(May 2019) The Pigeon River Fund recently awarded eight grants totaling $217,833 to environmental groups working to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitats, expand public use and access to waterways and increase water quality awareness in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties. Since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has distributed more than $7.3 million in grants.
The most recent Pigeon River Fund grant recipients are:
Asheville GreenWorks was awarded $25,000 to expand its successful Trash Boom Project with the installation of three Trash Trout Juniors on local waterways in Asheville: Smith Mill Creek, Sweeten Creek and Gashes Creek.
Haywood Waterways Association, Inc. - $44,970 for the Elevated Park Stream Improvement Project on Jonathan Creek, a major tributary in the Pigeon River watershed in Maggie Valley.
Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation & Development Council - $15,840 to replace a straight pipe with a septic system in the Spring Creek community outside of Hot Springs.
Town of Black Mountain - $28,000 for planning services to create professional engineering plans for approximately 1,600 linear feet of the Swannanoa River in Veteran's Park in Black Mountain.
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy - $15,000 to survey a conservation easement on the Terry Rogers Farm in the Crabtree community of Haywood County. The 160-acre farm includes significant headwaters of the Pigeon River that will be protected from real estate development.
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy - $15,000 to survey a conservation easement on the Edwin Rogers Farm in the Crabtree community of Haywood County. The 215-acre farm includes significant headwaters of the Pigeon River that will be protected from real estate development.
Asheville GreenWorks - $22,200 to expand its successful Trash Trout project with a new installation on Hominy Creek.
Maggie Valley Sanitary District - $30,000 toward the protection of the 163-acre Sirkin property in Haywood County. Acquisition of the Sirkin tract will protect drinking water supply and headwater streams of Jonathans Creek. The grant is contingent on other necessary funds being secured.
RiverLink - $26,000 to purchase education equipment, including a portable stream table, dissecting microscopes and backpack electrofisher. Supplies will facilitate hands-on, inquiry-based field for schools, summer camps and the public.
North Carolina Arboretum Society - $20,000 to help transform a sediment catch basin into an innovative stormwater wetland complex by increasing the pond's storage capacity, improving filtering and management of stormwater and increasing habitat for the rare mole salamander and other aquatic species.
The next application deadline for qualifying nonprofits in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties is September 15, 2019. Applicants can review instructions.