Mission Statement: RiverLink is a regional non-profit spearheading the economic and environmental revitalization of the French Broad River and its tributaries as a place to work, live and play.

Purpose: RiverLink was born in 1987 of simultaneous efforts to address water quality concerns throughout the French Broad River basin, expand public opportunities for access and recreation, and spearhead the economic revitalization of Asheville's dilapidated riverfront district. As expressed in our mission statement, we focus on related issues that directly impact the environmental health of our region's rivers and streams and the growth and sustainability of our economy.

Karen Cragnolin
Title: Executive Director
Phone: (828) 252-8474 ext 110
E-Mail: karen@riverlink.org

Karen is currently serving as the executive director of RiverLink. She is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bar Associations. Her prior experience includes: co-founder and executive director the American Business Council of Dubai and is an honorary member of its board of directors, Director of Public Affairs for the American Arab Affairs Council, in Washington DC, and Tax Editor for Prentiss Hall Publishing Company. She currently serves as the acquisitions chair for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Buncombe County’s Conservation and Environmental Boards, the City of Asheville’s Watershed Advisory Board and ex-officio member of the Asheville Tree and Greenway Commission, the French Broad River Garden Club and Foundation Board and the Warren Wilson College Board of Visitors. Her passion is preserving open space and developing greenways along the river corridors. In her spare time, Karen enjoys reading, gardening and paddling the river.

Kathryn Blau
Title: Education Coordinator
Phone: (828) 252-8474 ext 111
E-Mail: education@riverlink.org

Kathryn is RiverLink's Education Coordinator. She began at RiverLink as an AmeriCorps
Volunteer with Project Conserve. Kathryn graduate d from UNC-
Chapel Hill, with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies. Before coming to RiverLink she was with Rock the Earth, a non-profit effort to educate music fans about environmental issues. Her previous volunteer and paid work at Exploris Museum included volunteer recruitment, management and training as well as program development and education. She has traveled and studied abroad at the School for International Training in Melbourne, Australia and is fluent in French.

Hartwell Carson
Title: French Broad Riverkeeper
Phone: (828) 252-8474 ext 114
E-Mail: riverkeeper@riverlink.org

Hartwell is a native of Macon, GA. He spent his undergraduate work at the University of Georgia Studying Recreation and Resource Management. While attending University of Georgia, Hartwell worked with the Outdoor Recreation Center as an environmental educator and guide.

After working for the Forest Service in Colorado, Hartwell earned his Masters of Science from the University of Montana, where he conducted extensive work examining social and ecological impacts on the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. Hartwell is the French Broad Riverkeeper and is one of 155 waterkeepers that are networked through the Waterkeeper Alliance. As a Riverkeeper Hartwell tries to educate, inspire, and empower the citizens of the French Broad Watershed to revitalize this area to be a place to live, work, and play.

Hartwell preaches the advantages and importance of recreation in our watershed and likes to practice what he preaches by biking, hiking , and canoeing every chance he gets. Hartwell can often be found canoeing his favorite stretch of the French Broad from Bent Creek to Hominy Creek with his wife Jessica, who is a middle school math teacher at Asheville Middle School.

Chester Pankowski
Title: Operations Manager
Phone: (828) 252-8474 ext 115
E-Mail: chester@riverlink.org

Chester joined the RiverLink staff in February as our new Operations Manager.  He handles everything from our daily correspondence and donor thank you notes to our database and accounting needs.  Chester came to us from Western Carolina University where he worked on local economic development issues and provided demographic information to businesses, local government, and nonprofits.  After graduating with a degree in geography, Chester worked as a county official on stormwater, drainage, and pollution problems in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Before moving to Western North Carolina, he was a city planner in Big Rapids, Michigan a small college town where he also taught geography.  He now lives near downtown Asheville and rides his mountain bike to work.  Chester enjoys day hiking, and going on backpacking trips into the wilderness areas of Pisgah National Forest.  He plays the banjo and can be found at bluegrass festivals and jams in town and around the region.  Chester brings a variety of computer skills and energy to every day work.  Call Chester if you need any information about RiverLink or if you want to make a reservation for one of our many events.

Rachel Doebber
Title:  Volunteer Coordinator

Phone: (828) 252-8474 ext. 118

Email: volunteer@riverlink.org

Rachel joined the RiverLink staff in February 2008 as our new Volunteer Coordinator.  A frequent Asheville visitor, her dream of moving here and calling the WNC mountains her home has finally come true! 

After receiving her Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education from Bucknell University in 1998, Rachel taught 3rd grade at the American International School in Portugal while also satisfying her wanderlust for travel and exploring new lands and cultures.  Upon returning to the States, Rachel discovered her true path in life when she became an environmental educator at a nature center in New Jersey where she had spent much of her childhood hiking and exploring the local streams.  She has continued on this path as an environmental educator in the barrier islands of South Carolina, on a sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay and in Baltimore City where she also received her Master’s of Science in Environmental Science & Policy from Johns Hopkins University. 

Previous to RiverLink, Rachel was the Environmental Education Coordinator for Parks & People Foundation, a Baltimore environmental nonprofit, where she developed, coordinated and implemented programs with Baltimore City Public schools that focused on connecting students and the school community with their environment in an effort to promote and nurture environmental stewardship.

When she’s not kayaking on the French Broad River or hiking one of the many trails in the WNC area, Rachel can be found dancing to great music at local venues or sampling delicious food at nearby restaurants. 

Rachel looks forward to working with volunteers to improve and protect the French Broad River through exciting and fun projects and events!

RiverLinked on Facebook and MySpace!

In an effort to reach out to our younger (more technologically advanced) riverlinkers, we are now on the social networking sites Facebook and Myspace. These are both great resources for staying in touch about what's happening on the rivers and meeting others who are protecing our watershed!

If you are already a member of these, add us as your friend! If you're not, anyone can join!

www.myspace.com/riverlink
www.thefacebook.com  group name: RiverLink


Email volunteer@riverlink.org with any questions

JULY 1, 2007 – JUNE 30, 2008

Executive Committee