karen Cragnolin Park. Check it out later this summer!

Thanks for being part of our French Broad River community!

RiverLink promotes the environmental and economic vitality
of the French Broad River and its watershed. Please join us with a gift today!