Snapshot: Biologists find mussels persisting through two tropical storms
Asheville, N.C. - The line of bright-orange spray paint on the log that dipped into West Fork of the Pigeon River was hard to miss, but that was the point.
The tag was placed by aquatic biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission as a sign to heavy equipment operators extracting stream debris in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. The message? Leave this log, it’s important for a healthy stream. While foreign objects like refrigerators, shipping containers, dumpsters, even entire cars found their way into area streams during storm flooding, and definitely warranted extraction, downed wood, often referred to as woody debris, is a natural and normal part of a healthy stream. It can protect banks from erosion, subtly shift water flow to create micro-habitats for stream life, and support the stream food chain by providing a substrate for algal growth and capturing leaves eaten by aquatic insects that are, in-turn, eaten by fish. Generally, woody material in a stream only requires attention in discrete situations such as logs piling up against a bridge or significant log jams.
Streams of the Pigeon River watershed, in Haywood County, N.C. were struck hard by Tropical Storm Fred in 2021 and then again in 2024 by Helene. On a recent morning in peak summer, a team of three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists donned snorkel gear and hit both the east and west forks of the Pigeon River. The trio were in search of endangered Appalachian elktoe mussels, a species found only in a handful of streams in Southern Appalachia. This outing offered a glimpse of how the mussels fared through Helene and provided biologists with knowledge of the current on-the-ground situation to inform decisions on upcoming bridge replacements.
In a nod to Helene’s impacts, the team quickly pulled a hatchet, sledgehammer, maul, and fishing net from the East Fork of the Pigeon River, though no mussels were found. The biologists’ search of the west fork was disappointingly empty handed until they came upon an area that yielded roughly forty of the endangered mussels – a sweet spot around the log tagged with orange spray paint. Another sweet spot was found further upstream of one of the bridges slated for replacement, bringing the day’s total to nearly fifty. The number was good, but the individuals were concentrated in isolated pockets, not more widely distributed across the river in a way that would be more indicative of a vibrant, healthy stream. The outing was another small step in a long journey to reveal how Tropical Storm Helene impacted the area’s rarest flora and fauna.
