The Pigeon River Fund recently approved grants totaling more than $132,000 for projects to improve water quality in the Pigeon River and French Broad River watersheds.

“These investments made today will pay dividends in the near-term and long-term in the form of cleaner water. Our new grants address the problems of sediment and other non-point pollution sources, as well as support the promise of expanded greenways in our region. We also continue to fund education efforts because we know that what young people learn today about caring for their waterways will help them be better stewards for the future,” said Pigeon River Fund Chairman Ron Leatherwood.

The funded efforts include

° Haywood County Schools Foundation — $21,381 to equip Pisgah and Tuscola High Schools with computers and materials to study and monitor water quality.

° Haywood Waterways Association — $31,830 for programs and projects to be carried out by this local group dedicated to improving water quality in Haywood County.

° Mountain Housing Opportunities — $15,000 for greenway development and planning of a stormwater retention area in the West End/Clingman Avenue neighborhood of Asheville.

° Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development — Partial funding (amount to be determined) for aerial mapping of the Ivy Watershed in Buncombe County to identify non-point pollution sources which will be addressed through future projects.

° Southwestern Resource, Conservation and Development — $18,980 for a mapping specialist to use GIS technology for water quality improvement projects that are part of the Haywood Watershed Action Plan.

° Town of Fletcher — $25,000 for development of a bridge crossing and park area at the confluence of Cane Creek and Hooper’s Creek, which is part of the Fletcher Greenway.

° University of North Carolina at Asheville’s Environmental Quality Institute — $20,000 to develop models for improved sediment controls on construction sites.

The Pigeon River Fund was established in 1994 through an agreement between CP&L, the state of North Carolina, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This public-private partnership has made more than 80 grants totaling over $1 million since its inception for a wide variety of efforts to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife management and habitat and increase public access and use of the Pigeon River and the French Broad River.

Grant decisions are made according to priorities and procedures established by the Pigeon River Fund Board, which includes: Chairman Ron Leatherwood, contractor from Waynesville; Vice Chairman Bunny Johns, Bryson City; Secretary-Treasurer Jack Horton, Haywood County manager; Chris Bell, economics professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville; Fred Day, senior vice president for energy delivery, CP&L; James Ferguson, farmer in Clyde; Judi McLeod, Madison County community volunteer; David Phillips, western regional office, CP&L; Bobby N. Setzer, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; Forrest Westall, Asheville office of the NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources; and Kenneth F. Wilson, retired newspaper publisher, Waynesville. More than 20 technical representatives — scientists and experts in fields ranging from water quality to agriculture and fishery management — advise the Fund’s grantmaking.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News