Under direction from the Pisgah District fisheries biologist, Lori Stroup, 18 volunteers from the Pisgah Trout Unlimited (TU) chapter helped restore sections of the Davidson River to a more natural state.
TU president Mike Mihalas said “These banks have been eroded and damaged, so we’re putting in live stakes along the bank here to get the forest to grow back in. It’s all native plants. We have these two areas that are ad hoc campgrounds. They were heavily used and compacted, resulting in sedimentation problems, so we’re going to replant here and let it grow back in.”
Restoration included rerouting, and blocking off, a spur trail that led to an illegal camping area, planting live saplings and lining the river bank with biodegradable landscape matting to control sedimentation.
The Pisgah Chapter of Trout Unlimited is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Hendersonville, NC, and serves Henderson, Transylvania, and Polk counties.
Chartered in 1969, the Chapter has dedicated more than 45 years to cold water conservation. From the humble beginnings of 29 initial members, they have grown to over 300. Their mission is to conserve, protect and restore coldwater fisheries and their watersheds in the Western North Carolina region.