Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway - FOHCG

07/11/2025

Please join us on the Greenway this Sunday, July 13th for our monthly Second Sunday volunteer workday! We will meet at the storage shed at the Shelburne Road end of the trail at 10am. We have lot's of projects we need your help with: planting some donated native ferns, spreading native plant seeds, moving wood from the sycamore tree that came down, etc. It takes a community to keep this greens pace thriving! Bring a smile and a friend, see you on Sunday!

06/07/2025

This Sunday is our monthly Second Sunday Volunteer Workday! Please join us! Meet at the storage shed at the Shelburne Rd end of the trail at 10am. We have many great projects we need your help with--planting a donation of river cane; cleaning up a sycamore tree that fell; as well as regular maintenance tasks. Can't wait to see you all and have your support stewarding this beautiful community greenspace together!

05/13/2025

Sharing a very special thank you to our volunteers who spent part of their Mother’s Day with us caring for Mother Earth at our FOHCG Second Sunday Volunteer Day! Photographer Andy Wickstrom graced us with his talents capturing the day through his lens and offering his daughters the opportunity to lend their little hands removing invasive garlic mustard and caring for our newly planted trees. Watch for more of his wonderful photos in upcoming posts! Thank you all, happy Mother’s Day! https://www.andywickstrom.com/

05/11/2025

Update on Request to Abandon or Significantly Curtail Debris Removal proposed for Hominy Creek Greenway
Dear Community,
Thank you for your continued support of the Hominy Creek Greenway and for sharing your concerns about the recovery work on Hominy Creek.
Last week, the Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway (FOHCG) formally requested that the City of Asheville and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) either abandon or significantly scale back debris removal activities in the creek and along the Greenway.
As many of you know, FOHCG works closely with the City of Asheville to steward the Greenway. However, the City of Asheville does not supervise the debris removal process in streams. The USACE operates under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the State of North Carolina.
Last week, the City of Asheville advocated on our behalf to limit the impact of debris removal operations. We’re pleased to report that, in partnership with the City, the USACE and their contractor, Florida-based AshBritt, have agreed to a work plan that prioritizes the protection of the Greenway:
• No debris will be removed from the floodways or the top of the creek bank on the Hominy Creek Greenway.
• Only eligible debris from within the waterway and its adjacent bank will be removed.
• The Temporary Operating Landing Site (TOLS) will be placed on the opposite side of Sand Hill trailhead parking area, through an unimproved city-owned lot. Only one controlled access point to the creek will be used.
• No heavy equipment will be staged in the Greenway parking lot or on the trails.
• The City will assign a dedicated inspector to oversee operations at Hominy Creek and provide daily updates.
• The City has requested that all work in or near city property be coordinated with city staff to keep all stakeholders informed and to avoid potential conflicts.�
Work may begin as soon as the week of May 12, 2025. The Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway will continue to closely monitor this work and advocate for the protection of this valuable community resource. We are grateful for the cooperation and good faith efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, AshBritt, and the City of Asheville in addressing community concerns while completing essential recovery work.
Thank you again for your support of the Hominy Creek Greenway.
Sincerely,
Trustees of the Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway

05/09/2025

Moms Love the Greenway!
Show your love for Mom, and of course Mother Earth, this Sunday (Mother’s Day)—come lend a hand at our Second Sunday of the month Volunteer Cleanup Day! Join us at the Shelburne Road end of the trail by the storage shed this Sunday, May 11th from 10-1pm and we’ll put you to work tending our new plantings, removing invasive plants, and other maintenance that’s needed to keep the Greenway thriving. We can’t do it without you! Make Mom proud and volunteer in her honor!

05/07/2025

UPDATE ON DEBRIS REMOVAL IN WATERWAYS
There has been a temporary pause on in-water debris removal - including Hominy Creek. Please see the memo below for details.

"At the request of FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has temporarily paused all use of tracked and wheeled equipment within waterways during ongoing debris removal operations in North Carolina. Federal and State agencies are reviewing best practices for environmental protection during debris removal operations.

The pause beginning on Friday, May 2 impacts:
■ Only affects in-water operations (i.e., machinery operating in the water).
■ Does not affect debris removal of waterway debris from the top of the banks, which continues as scheduled.

The pause was originally scheduled to end on Monday, May 5, pending review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies of best management practices for waterway debris removal however at this time the pause has not been lifted and we are waiting for additional information from FEMA. State and Federal agencies appear to be negotiating. Further guidance on resuming in-water work is expected in the coming days. This will likely result in having to extend the waterway mission past June 1”.

Interested in learning more? Please join us on our Second Sunday Volunteer day this weekend from 10-1pm, May 11th. We will be available to answer any questions and provide additional information about our stance on the proposed waterway clean up by USACE.

