Birds in This Story
Cerulean Warbler
Latin: Setophaga cerulea
Golden-winged Warbler
Latin: Vermivora chrysoptera
A little more than a week after the waters receded from Hurricane Helene, Audubon chapters in western North Carolina were back on the trails and in local parks. Not because things were back to normal—homes, neighborhoods, and the electric grid remained washed out and devastated.
For many Audubon members, once they took care of immediate health and safety concerns, gathering together became the next best way to support one another and their communities.
In Buncombe County, Blue Ridge Audubon organized bird walks at the few parks that remained open. A sizeable crowd showed up for the first post-storm outing at Jackson Park in Hendersonville.
“It was definitely orni-therapy,” chapter president John Koon said. “It was about being together outside. I don’t think anyone cared too much if we saw birds.”
In Watauga County, High Country Audubon joined community partners and other locals at their beloved Valle Crucis Community Park for a cleanup day just a week post-Helene. More than one hundred people showed up.
The park was strewn with debris and downed trees. After a few more community cleanup days, it reopened in November. “People just wanted to help, that’s what’s been so moving,” High Country Audubon President Gina Diggs said. “Everyone jumped in immediately. And it’s been muddy, dirty work.”
Native Plants Washed Out
Today, western North Carolina is still just beginning what will be a years-long recovery. For their part, Audubon chapters in the mountains have been focused on getting operations back to normal, while also helping with broader recovery efforts.
“It’s been heart breaking and heartwarming at the same time,” said Audubon North Carolina Executive Director Curtis Smalling, who grew up outside of Boone and saw the devastation firsthand at his family home. “I knew our chapters would rally together for people, just like they do for birds. Like everyone else in the mountains, they were back out there immediately, doing what they do best.”
In many cases, the chapters have seen years of investments in native plantings and other habitat work washed away. At Valle Crucis and other stream-side parks around Boone, High Country Audubon has planted hundreds, maybe thousands of native shrubs, grasses, and trees over the years, most of which were buried or washed out.
Since the storm, the chapter has returned, planting more than 800 native shrubs and plants between Valle Crucis and Green Valley Park. But there is still more work to do.
“The rivers are just scoured,” Diggs said. “A lot of the river banks are going to need restorative work.”
Eye on the Spring
The spring will be a critical time. At Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, an 8-acre oasis in Asheville owned and managed by Blue Ridge Audubon, the chapter will be watching closely to see what kind of vegetation emerges from the soil washed in by the storm.
“Upstream of the sanctuary, there’s a fair amount of Japanese knotweed and other invasives,” Koon said. “Hopefully those seeds haven’t washed in, because once those take root, it’s a lot of time and effort to get them out.”
Helene covered 90 percent of the sanctuary in water and knocked down 50 trees. The chapter raised $13,000 for its restoration, and local forestry firm EcoForesters helped remove fallen logs from the boardwalk and trails. But besides monitoring for invasive plants, the chapter plans to let the new habitat created by the storm regenerate on its own.
“We’re taking the changes that nature brought us and not necessarily trying to reengineer things,” Koon said.
Similar dynamics will be at play throughout the mountains. At Owens Park in Swannanoa, the storm washed away two fishing ponds and left a braided stream with sand banks in their place.
Koon says the new geography is good habitat, and the county should consider restoring the park with that in mind.
As recovery ramps up, Audubon staff and chapters will be chipping in and advocating for similar strategies that benefit both birds and people.
Birds and Birders Respond
Many parks and birding hotspots remain closed. Landslides knocked out roads to some sites, and access remains limited or nonexistent to many others. Still, birders navigated these hazards and more for the Christmas Bird Count in December and January.
The count circle in Buncombe County includes many places hit hard by the storm. Lake Lure, downstream of Chimney Rock, is typically a stronghold for waterfowl during the annual count, but the lake is still a disaster site. As expected, waterfowl numbers were down this year. But elsewhere, bird numbers appeared resilient.
“It’s one of those things where the birds are getting along better than the birders,” Koon said.
The storm’s destruction has wiped away habitat, while creating it in other places. For wildlife that thrive in young, re-growing forests—species like the declining Golden-winged Warbler—the storm may bring new opportunities. Downed trees create new gaps in the canopy and allow for plants to regenerate on the forest floor.
But for other species like Cerulean Warbler, that depend on large, old growth trees, the habitat destruction could be a problem. And all of the downed timber will pose a wildfire risk as it dries out.
These are dynamics that Audubon will be tracking closely and providing guidance to land managers when appropriate.
The Appalachian Mountains have long been recognized as a climate resilient stronghold. The varied elevations, topography, and natural communities build resilience into the system.
That doesn’t make the region immune to the effects of storms or climate change writ large, Smalling said. “What it does mean is that recovery, however hard, is more possible in this place,” Smalling said. “You can see that same kind of resilience reflected in all the ways people are rebounding and responding, including our chapters.”
