MountainTrue West

04/19/2026

Last Sunday, Murphy First United Methodist Church held their annual "Service Sunday" which involves sending groups of church members out into the community to serve. In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, MountainTrue led one group to pull nonnative invasive garlic mustard from along the River Walk. Garlic mustard spreads aggressively when it gets established, crowding out native plants and releasing chemicals that harm the soil fungi that native trees need. Thanks to this energetic group, we removed 5 large bags before the plants had a chance to go to seed!

04/16/2026

Join us on Monday evening, April 20th at 5:00pm (TIME CHANGED!) for a gathering on the Cherokee County courthouse steps to celebrate the rescission of the commissioners petition to privative the land around Hiwassee Lake and keeping our public lands public. Despite what the printed article in this week's Cherokee Scout said, the Rally on Monday is NOT a protest!! Here's an updated article that more accurately reflects what's happening. https://www.cherokeescout.com/local-newsletter/protest-planned-against-call-privatized-forests

04/16/2026

Two of our water quality monitoring volunteers won awards from Georgia Adopt-A-Stream this year! Brint Scales of Hiawassee, GA won the Nymph Award for outstanding new volunteers and Clare Johnston won Excellence in Freshwater Data Collection by an Individual. Congratulations to these and all of our nearly 50 fabulous volunteers who keep tabs on water quality in our rivers, lakes, and streams!

04/15/2026

Reminder: People's Public Hearing on repeal of the Roadless Rule coming up tomorrow night, April 16th at 5:30pm in downtown Hayesville! With few exceptions, all the mountains in view of downtown Hayesville and Lake Chatuge, are currently protected from permanent roads and logging by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. If the Rule is rescinded, that protection will be gone. https://bit.ly/3OvilY4

04/13/2026

Posters for the Cherokee County People's Petition Rally on April 20th! https://mountaintrue.org/event/rally-to-show-support-for-public-lands-in-murphy-nc-4-20/

04/10/2026

The US Forest Service is set to release its Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the repeal of the Roadless Rule this month. 25 years ago, they held more than 600 public meetings across the country to create this important conservation policy. Now, as we potentially witness its repeal, the process may not include a single public meeting. So we’re hosting our own! Join with other conservationists on April 16th, 5:30-7:30pm in downtown Hayesville to submit public comments in support of the Roadless Rule and learn more about MountainTrue’s Resilient Forests program. The public hearing will be held in the 2nd floor historic courtroom of the Beal Center on the Square. ALL supporters of public lands - no matter where you live - are welcome to participate!

03/31/2026

Join MountainTrue's Housing & Transportation Director, Susan Bean tomorrow evening at 5:00 in Franklin for a discussion of how you can help stop the paving of paradise!

Aside from hoping you can find parking when you’re in a hurry to ditch your car, as it turns out we should all be thinking a bit more about the sweeping

03/24/2026

Join MountainTrue's Housing & Transportation Director, Susan Bean tomorrow evening at 5:00 in Sylva for a discussion of how you can help stop the paving of paradise!

Aside from hoping you can find parking when you’re in a hurry to ditch your car, as it turns out we should all be thinking a bit more about the sweeping

03/23/2026

You're invited: House Bill 369 info sessions w/ MountainTrue 🚙 Learn why the proposed NC parking lot bill is good for WNC!

Aside from hoping you can find parking when you’re in a hurry to ditch your car, as it turns out, we should all be thinking a bit more about the sweeping impacts of arbitrary regulations converting valuable land to pavement through parking requirements.

MountainTrue supports the passage of HB 369, and is providing further information and discussion on this bill. We invite you to come learn more about the potential impacts of HB 369 on water quality, affordable housing, flood risks, economic development, and how you can speak up to make it happen.

Upcoming events include:
🚙 3/25, 5-6:30 p.m. @ Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. in Sylva
🚙 4/1, 5-6:30 p.m. @ Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. in Franklin

More info:

Discover MountainTrue events, volunteer days, and community activities hosted by MountainTrue across Western North Carolina.

03/19/2026

MountainTrue is excited about the prospects of a bill in the NC General Assembly (HB369) that would address the problem of an excessive parking requirement associated with new development. We invite you to come learn more about the POSITIVE potential impacts the bill on water quality, affordable housing, flood risks, economic development, and how you can speak up to make sure it passes! There are gatherings coming up in Sylva on 3/25 (https://bit.ly/3PmY5rC) and Franklin on 4/1 (https://bit.ly/4bb4sXC), but registration is not required. Just show up!