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Teaching Thanks | Honoring Recovery and Nature with Kids

Much has changed for the people of Western North Carolina since Hurricane Helene. For 54 days, Asheville was without potable water, but thanks to the tireless work of the City of Asheville's Water Resources Department, drinkable water has been restored for most of us. We are deeply grateful to the crews who worked around the clock and found innovative solutions to meet this critical need. In the coming months, RiverLink will partner with local middle schools to share the story of this recovery, highlighting the hard work behind rebuilding our water infrastructure and inspiring students to engage with these vital systems.

Our youth programs have also been working to help students process the storm’s impact and reconnect with nature. While many of our favorite natural spaces were heavily impacted, we’re grateful for the ones that remain and have used them as the setting to create nature-based crafts that honor our emotions around the experience of the storm. We use pieces of wood from fallen trees to paint portraits of our places of safety, and we use dried flowers and artifacts from the River Arts District to create mobiles and windchimes that speak the language of the winds of change. In this way, we remember what our land was, is and always will be, and celebrate the strength of its spirit, as well as our own.

“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and avalanche. I’ll get as near the heart of the world as I can.”  – John Muir

Parks with Purpose | Grateful for Resilient Floodplains and Volunteers

After surveying the impacts of Helene on our protected properties, we are incredibly grateful that the majority emerged largely intact, sustaining only minor damage. Despite being submerged under 20+ feet of water, Karen Cragnolin Park and the future Gateway Park made it through the flood remarkably well. Undeveloped vegetated floodplains--like our riverside parks--help reduce the force, height, and volume of floodwaters by giving the water space to spread out and soak into the ground. Both parks are intentionally designed for this purpose with few impediments to flowing water, plus green infrastructure, including robust vegetated riparian areas (the land that borders rivers and streams).

Each park received a significant amount of debris, but our volunteers have made remarkable progress toward clean up and repair. We extend our deepest thanks to the dedicated volunteers who have literally helped us pick up the pieces in our parks and our community—your efforts toward recovery have been invaluable.

When you do things from your soul / You feel a river moving in you.” – Rumi

Rooted in Resilience | Celebrating the Strength of River Cane

While assessing the ecological damage brought about by Helene, we have been struck by the awe-inspiring resilience of river cane. The only bamboo indigenous to our region, river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) grows naturally along stream banks providing critical wildlife habitat. While Helene’s winds and floodwaters toppled trees along the French Broad and Swannanoa, river cane withstood the storm, their extensive root systems anchoring their river banks in place.

Sadly, river cane is in decline across its native range due to development and other human activities. In honoring river cane’s resiliency, let us also commit to protecting and restoring this invaluable species as part of our region’s recovery efforts. Learn more about river cane here.

“I am the river… sit and listen to my wisdom.”  – Ian Menard

Other News

• Do you enjoy trivia? Please join us at Wicked Weed, 91 Biltmore, 6-8pm on Dec. 17, for a river-themed trivia night benefiting RiverLink. Come join the fun alone ($5) or with friends, and join others onsite—teams of up to 6 ($20) will compete for the glorious title of River Champion! Refreshing brews will make everything flow. Can’t wait to see you there!

• Tune in as RiverLink's Executive Director, Lisa Raleigh, joins Bob Hanna and Brad Rouse to co-host the Climate Buzz every week on AshevilleFM. The trio will feature expert guest speakers sharing the stories, the people, the science, the challenges and the solutions surrounding a warming climate.  The Climate Buzz airs Monday mornings from 9am-10am on 103.3 AshevilleFM and is streamed live and archived at www.ashevillefm.org.

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!