Dear RiverLovers,

This past week we hosted Leadership Asheville seniors for their graduation presentations at the Warehouse Studios. Asheville and Western North Carolina really do attract the best and the brightest. Our community is so lucky to have these savvy, fun, active folks to bond with and enrich our community. The graduates who are recent arrivals all said they got here as fast as they could. The natives said they learned new things and met a whole bunch of people they would

The Leadership Asheville Seniors conduct a team-building exercise

never have met otherwise. One of the things they said they love most about our community is that it is a community. I love that, too. 

I gave them the history of the River District. I wrote about the history of the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay in my Laurel of Asheville column this month. For most people, history starts when they arrive, so perceptions about progress and benchmarking are often very personal and perspective may be very different. I was taken back myself when I was talking about how many building we have lost to fire and neglect over the decades and how many new businesses have evolved and established themselves over the past few years. The river is happening.  There are more new businesses coming - so watch this space.

Don't miss the Studio Stroll this weekend. When we started the studio strolls in 1991 we thought it was a huge success if 200 people showed up. Now thousands of visitors walk or ride the trolley to and from 14 artist-owned buildings!

Take a break from the Studio Stroll to take a look at the French Broad. Now that the leaves are mostly off the trees you can really see the River. So often in the spring and summer when I am giving a tour I point towards a tangled mass of trees, shrubs and invasive and say, "Take my word for it, the river is right there." I love the way the color of the river changes with the seasons and temperature. Stop and take a minute this holiday season to really look at the River. She is quite beautiful in every season.

We have a tremendous number of volunteer trees along the river corridors that don't really have the proper root system to stabilize the riverbanks (hence erosion) but are big and leafy enough to obscure the view.   I am so thrilled we now have the capacity to hold easements along the river - for conservation - for recreation - forever. Through our conservation and recreation work we can protect the riverbanks, remove the invasive and replant and stabilize the banks.

RiverLink lost a board member and good friend last week - a Man for all Seasons, James A. Green. Click here for a video of Mr. Green, a copy of his obituary and a copy of the handout from the church (part 1) (part 2). Mr. Green was a pioneer and icon for the river. In 1983 he cashed in his pension funds and moved his family back to Asheville so he could open Green's Mini-mart in the neighborhood where he grew up. Our collective community has sustained a huge loss with Mr. Green's passing.

I am so thankful for all the wonderful people I get to meet at RiverLink and the community that is evolving around the river.

Happy Thanksgiving, thanks for all you do and see you on the river!

Karen Cragnolin,

Executive Director

RiverLink Adopt-a-Stream Team  

Going Above And Beyond

Nothing is more exciting to the folks here at RiverLink than seeing our supplies heading out the door with various groups of inspired individuals, doing their part to improve the aesthetic value and health of the French Broad River, the Swannanoa River, and all the smaller tributaries in Buncombe County and beyond. One of these valiant groups is our Buncombe County Early College Adopt-a-Stream team. Buncombe County Early College has been dedicated to their stretch of the Swannanoa River since 2007. You can find a sign recognizing their efforts on Thompson Street, which is off of Biltmore Avenue.  

What sets the Buncombe County Early College team above and beyond the call of duty is how they extend each river cleanup into the class room. The river cleanups for each year's class are incorporated into their river unit as part of the curriculum for Earth and Environmental Science. The students have conducted research on what items  are found and this data has been recorded and analyzed by the students in a series of charts and graphs.   

The Early College team with their tools and "loot"

The categories for the litter to be divided are recyclable drink containers, cigarette butts, plastic bags, fast food trash, tires, construction debris, paper and cardboard, plastics, metals, batteries and electronic waste, styrofoam, wrappers, and other. Not surprisingly; the leader for quantity in 2010 was cigarette butts, followed closely by paper and cardboard, and plastics. Last year the grand total for pieces of litter found by the team in one day was 1,386.    

