When our organization was founded in 1997 as the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, protecting the waters of this remarkable watershed was at the heart of our mission. Today, that commitment extends across the Southern Blue Ridge, where healthy rivers, streams and wetlands sustain wildlife, strengthen local farms, provide clean drinking water and offer places for people to fish, paddle, explore and connect with nature.
Protecting water means caring for the land around it. That’s why Mainspring works with landowners, communities and conservation partners to restore streambanks, reconnect floodplains, improve aquatic habitat and reduce erosion before it becomes a problem. We also lead one of the nation’s longest-running volunteer aquatic biomonitoring programs, gathering decades of data that help us understand the health of our waterways and guide future conservation efforts.
Every stream restoration project, every tree planted along a creek and every volunteer who steps into the water helps protect one of the Southern Blue Ridge’s greatest resources. Because when our rivers thrive, so do our communities, our wildlife and the landscapes that make this region unlike anywhere else.
