The Haywood Waterways Association (HWA) is set to receive $2 million in state funds through the Helene Fund, as authorized by Session Law 2025-2 (SL 2025-2). This grant will be used for cleaning and restoring the Pigeon River Watershed, an area that suffered extensive damage from both Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Fred. The storms caused significant streambank erosion, habitat destruction, and left large debris blockages in the waterways. The initiative is expected to benefit more than 60,000 residents of Haywood County through comprehensive debris removal, ecological restoration, and intergovernmental coordination.
“The Pigeon River watershed in Haywood County suffered devastating damage during Hurricane Helene,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “These state grants to local partners will help communities become more resilient to future storms by removing dangerous debris from streams, restoring healthy stream banks through planting of native plants, reducing wildfire risks, improving soil health on farmland, and reducing demand on scarce landfill space.”
An additional $1 million has been awarded to the Southwestern North Carolina Resource Conservation & Development Council. This funding will support a pilot program utilizing mobile equipment to convert downed trees into biochar. This soil-enhancing carbon product will be applied to farmland that was damaged by Hurricane Helene, helping to remove hazardous woody debris, lower the risk of wildfires, and improve soil health.
Preston Jacobsen, Executive Director of the Haywood Waterways Association, expressed his gratitude for the continued support. “Through this latest funding support, we continue our partnership with DEQ, local towns and county departments, including private landowners in Haywood County, to restore our headwaters here in the Pigeon River watershed after Helene,” said Jacobsen. “This is a long-term effort, using lessons learned from Fred and funding from state agencies to expand and sustain our recovery programs at the local level. We look forward to implementing these funds soon and are grateful to everyone involved in bringing this level of support to Haywood County.”
Hurricane Helene devastated more than 800,000 acres of forestland across Western North Carolina, leaving a significant amount of downed trees and stream debris that poses a serious threat of wildfires and post-fire erosion. The biochar project offers a sustainable solution to this problem, avoiding the need to overload limited landfill space while also improving the local environment.
WNCTimes
Image: Haywood County Water Association Social Media April 2025