The grant, from the Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation of Henderson County, went to the Paddlers Hemlock Health Action Taskforce, which is a group of whitewater kayakers, nonprofit and government partners working to save hemlock trees in the Green River Gorge. 

The partners train local paddlers in hemlock treatment techniques and safety protocols. Paddlers then navigate the Green River’s tricky waters to bury pellets of hydrophobic pesticide around the roots of hemlock trees. Currently the only reliable remedy, the treatment protects trees from the hemlock wooly adelgid for up to five years. 

The hemlock wooly adelgid is a nonnative sap-sucking insect that kills hemlocks, a huge loss for forests that depend on the trees for wildlife habitat, food, water storage and stream shading.