Happy New Year to you all! It has been exciting to see snow on our mountaintops and feel the fresh, bracing air of winter in the Southern Appalachians over the past few weeks.
We at TPC are tending our many irons in the fire and leaping into the new year with trail projects remediating damage from Hurricane Helene, new projects and collaborations for our Invasive Plant Management Crew, and hiring and planning for the upcoming River Ranger season.
Three trail bridge repairs
The TPC Trail Crew has started the year by repairing trail bridges and other trail infrastructure damaged by the high waters of Hurricane Helene.
On Caney Bottom Trail just above the second Cove Creek Group Campground site, the Trail Crew utilized rigging and rough carpentry skills to repair a single-log stringer bridge, pulling it out of the creek, resetting it level, and anchoring it back into log sills.
Similarly, on Long Branch Trail, the Crew was able to pull a 25-foot trail bridge out of the creek and re-anchor it onto improved sills. As the handrail was destroyed in its journey downstream, the crew installed a new one, rendering the bridge now fit and ready for service.
The Crew also pulled the footbridge at the start of the Art Loeb Trail out of the creek and they have staged it for replacement. Before doing so, however, they will be installing improved abutments and stepped-up approaches that will help to reduce the risk of similar washout in future high-water events.
Boardwalk repair on Sycamore Cove Loop Trail
Our Trails and Recreation Technician, Simon Farr, joined volunteers from the Pisgah Cowboys last week to repair and reset the boardwalk on Sycamore Cove Loop Trail, which also was washed off its moorings and pushed up against the adjacent sidehill during the storm.
They were able to move the boardwalk back into position piece by piece, refasten the sections to one another, level it up, and anchor the sills into the ground with rebar.
In the process, they replaced rotten and damaged deckboards and stringers, and hardened the approach to the boardwalk by constructing a 30-foot-long turnpike.
Progress on Mullinax Trail
With the Crew’s rehabilitation work on Mullinax Trail nearly complete, we only await a few days of amenable weather to return and finish up the final touches.
With equipment work, grade dip construction, and tread repair complete, only finish work and a section of rock armoring remains to be done before the project is concluded.
As mentioned, we are planning to return to do this work when weather permits, as snow on the ground and significant freeze-thaw due to recent low temperatures have not yet provided suitable conditions.
In the meantime, with the impacts of freeze-thaw on freshly-dug trail, please consider using another trail as you get out and explore the forest. Heavy-use on trails during these conditions result in trail damage and an overall muddy mess.
Invasive plant treatments begin at North Mills River
The Invasive Plant Management (IPM) Crew began 2025 working in North Mills River Recreational Area, focusing their efforts on invasive plant infestations in and around the campground and developed areas.
This marks the beginning of our initial treatment of non-native invasive plants in this area that will form the majority of their work in the coming months.
As it is the winter season, they are focused on:
Performing cut stump treatments on Autumn Olive, Chinese Privet, Kudzu, and Oriental Bittersweet
Tackling wrist-thick invasive vines climbing into the canopy
Clearing dense invasive undergrowth monocultures
You may be seeing debris piles spread around the area; rest assured that they will be chipped and spread by the IPM Crew at a later date after they have made more headway in the area and have accumulated more woody material.
Upcoming project to address kudzu infestation with EcoForesters
The IPM Crew will begin an exciting new project in the month of February as we team up with EcoForesters, an Asheville-based nonprofit focused on forest conservation and restoration, to begin controlling kudzu along the Davidson River corridor.
For two weeks our IPM Crew co-leaders, Will and Sam, will be joined by a crew of 5 technicians from EcoForesters. They’ll work side-by-side to perform initial cut stump treatments on kudzu and other invasives along Davidson River Road.
They’ll begin up above the Hatchery near the road into Cove Creek Group Campground and will work their way down Davidson River Road and Highway 276, treating infestations as they go.
After this initial treatment in February, the IPM Crew will return in the summer growing season to perform follow-up treatments.
This infestation has been growing and spreading into the canopy for several decades, spreading from treetop to treetop as it chokes out native understory plant species and even mature native hardwoods.
Likely brought in via loads of boulders used to repair slides on Davidson River Road in the past, and left to grow and spread since then, it is truly exciting to start addressing this long standing invasive plant infestation in the heart of Pisgah.
Many thanks to you all for your continued support of The Pisgah Conservancy and Pisgah National Forest. Here’s to more great work to come in 2025!
