MountainTrue

05/29/2026

High Country folks: come out to our Roadless Rule Community Roundtable this evening - 6 p.m. @ the Watauga County Library in Boone w/ the NC Sierra Club. Register: https://mountaintrue.org/event/roadless-rule-community-roundtable-in-boone-nc/

The 2001 Roadless Rule has protected 59 million acres of US Forest Service land from road construction and logging for over 25 years. Now the Forest Service is proposing to rescind the rule to make way for road building, logging, and mining in America’s last great places. Here in WNC, the Roadless Rule protects 152,000 acres, or 15% or Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. Some of the beloved places protected by the rule include Wilson Creek, Linville Gorge, Harper Creek, Graveyard Fields, Laurel Mountain, The South Mills River, The Black Mountains, Tusquitee Bald, Cheoah Bald, Overflow Creek, and Chunky Gal Mountain.

In 2001 the Forest Service held hundreds of meetings and collected 1.6 million comments with 95% of people in favor of the rule. Today, the Forest Service is holding no public meetings, so local conservation groups are providing a forum for you to make your voice heard.

Join MountainTrue and the NC Sierra Club, at the Watauga County Library on May 29th for a Roadless Rule Community Roundtable.

05/20/2026

Strive Not to Drive week ends this Friday - it's not too late to start participating!
Sign the Pledge here to commit to doing your best to drive less this month, and check out the county-specific event listings for other ways to participate in this fun week of events and prizes: https://strivebeyond.org/strive/

05/19/2026

Our debris crews have been working relentlessly for almost 18 months picking up millions of feet of IPEX plastic pipe. For that same amount of time we have been asking IPEX to step and do more for the cleanup, but just as important is to keep this from happening again.

Despite our hard work to cleanup their mess, despite our patience and persistence to meet with to discuss this, they have refused.

We want a commitment that this won’t happen again in the next flood. Our crews have spent countless hours digging pipes out of the sand, cutting pipe that was entangled in trees and hauling pipes in their boats and on their back, and yet IPEX still refuses to even discuss how to store their material in a way that won’t allow this to all happen again in the next flood.

We had a great crowd with great ideas in Woodfin , and now we're headed to Madison County. Come out for a beer, hear more about the extent of the problem and help us pare down this pipe problem!

🚣 Wednesday, May 20 - MARSHALL: Mad Co Brew House, 5:30-6:30
💧 Wednesday, May 27 - HOT SPRINGS: Big Pillow Brewery, 5:30-6:30

Register at the link in our bio.

05/18/2026

Come see us at the Mermaid Parade in downtown Marshall the first weekend in June!

Please review the available slots below and click on the buttons to sign up! All volunteers get a free Volunteer T-shirt. Lunch provided for volunteering 3+ hours. We'll reach out with more details regarding your shift and where to report. Thanks!

05/15/2026

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.

05/11/2026

After Hurricane Helene, we have a pipe problem in the French Broad River. Come out to 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: Rhapsody Brew House, 5:30-6:30

05/08/2026

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:

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

05/07/2026

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.