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The Shade Your Stream Symposium

Stream Restoration, Riparian Planting, and Watershed Health in Western North Carolina

Saturday June 6th, 2026
9am-3pm

A free community Event

Our streams don’t just move water…
they move life.

And in the wake of storms like Helene, we’ve all seen what happens when that balance breaks. Every native plant, every pollinator, every stabilized bank matters. When we care for our creeks, we’re not just protecting landscapes — we’re investing in future generations.

The Shade Your Stream Symposium provides landowners with the tools to better understand, care for, and protect their streams and waterways for their families, communities, and the wildlife that call these ecosystems home.

Register for this Free Event Here

Who Belongs at the Shade Your Stream Symposium?

  • Homeowners with streams or wet areas on their property.
  • Land managers.
  • Educators.
  • Gardeners who want to do right by their piece of the watershed.
  • People who have stared at a crumbling bank and had no idea where to start. No prior expertise needed.

Why Attend the Shade Your Stream Symposium?

  • Learn from experts in the field on how to protect your land, your investment and our community.
  • Discover how to beautify your streambank and stop erosion using buffering plants. 
  • Safeguard the wildlife living in our delicate ecosystem.
  • Food and drinks provided for free.
  • One attendee will receive a free landscape consultation from Greg Mason ($250 value).
Register for this Free Event Here
Why Now Matters:

Western North Carolina has always lived close to its water. Storms like Hurricane Helene reminded us how quickly that relationship can turn — leaving eroding banks, damaged buffers, and overwhelmed watersheds across the region.

The Shade Your Stream Symposium was built for this moment.

Whether you’re dealing with active erosion or just want to do right by the creek on your property, the knowledge and the experts are here — and it won’t cost you a thing.

Bill McLarney
Mainspring Conservation Trust

Bill opens the day with a look at Mainspring's Shade Your Stream program, a regional effort that has helped landowners along hundreds of miles of stream corridor get native buffers in the ground and put eroding banks back together. If you want the big picture on why any of this matters, start here.
Lewis Penland Erin Mang
Lewis Penland & Erin Mang
Penland Contracting

Lewis and Erin cover the practical side of stream restoration: real techniques, real project examples from Western NC, and what the process actually looks like for a property owner from first assessment through completion
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Jennifer Cooper
Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River
Jennifer is the Executive Director of the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River, and her experience includes biomonitoring efforts focused on benthic macroinvertebrates. Her session will focus on some of the creatures that call the stream home, why they matter, and what you can do to support them.
Josselyn Lucas
University of Georgia

Josselyn Lucas is an environmental scientist with over ten years of experience in freshwater ecology, stream and wetland restoration, and aquatic conservation on private lands. She serves as the Aquatic Framework Coordinator for Working Lands for Wildlife at the University of Georgia, where she leads multi-state, cross-sector initiatives focused on conservation delivery, aquatic connectivity, water quality improvement, and resilient watershed management across the southeastern United States.
Bigelow
Adam Bigelow
Bigelow's Botanical Excursions

Adam closes the morning with a focused look at native plant selection for riparian areas. Which species hold banks together? Which ones thrive in wet or transitional soils across the Southern Appalachian region? If you are ready to plant along a stream or a slope that catches runoff, Adam will send you home with a clear picture of where to begin.
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Bring Your Questions
Bring your pictures

Our speakers will be available during and after the event to address your individual questions about our environment, watershed, and even individual challenges that are affecting your own landscape. There is no problem too big or too small for our experts to tackle- in fact, they rather enjoy it!
Register for this Free Event Here

Welcome to Winding Stair Gardens

Enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, the beautiful plants, and the fellowship of eager learners. You can even join us at 8.30 to check out our plant selection beforehand!

9am

Bill McLarney, Mainspring Conservation Trust

Learn about the Shade Your Stream program and watershed protection in Western NC and surrounding areas.

9.15am

Jennifer Cooper, WATR

Take a look under the water at the unique animals that exist in our streams, and how we can support their ecosystem.

10am

Break

Enjoy a small break to smell the roses (or the bee balm, or the rhododendron....)

11am

Lewis Penland & Erin Mang, Penland Contracting

Discover what stream restoration in practice is like; requirements, permits, and potential red tape.

11.15am

Adam Bigelow, Bigelow's Botanical Excursions

Find out the best native plants to use for stream bank restoration and riparian buffers.

12 Noon

Break

Snacks, drinks and a moment to mingle.

1pm

Josselyn Lucas, University of Georgia

Learn about freshwater ecology, stream and wetland restoration, and aquatic conservation on private lands.

1.30pm

Q&A Panel

Join our roster of experts for a question-and-answer session.

2.15pm

Optional Site Visit

A guided site visit to the stream restoration project at Mountain View Intermediate School with Jennifer Love.

3pm
Register for this Free Event Here