Riverfront property is desirable because of both the recreational opportunities and the beautiful view. Often trees and other vegetation are cleared to give the landowner a better view of the river. While this may present a more neat and clean aesthetic look, it creates an unstable stream bank. Many of the sites that we work on are eroding because landowners clear the banks down to the river or stream. The river needs vegetation on its banks to keep it healthy. Without riparian buffers the water temperature increases. Trout and many other native aquatic species need cold mountain stream water to thrive. Removing vegetation from riverbanks causes erosion that results in property loss. Some landowners have seen as much as 15 to 20 feet of their property wash down stream in two years. The resulting sedimentation harms fish populations and water quality. Removing the riparian buffer also removes the filtering zone for the river. The trees and shrubs remove excess nutrient runoff from fertilized lawns and farm fields.

The River Builder Program, begun in 1998, seeks to stabilize stream banks along the New River and its tributaries in North Carolina. This is accomplished by planting livestakes -- stems of silky dogwood or silky willow -- in the stream banks and hardwoods at the tops of the stream banks. The livestakes quickly root and develop extensive root systems that help hold the bank in place. This stream bank stabilization protects property by preventing further erosion, and it protects water quality by significantly reducing sedimentation into the river. Landowners volunteer to participate in the Program, and they agree to leave the plantings alone for 15 years. To date, the Project has stabilized about 55 miles along the New River and its tributaries by planting 422,850 livestakes and 19,785 trees.

This work is funded by grants from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For additional information on how the River Builder Project can help stabilize stream banks on your property in the New River watershed of North Carolina, please contact the NCNR office.

Click HERE to download a River Builder Application
(Word Document)