• When: Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
• Where:  ONLINE ONLY. Click here to register for the meeting.

Lisa Raleigh, Executive Director of RiverLink, will share her organization’s thoughts and perspectives for the French Broad River after Hurricane Helene.

Karen Cragnolin, RiverLink’s visionary founder, launched it over 35 years ago to champion the French Broad River, when the river was defined by heavy industry, dilapidation, neglect, and chronic pollution. Thanks to the efforts of many over the decades, the river has been treated with more care, and abandoned warehouses and other structures became home to hundreds of artists, breweries, restaurants, and river businesses flanked by a ribbon of parks and greenways—all anchoring the vitality and creativity that defines Asheville.

Unfortunately, the sequence of unrelenting rain followed by the massive inland Hurricane Helene tested all human inventions throughout the region; few structures in the floodplain could withstand this catastrophic event.

As RiverLink looks ahead, their mission and purpose – to promote the environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed for all – will be more important than ever. In addition to their programmatic areas, they remain passionate about river parks, greenways and public access and will help restore damage throughout the region while creating new opportunities for conserved and resilient lands and nature-based recreation.

With renewed focus on the impacts of a changing climate, they will partner with leaders throughout the watershed to advocate a more climate-resilient future for our beloved region and re-commit to their love affair with the French Broad River and the communities that live alongside her.

Can't make the meeting? Don't worry - recordings of the programs are posted on our website a week after the meeting.  Our archive can be found here.

For more information, contact WNC Sierra Club Chair Judy Mattox at judymattox15@gmail.com or by phone at (828)683-2176.