South Toe Stewards - May Updates
- May 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Dear South Toe Stewards,
May has been a very busy month for South Toe Stewards! We've been coordinating with riverfront landowners, Yancey County, NC Wildlife, and Southern Disaster Recovery (SDR) personnel to share and gather information and advocate for debris removal practices that reduce damage to the river's critters and habitats.
Debris Removal on the South Toe River has already begun, with more planned for June. Thanks to all of you who have reached out to share information and who have already volunteered to join our efforts to protect the river! Please stay vigilant in the days and weeks to come!
Jess Ruegg
Yancey County and SDR Collaborate with NC Wildlife and STS to Protect Hellbenders and Appalachian Elktoe Mussels
As key players in debris removal operations in Yancey, Chris Sigmon, County Planner, and Phil Jennings, SDR's Yancey Project Manager, have met multiple times with NC Wildlife personnel and STS board members to familiarize themselves with the biological richness of the South Toe River. Chris and Phil are directing contractors to follow NC Wildlife's recommendations to minimize risks to rare animals and their habitats. NC Wildlife Commission biologists are taking several days in the South Toe to mark pre-Helene wood that will stay in the river. STS is grateful to have such great partners in protecting the South Toe River!
News reports from all over WNC describe how debris removal operations, especially those carried out by US Army Corps of Engineers' subcontractors, have added to Helene's devastation for rivers throughout Western NC.
Town Hall to Address Concerns Over Debris Removal
Yancey County has planned a "Town Hall" meeting to address questions and concerns about heavy-equipment woody debris removal in the South Toe River and its tributaries. This Town Hall meeting has been combined with the USFS's South Toe Community Meeting.
The combined meeting will take place Wednesday, June 4 from 6-8 p.m. at the Burnsville Town Center.
After a brief USFS powerpoint about public safety and ongoing recovery work, South Toe residents, outdoor enthusiasts, and river advocates are invited to circulate among US Forest Service, Yancey County, Southern Disaster Recovery, and NC Wildlife personnel to ask questions and raise concerns.
Please invite your friends and neighbors to attend! Next Wednesday, please come out, ask your questions, and speak up for the river and the forests that make the South Toe Valley so special!
Waterway Debris Removal Begins in the South Toe River
FEMA-funded waterway woody debris removal began last week on the South Toe River just upriver from Highway 19E. Work on the South Toe and its tributaries south of Micaville is slated to begin in June.
We are optimistic that plans developed by Yancey County Planner, Chris Sigmon and Phil Jennings of SDR will reduce damage related to debris removal operations, but they cannot personally oversee the activities of every heavy equipment operator on the river. Protecting the river will require active participation of South Toe residents citizens to ensure this work happens in the most ecologically sensitive manner possible.
Heavy equipment in waterways poses many threats -- tearing up the riverbanks, crushing bottom-dwellers such as mussels, and destroying habitat for hellbenders, fish and other aquatic species. Down and dead wood in waterways is crucial and natural -- it slows down storm waters, stabilizes riverbanks, and provides habitat and food for fish and other aquatic life.
We need your help! Sign up to monitor heavy equipment operations, join hand crews to remove debris in sensitive areas, or talk to your friends and neighbors about debris removal! Click below to volunteer. See the South Toe Debris Removal Info page for up-to-date info.
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