But these scholars don't stop there. "We use the data we collect to identify the specific litter problems that face our region and brainstorm solutions," says Jones. Proposed solutions include the need for a bottle bill in our state, charging customers for plastic bags at checkout, and charging a fee for take-out fast food that encourages customers to dine in and can also be used to fund cleanups.  

Some students have written letters to legislators addressing the dire need for reformed legislation and regulations that will make great ideas such as these a mainstream reality. Students also give formal presentations to their class on topics such as "In depth trash," or "Problems facing the French Broad River watershed."

For more information on RiverLink's Adopt-a-Stream program, please see this link to the page on our website, or contact our Assistant Volunteer Coordinator Worth McAlister in our office at (828)-252-8474 ext. 17. 

October was an exciting month for the Paddle Trail, as  RiverLink received two NC Trail Program grants; the project is moving forward! The WaterRICH Project takes off with the competition of six workshop sessions and over a dozen consultations. We also are teaming up with Asheville Green Opportunities to train individuals and construct a rain garden for a family in the Kenilworth neighborhood. We also have  completed our conservation easement monitoring for this year .  We are also  continuing  to grow the number of conservation easement and are seeking  accreditation..

The Public Laboratory gathers at  RiverLink  to Balloon Map sections of the French Broad River

The weekend of October 21 was absolutely beautiful.  Twenty-five RiverLink volunteers gathered to learn how to utilize inexpensive balloon mapping technologies to image three areas of the river in both visible and infrared photography. The group assembled six digital camera rigs; three with regular visual photos and three with digital infra-red cameras. We later  learned how to make an infra-red camera inexpensively and have one for future mapping sessions.   

RiverLink hosted The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science joining anthropologists, landscape architects, computer/media scientists, and natural scientists from elite Universities around the country and as far away as Trinidad for their first bi-annual Barnraising.     

 We were able to train our volunteers in this technology.  Staff  spent all weekend with our out of town experts and we all think  that this technology is awesome, inexpensive and fairly simple to use.  We have brainstorming ideas about how to use this mapping in the future for help  monitoring our conservation easements and assisting in species diversity identification.  

Now that we have these fantastic

Carrier Park as seen from the PLOTS balloon

There's always something new and exciting going on in the RAD. It seems like every week a new restaurant or studio or venue of some sort pops up. It wasn't alwasy that way.  Here are some recent goings-on ...

Proposed River Arts District greenway in red

The RiverLink Board of Directors has voted unanimously to develop a greenway from 12Bones to the Smith Bridge (Haywood Street) and presented the unanimous vote to Asheville City Council. Their reply has been favorable but construction is as yet unconfirmed.

Over on Roberts Street, artists Alex Irvine and Kathy Triplett (who early on was a tenant at our Warehouse Studios) started a collaboration on a ceramic mural centered around water, something that effects us all in multiple ways. Irvine and Triplett discussed water being the basis of everything, especially in the River Arts District, where over 180 artists studios are scattered along the French Broad River, and 14 of the buildings are owned by artists!  

In the center of the mural stands a five-foot tall ceramic man (unofficially nicknamed Clingman) wading through the water and gripping tightly to a coffee mug. The man, explain the artists, represents the district in general; artists, visitors and locals blending together to create community and explore art. Check out Irvine's website at www.alexirvineceramics.com, where the artist walks you through the mural's step-by-step process with pictures and explanations. Mark your calendars for November 10th for the official unveiling of the mural, or visit the Odyssey Center at 236 Clingman Avenue.

Also in the RAD, don't forget that this weekend is the Studio Art Stroll. Come on down and start your holiday shopping early and support local artists! Here's the official poster:  

Bent Creek was churned up on October 26th & 27th as young scientists from Carolina Day School and Rainbow Mountain Children's School explored the area.  Lead by RiverLink's education coordinator, Nikki Bauman, the third and fourth graders sought to find bio indicators of stream health. 

