Commissioned by the French Broad River Partnership with $56,000 in grant funding from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Ecology Wildlife Foundation and Duke Energy, the research effectively seeks to fill out the river’s books. A team led by economist Steve Ha of Western Carolina University will analyze the monetary value of a healthy river to its eight-county watershed.
Located on Amboy Road between Carrier Park and the French Broad River Park, the new Karen Cragnolin Park — named for RiverLink founder Karen Cragnolin — will connect the parkway system along the river’s western bank. But before the property can fulfill that role, it must overcome its past as a junkyard.
Thirty years is a long time to devote to any pursuit, and Karen Cragnolin, the oft-honored founding mother of RiverLink, can attest to that. During that time, she says she held every job in the organization and was planning to finally move on this year when, during surgery, she suffered an aneurysm that robbed her […]
