Third Annual Mills River Day

For three days, April 11th - 13th, thirteen partner organizations (with the help of community volunteers), hosted 285 eighth-grade students from Rugby Middle School at Mills River Town Park to learn more about water quality.  Students spent an entire day attending six different stations around the park, pertaining to water quality. Students had hands-on opportunities to test the chemical parameters of the river, survey the stream and collect aquatic life, properly identify macroinvertebrates

Our Outreach and Education Coordinator had the pleasure of presenting two presentations to local residents on the importance of water quality and the role that Mills River Partnership plays in protecting this natural resource. On March 16, Emily Israel presented residents at Heather Glen Assisted Living with an hour long presentation on water quality and how Mills River Partnership coordinates resources (with voluntary participation of stakeholders) to monitor, preserve, protect, and improve

Take a moment to check out the blog post that our Outreach and Education Coordinator wrote for her AmeriCorps Project Conserve term, 2016-2017. She dedicated her post to the (lesser known) details of Mills River Partnership and what it takes to keep this organization going. See her blog on AmeriCorps Project Conserve's website:  http://www.americorpsprojectconserve.org/blog/small-nonprofit-big-impact

On February 17, Mills River Partnership partnered with NC State Cooperative Extension and Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development (Blue Ridge RC&D) to host a 'Backyard Stream Repair' workshop in Mills River, NC. The first half of the workshop was an educational session presented by Bill Lord and Mitch Woodward, NC State Cooperative Extension specialized agents, at the Hendersonville Water Treatment Plant in Mills River. This portion of the workshop covered topics such as - stormwater

On January 28, volunteers joined Mills River Partnership to install live stakes along the Mills River. Although the site was difficult in all the rock we encountered, volunteers persevered and installed approximately 1,200 live stakes within 4 hours! The workday was really successful, and volunteers came from all over! Our volunteers included: Sierra Nevada Brewery and Bold Rock Cidery employees, local residents, and even a group of guys from South Carolina! In addition to our volunteers, we

Sierra Nevada Brewery opened their east coast facility in Mills River back in 2014. The brewery is known for its sustainable practices and environmental awareness on the west coast, and they have been adamant about implementing the same business practice in western North Carolina. After opening, Sierra Nevada Brewery worked to partner with local environmental organizations to monitor, improve, and maintain the water quality in the area, and since then, the brewery has been a significant partner

Mills River Partnership partnered with volunteers from Sierra Nevada Brewery on Saturday morning, December 10, to plant live stakes (or small dormant seedlings) along the banks of a tributary within an agricultural field near the Mills River to stabilize the banks and stop erosion. These plants will root and sprout in the spring, offering habitat and shade along the stream for small fish and insects, as well as stabilization for the stream banks. ​Kirby Johnson is the landowner who owns the

Mills River Partnership is excited to participate again this year in the 'Kids in the Creek' program at Apple Valley Middle School. As we partner with Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District and MountainTrue, we will be teaching and instructing 8th grade students on techniques used to sample, test, and analyze water quality. The 'Kids in the Creek' event will be conducted at Apple Valley Middle School along Clear Creek - December 14 and 15. We really look forward to educating

Looking forward to December 10, Mills River Partnership is partnering with Sierra Nevada Brewery to install a few different species of live stakes along a stream bank in the Mills River Watershed. The purpose of installing these live stakes is to provide long-term stability and erosion control to disturbed stream banks, also known as stream restoration, which is part of a larger area known as a riparian zone. Updates with pictures will be added shortly after the event is complete, so please