The Linville Watershed Project  

      The Linville River Watershed is a vast mountain area encompassing nearly 43,000 acres. It's diverse land usage includes the first wilderness area established in the eastern US, the Linville Gorge Wilderness, also known as the " Grand Canyon of the East."

Conceived, initiated, and managed by Northwestern Trout Unlimited, the Linville River Watershed Partnership will serve as a model for other cooperative restoration and educational watershed projects in this region and the United States. The marriage of volunteers, private ownership, and agency efforts are paramount for the protection and future health of this historic watershed.

The Linville River is one of the first links in the chain of tributaries that eventually become the Catawba River Basin Watershed. This river system is the primary water supply for many communities of Piedmont North Carolina and South Carolina serving millions of people. 

Summary

The Linville flows over 37 miles through Avery and Burke Counties. Near the Avery-Burke County line, the Linville River flows through one of the first wilderness areas developed in the eastern United States, Linville Gorge Wilderness, before continuing on into Lake James west of Morganton, NC. 

Old time anglers speak of a Linville River coldwater fishery prior to 1965. Many have vivid memories of trout fishing the upper Linville River, from its Grandfather headwaters to Linville Falls, and below the falls into the Linville Gorge Wilderness. Historically, the lower watershed was a haven for wild brook and reproducing populations of brown and rainbow trout. However because of the river's degradation, today few anglers consider a day of trout fishing on the public sections of the Linville River. 

The Linville River Watershed has seen dramatic changes since the 1960's. Farmland has changed from crops to Christmas trees, forestland is much the same only fewer trees stand today. The single most dramatic change has been the development of residential resort communities. Several developments have spread across the landscape with roads, rooftops and resort lakes. Today at least six lakes affect the character of the Linville River: 1) Pepper Tree Resort Lake; 2) Grandfather Mountain Lake; 3) Grandmother Lake; 4) Kawahna Lake; 5) Land-Harbors Lake; 6) and Sloop Lake.  

Land use changes in the watershed have affected both water quantity and quality. It is our hypothesis that land use change, including the development of lake impoundments, has degraded the Linville River water quality and quantity over the past 35 years. Specifically we believe sedimentation and thermal pollution have degraded this historic fishery near the point that coldwater fishes simply cannot survive. 

Led by past President James Fortner, NWTU has initiated a field water quality testing study that will gather the necessary information to determine if sedimentation and thermal pollution are the causes of such degradation. A second, later phase of this project will propose improvements to the watershed to establish, enhance, and restore the coldwater fishery. These improvements might include stream restoration, land use management recommendations, reservoir management, storm water management, riparian restoration, and conservation easements.  

A geographic information system (GIS) map has been prepared of the study area that includes the entire watershed of the Linville River.  The watershed can be divided into the upper section and the lower section. The lower section includes a great deal of US Forest Service lands, Wilderness lands, and lands controlled by the National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway. The upper section consists of mostly private resort lands, and some NC State Forestry lands. The GIS mapping data will give us much of the land use data needed for the study. These data include population density, drainage, impoundment acreage, forestlands, croplands, pasturelands, soil types, and other valuable information. These data have been furnished to NWTU in AutoCAD and Word formats by the Region E Council of Governments, located in Hickory, North Carolina. 

Funds generated from our National Conservation Banquet are combined with matching grants from Federal and State Agencies to support these efforts.  We envision a Linville River that has been returned to its original pristine condition.  We appreciate your support.

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