(November 2025) The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) awarded twelve grants totaling $350,365 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. With these grants and since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has distributed $10,594,556 in grants.
The most recent Pigeon River Fund grant recipients are:
$50,000 to Asheville GreenWorks to expand its cleanup operations, train and recruit new Streamkeeper volunteers, and replace two Trash Trout litter collection devices.
$7,700 to Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District to support environmental education programming in Buncombe County, such as Camp RIO and the In Real Life afterschool program.
$30,000 to Conserving Carolina to cover transaction costs on two adjacent conservation easements along the Cane Creek floodplain.
$45,000 to Environmental Quality Institute to provide ongoing support for the Stream Monitoring Information Exchange and Volunteer Water Information Network programs that support volunteer stream monitoring in Haywood, Buncombe, and Madison counties.
$35,000 to Haywood Waterways Association for program and administrative support.
$11,415 to Haywood Waterways Association for repairs to two failing septic systems and outreach to Haywood County community members regarding septic tank maintenance and water quality protection.
$15,750 to Haywood Waterways Association for planning costs associated with the removal of a small dam in Maggie Valley.
$50,000 to Mountain Valleys RC&D Council for the Ivy River Partners program, which improves water quality and increases citizen awareness in the Ivy River Watershed and Madison County waterways.
$7,000 to North Carolina Wildlife Federation for restoration and conservation work at Fox Creek Park in Buncombe County.
$33,500 to RiverLink for staff support to implement a restoration project in Hurricane Helene-affected areas of Swannanoa.
$30,000 to Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to permanently protect 201 acres of productive farm and forest land that contain unnamed headwater tributaries and portions of Crabtree Creek.
$35,000 to Town of Weaverville to retrofit and expand two stormwater detention basins and to stabilize and restore eroded streambanks in the Town’s Nature Park.
The next application deadline for qualifying nonprofits in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties is March 15, 2026. View details.
The Pigeon River Fund was established through an agreement between Carolina Power & Light (now Duke Energy) and the State of North Carolina. CFWNC administers the grant program. For information about the Pigeon River Fund, contact Program Officer Jeremy Lett at 828-785-4743.