Tackling Brandy Branch - one bank at a time!

Three months after the ‘Backyard Stream Repair Workshop Pt. II’ in Mills River Village, Mills River Partnership returned (upstream) to repair additional parts of Brandy Branch. This tributary feeds directly into Mills River,

upstream of Mills River Park, and has been a waterway of concern for years. Increased development along this tributary has led to its degradation, and landowners are desperately searching for answers.

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On March 16, Mills River Partnership (and various other entities - see below), came together to mitigate an erosion issue occurring along Brandy Branch that was encroaching a landowner’s property, and possibly even jeopardizing her home in the future.

Starting at 8:30am, more than 10 people volunteered to:

• Cut and carry heavy tree limbs
• Install coir logs
• Shovel sediment behind logs
• Stake down seed/straw/matting
• Install 300+ live stakes
• ...And be totally rad while doing it!

Volunteers included: Mills River and Hendersonville residents, Sierra Nevada Brewery staff, City of Hendersonville staff, Asheville Greenworks staff, and Mills River Partnership staff.

Special thanks to:
Dr. Greg Jennings (Jennings Environmental) - mastermind behind design
Mitch Woodward (NCSU Cooperative Ext.) - picked up donated North State materials and brought hand tools
Darrell Westmoreland (North State Environmental) - donated coir logs, eco-stakes, and matting
Alan Johnson (Hi-Lo Mountain Nursery) - provided beautiful live stakes
Shaun Moore (SM Soil and Water Solutions) - donated a few bare root trees
Hendersonville Water Treatment Plant - let us borrow hand tools
Sierra Nevada Brewery - harvested and donated some live stakes

This project was made possible through partnerships, donated materials, and hardworking volunteers.

We greatly appreciate all the time, effort, materials, and expertise that you all contributed to this project.

We cannot thank you all enough!


Much love, MRP