05/04/2025

UPDATE ON DEBRIS REMOVAL PLAN:
Formal Request to Abandon or Significantly Curtail Debris Removal

FOHCG was only notified on Thursday May 1st of potential access plans that were to commence as early as Friday May 2nd for the purpose of debris removal in Hominy Creek. Since then, FOHCG has reviewed plans to access Hominy Creek through City property with their Water Resources Engineer, City staff and FEMA consultant, and the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) contractor, AshBritt. After careful and thoughtful review, FOHCG is strongly opposed to the proposed access through City of Asheville park property along the Hominy Creek Greenway by the USACE and their contractor AshBritt for the purpose of debris removal, now proposed to commence on Monday, May 5th. FOHCG is in favor of, and grateful for, the removal of human-caused and excessive debris from waterways, including natural debris that presents an obvious future flood risk or threat to infrastructure due to its magnitude or location within waterways and watersheds.

Based on an evaluation conducted by FOHCG’s water resource engineer, whose area of specialization includes stream geomorphology, hydraulics, floodplain management and watershed restoration, no flood risk currently exists within the corridor and the volume of wood loading in the corridor is consistent with background conditions and does not pose sufficient downstream risk so as to warrant intervention, particularly given the impacts of such intervention.

Read our formal request letter here>http://fohcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/HominyCreekGreenway-Request-to-AbandonProposedDebrisRemoval-5.4.25f-1.pdf

05/02/2025

Dear Friends,
As a heads up, clean up work begins this week on the Hominy Creek water way by contractors hired by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, USACE has been tasked with removing debris from US waterways and stabilizing stream banks. FOHCG has been in touch with the contractors hired to do this work and they will be accessing the creek through public land as early as Friday, May2. We have expressed concerns about the impact of this sensitive area and have been assured that they will be conscientious in their efforts.

If you have any concerns about possible violations during this work, please use the following guidelines from our friends at MountainTrue to submit the form linked below:

Key issues to watch for and report are:

- Lack of timber matting beneath vehicles and machines entering waterways.
- Spilled petroleum products or any other hazardous waste.
Any form of excavation (digging) of soil or woody debris (versus pulling).
- Removal of live trees leaning less than 30%.
- Removal of rootballs with less than 50% exposure.
- Intact clumps of soil attached to the roots of removed trees.
- Removal of downed trees existing prior to the storm.
- Use of vehicles or machines in wetlands.

Use the form linked below to submit instances of perceived violations, which will then be relayed to our contacts with the USACE. You are also welcome to send the information you collect (paired with the applicable standard) directly to your county’s County Manager and Emergency Management Director.

* Please remember to never trespass on private property, enter job sites, or put yourself in harm’s way when documenting prospective violations.

https://mountaintrue.org/monitoring-form/

04/09/2025

Spring is buzzing on the Greenway! Along with the blooms, we welcome a special addition to the Greenway. Community member, Bailey Lankford, will be working with us on our Second Sunday Workday, April 13th, to install a pollinator hotel!

Having spent the past three years of her time as an undergraduate at UNC Asheville researching the best practices for pollinator hotel installation and maintenance, Bailey is confident that this pollinator hotel will both improve the function of Hominy Creek Greenway as an ecosystem and provide the public with a convenient means of learning about native pollinators.

These small structures, which ideally should contain 100 or fewer individual nest sites, attract and provide habitat for many different species of native bees and wasps adapted to pollinate native flowers and control pest outbreaks. Pollinator hotels are also a valuable learning tool for the community. The bees and wasps who make their homes in these types of structures are solitary and not aggressive, and so can be observed without worrying about stings or injury.

Join us to learn more and lend a hand! Scan below to register

04/02/2025

We are super excited to join with MountainTrue this weekend for a volunteer workday!

Join MountainTrue and Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway for an afternoon of removing non-native invasive plants! We'll meet at noon at the Hominy Creek Greenway parking area, distribute supplies, then walk together to our work site.

03/16/2025

Sharing some great post Helene cleanup news from the Greenway...the oil tank that was jammed down in Buttermilk Creek (the feeder creek that runs along the Sand Hill Rd end of the trail and connects with Hominy Creek part way down the trail), has finally been successfully removed!

The removal was coordinated by the NC DEQ. Shawn Denny of STAT Environmental, and Jack Igelman of our FOHCG board, worked skillfully using chains to haul it from the bottom of the creek, being careful to avoid spilling any of the residual oil still in the tank--approximately 20 gallons remained! Thankfully it didn't all drain into our water way! We also appreciate that the volunteers were able to pull it up without using a piece of heavy equipment, which could have negatively impacted the stream bank. On Monday, STAT Environmental will be coming to pump out the remaining oil and haul away the tank. If you see them, be sure to say "thank you!"

http://www.statenvironmentalservices.com/