|  | |  | Vote for the Environment and Our Community This November, Buncombe County residents have the opportunity to “vote the environment and our community” including an important pair of ballot referendums. RiverLink supports both the Open Space & Affordable Housing bond programs and we ask you to learn more about each here and please consider joining us with your vote. Thank you in advance! |
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|  | |  | Going Green: An Update on Southside Stormwater Project We’ve been working toward breaking ground on the Southside Community Stormwater Project and the time is finally here! Thanks to the generous support and contributions of many, construction on this impactful project is ready to begin. Starting on November 1, multiple initiatives will bring green stormwater infrastructure and community amenities to Asheville Housing Authority’s Erskine Apartments. Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities in early 2023 to help us install hundreds of native and edible plant species there! |
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|  | | | | Tails of Dragons and Damsels: Expert Hunters of the River Beneath the surface of our streams and rivers lurk some of the most vicious predators in the world: dragonflies and damselflies. These aquatic insects belong to an ancient order of species called Odonata, which are renowned for their predatory adaptations. While in the water as nymphs, two distinct features make these creatures extremely dangerous hunters, their mouths and their tails. Beneath their mouths these bugs have an elbow-like hinge that is capable of extending out at lightning speeds to strike their prey. In addition, dragonfly nymphs have what we lovingly call ‘butt jets’ which they can use to draw air and water into their abdomen and shoot it back out for a burst of speed. After a period of time as nymphs, these critters will metamorphosize into their adult forms and emerge from the water with wings. Make no mistake, they can be just as deadly in the skies as they are in the water. Their unique wings allow them to fly in all directions, hover, and turn on a dime, which makes escape for their prey nearly impossible. Scientists believe that these creatures are the most effective hunters on the planet, with a success rate of 95%, compared to the most successful mammal, the African hyena which only succeeds in some 50-70% of its hunting attempts. |
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|  | |  | Beauty and the Beast: Porcelain Berry If you’ve spent any time outside this fall, you may have noticed some particularly beautiful purple to blue berries hanging on a vine that looks similar to wild grape, although these berries tend to be smaller, harder, and bluer than grapes. These attractive berries belong to a much more insidious cousin to wild grape known as porcelain berry. Native to Asia, it has become an extremely invasive species here in the eastern U.S., smothering trees and taking over a landscape like kudzu. To differentiate porcelain berry from wild grape this time of year, you can cut a vine open and look at the pith (the soft tissue on the inside of stems/vines). Porcelain berry has white pith, while wild grape has light to dark brown pith. Its berries are the best identifier this time of year, with their distinctive blue color and hard feel, but the best time to remove these vines is before they have developed berries to avoid spreading the seeds further. Keep an eye out for porcelain berry in the spring and remove it before the fruit has a chance to develop. |
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|  | |  | ‘SUP, river lovers? Enter to win this paddleboard! RiverLink has teamed up with Asheville’s own Hellbender Paddleboards to launch the end-of-year giving season with some excitement. From now until November 20, all donations of $100 and up to RiverLink’s Annual Fund will be entered into a drawing for this high-quality, inflatable stand-up paddle board, complete with paddle and carrying bag. You can boost your odds of winning with a contribution of any multiple of $100 until midnight on Nov. 20–just click on the donate button below (or on our website) and provide your complete contact information. Winner will be notified via email. See drawing rules here. And that’s not all, river lovers. Give!Local is underway now through Dec. 31 at Asheville’s homegrown tabloid, Mountain Xpress. Contributions of $100 and up to RiverLink in that digital venue will be entered into a drawing for a rain barrel kit, complete with installation how-to video. Water your landscape plants with unchlorinated, natural rainwater collected from your roof! Please visit Give!Local and include RiverLink in your end-of-year giving! |
| Sustaining the Long Haul RiverLink’s Annual Fund supports everything we do – and it’s the best way to ensure all our projects hit their targets – from our watershed program, which protects water quality through innovative best practices including local stormwater management – to our lands program, restoring key parcels impacting the river while preserving public access, parks and greenways – to our education program, which touches over 3,000 K-12 students annually through no-cost discovery lessons in classrooms and local streams throughout the watershed. YOU empower ALL this goodness for the French Broad River with your financial support – we can’t do it without you! Please help us complete our FOURTH DECADE of good works for the French Broad and all the communities alongside her. |
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|  | Sustaining the long haul RiverLink’s Annual Fund supports everything we do – and it’s the best way to ensure all our projects hit their targets – from our watershed program, which protects water quality through innovative best practices including local stormwater management – to our lands program, restoring key parcels impacting the river while preserving public access, parks and greenways – to our education program, which touches over 3,000 K-12 students annually through no-cost discovery lessons in classrooms and local streams throughout the watershed. YOU empower ALL this goodness for the French Broad River with your financial support – we can’t do it without you! Please help us complete our FOURTH DECADE of good works for the French Broad and all the communities alongside her. |
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| 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! |
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| | Contact Us information@riverlink.org | 828-252-8474 |
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