Creation of the Pisgah Cleanup Fund
In 2021, a banjo was donated to the Cindy Platt Boys & Girls Club. The banjo was later donated to another local organization affiliated with the Mountain Song Festival at which point Woody Platt, lead singer and guitarist of the Steep Canyon Rangers, arranged to get the banjo signed by the band members and Steve Martin, who frequently plays banjo with the band.
The banjo was then given to TPC. We created a raffle fundraiser to give this banjo to one lucky person – congratulations to our winner, Suzanne Klimek from Waynesville, NC! The banjo raffle raised more than $21,000 and the proceeds were used to create the Pisgah Cleanup Fund in Fall 2021.
The inaugural dumpsite cleanup
A few months later, in January 2022, the first cleanup made possible this fund was held at Tucker Creek, a beautiful, rhododendron-lined Appalachian creek cascading in small drops and runs down to its confluence with the North Fork of the French Broad River.
The steep terrain where the dumping was concentrated, the sheer amount of waste, and the large size of many of the items that needed to be recovered proved challenging.
With the assistance of U.S. Forest Service personnel and the use of their light machinery, as well as the assistance of local contractors from Cauble and Sons Grading and the use of their long-armed track hoe, a block and tackle process proved to be an effective method for removing large items from steep slopes at this and future cleanup sites.
The trash that was removed over the course of three cold yet sunny days in January 2022 was enough to fill seven 25-foot dumpsters. Newly installed “dumping prohibited” signage and increased monitoring in the area will be used to reduce illegal dumping activity at Tucker Creek in the future.
“It’s a great day for Pisgah that we are able to get this long standing, harmful trash dump removed. Now we have to make sure it stays clear so everyone can enjoy unencumbered views of this beautiful creek.”
-Chris Worley, U.S. Forest Service
