Press release
from the Land-of-Sky Regional Council
The Land-of-Sky Regional Council presented “Friends of the River” Awards on August 29, 2012, at the 35th Annual “Friends of the River” Dinner in Asheville. These awards recognize individuals, private organizations, civic groups, and/or public agencies in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties who have made significant contributions toward the enhancement or restoration of the French Broad River as a cultural, economic, natural or recreational resource.
The 2012 award winners are:
Margie Eblen for her significant volunteer work with RiverLink, her love for the River, and for coaching friends, neighbors and relatives to become engaged with river improvement efforts.
AmeriCorps and Project Conserve for providing 135 AmeriCorps members to the region over the past seven years that worked with 30 conservation and environmental groups on various conservation and river enhancement projects.
Rick Burt for his water quality improvement work in Henderson County including Big Sweep cleanups, Kids in the Creek program, stream monitoring programs and Adopt-A-Stream.
Jerry Stone for conveying in 2010 a conservation easement on 115 acres of Camp Rockbrook for Girls property in Brevard to the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy that protects Dunns Creek and other tributaries to the French Broad River.
PSNC Energy for donating the unique and historic Gas Works Building to the City of Asheville to support an eventual greenway along the Asheville Riverfront.
Meredith Newman for establishing a water testing program at Mars Hill College that engages students, teaches them scientific testing methods and provides valuable stream quality data on the River and eight tributaries.
For information on French Broad River improvement programs, contact Bill Eaker at the Land-of-Sky Regional Council at 251-6622.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.