Students preparing for Kids-in-the-Creek

The section of Bent Creek analyzed ran through the Hardtimes Trail in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest.  Bauman and students discussed why some organisms can survive in less than favorable conditions, while others were too sensitive to handle stressful environments.  The question was posed, "Do you think Bent Creek is healthy enough to sustain life of sensitive beings?" 

Students did not hesitate about sloshing around in knee-deep October water temperatures, swirling nets, turning over rocks, and filtering through leaf litter.  High counts of sensitive species yielded a conclusion that Bent Creek supplies healthy and clean water for our watershed.

Kids matching larvae to adult aquatic insects

"I was so impressed by the students' enthusiasm to participate in the creek and learn about water quality.  A high school class cancelled their program for the same week, fearing they would be too cold in the water.  The students from Carolina Day and Rainbow Mountain were troopers, and they had a great time, too," said Bauman. 

In what has become an annual event, RiverLink is the lucky recipient of a donation of trees. Most of them are in one-gallon containers, and include Silver Maple and Poplar. Our anonymous donor grows them simply to make our area greener, and all he asks is that if folks take them, they plant them, and return the empty containers to him so he can grow more for next year.

While the trees are free, RiverLink is accepting donations if recipients are interested.

Trees save energy and money by shading your house in summer, then dropping leaves and letting the sunshine in during Winter. Trees in a city slow stormwater runoff, cool our city and clean our water and air. And trees are just plain beautiful. 

Contact RiverLink's Dave Russell at (828) 252-8474, ext. 11, or dave@riverlink.org for more information.  

Scientific Name: Pueraria montana 

  This woody, perennial vine is deciduous and extremely fast growing. Kudzu is tap-rooted and many vines originate from each root. The plant also roots anywhere its vine comes into contact with soil. To control kudzu, vines should be cut from trees and those growing along the ground should be pulled and followed to the main tap-root.  

When the tap-root is located, the root can be killed by cutting off the root crown (the crown is the top part of the root where the vines grow from). Cut the root a few inches below the lowest growing point. Treatment should occur before the plant begins to develop seed in late summer. Repeated mowing is another option for control. Treat plants with an initial mow, allow plants to grow to a height appropriate to your mower and then mow again. The goal is to repeat mowing until the root system is exhausted.  

A systemic herbicide applied to re-growth, either after mowing or hand pulling, will increase control effectiveness. It is generally less effective to control full grown plants (as opposed to re-growth) with herbicide due to their large size. In addition to reproducing from root and stem sprout, kudzu also reproduces via seed that can remain dormant in the soil for multiple years before sprouting.  

For this reason, vigilant monitoring for new seedlings is important once the initial infestation has been controlled.

1.) The study of lakes and other fresh-water formations, like ponds, is called what?

1. Limnology
2. Botany
3. Oceanography

2.) Which of the following states does not share its name with a U.S. river?

1. Arkansas
2. Nevada
3. Delaware

3.) Which of the following landforms is typically found at the mouth of a river?

1. Delta
2. Levee
3. Lake

4.) What country is home to the world's largest man-made lake?

1. United States
2. China
3. Uganda

5. What country contains nearly 50% of the world's lakes?

1. Russia
2. Canada
3. China

6.) What river is famous for providing irrigation for Egyptian civilizations, dating back to 4000 B.C.?

1. Danube
2. Nile
3. Amazon

7.) Of the three rivers below, which is longest?

1. Mississippi
2. Danube
3. Amazon

8.) Lake Ontario is the source for which river?

1. Ohio
2. St. Lawrence
3. Yukon

9.) The course of which river features the world's highest waterfall?

1. A tributary of Caroni
2. Zambezi
3. Niagara

10.) What is the world's second-largest lake?

1. Superior
2. Victoria
3. Onega

Answers: Limnology, Nevada, Delta, Uganda, Canada, Nile, Amazon, St. Lawrence, a tributary of Caroni, Superior.