Best of: Uniquely Asheville: Local environmental group
1st placeRiverLink 
“You cannot know the river by simply sitting on the level banks,” wrote local historian Wilma Dykeman in her influential 1955 book, The French Broad, chronicling the wide river of that name.
And so it is for RiverLink. If you ever need to answer the question; “What’s your ecological address?” (why, the French Broad River basin, of course) — if you’ve never had a look at your community from the novel, shifting perspective of a float trip on a nearby section of our river – you owe it to yourself to get better acquainted.
For more than 20 years RiverLink has established itself as a critical voice for the river – but its work doesn’t stop at the stream’s level banks. RiverLink’s area of interest includes the economic revitalization of Asheville's once-dilapidated riverfront district — an area now sprouting with mixed-use development including cafes, art galleries and workshops, parks, bike lanes and more.
RiverLink’s Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan consolidates 20 years of planning for the redevelopment of the urban riverfront corridor, and has been adopted by the city of Asheville and Buncombe County as the vision for a revitalized riverfront. Keep it up, RiverLink!
— Susan Andrew
