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Eno River Association Essentials

The Eno River Association is excited to announce the newest conservation project along the Eno River! 🌿 On August 14, the Reid family donated a conservation easement on a 2.5-acre riverfront portion of the historic Burnside Barn and Coachman’s Quarters property in Hillsborough. This conservation easement is a deed that prohibits any future development of the land, while allowing the Reid family and all future owners the right to enjoy the space in ways that protect the forest and the Eno River. Burnside Barn and Coachman’s Quarters is also an important historical site. Archeological artifacts recovered from UNC field studies since 1938 have shown that Occaneechi, Shakori, and earlier Indigenous groups lived in this area for thousands of years. Read more about the conservation project in the link in our bio! 🔗 📸 ERA Staff [Image Description: The Eno River with foliage surrounding the location] #protectwhatmatters #naturelovers #supportconservation #enoriver

We're excited to partner with the Durham Arts Council to help spread the word about CenterFest, Durham's annual arts festival! 🎨 After our own 60th Anniversary Celebration the weekend before, keep the community fun going as CenterFest returns to downtown Durham September 19–20 for a weekend celebrating art, music, food, and community. While this is a Durham Arts Council event—not an ERA event—it's another great opportunity to celebrate the creativity and community that make Durham special. 🎉 Browse work from 120+ juried artists, enjoy live music and dance performances, discover delicious local food, explore hands-on activities for all ages, and experience everything that makes Durham's creative community so special! 🎨 Festival hours: Saturday, September 19 from 10AM–6PM Sunday, September 20 from 11AM–5PM Bring your family, friends, and neighbors for one of Durham's favorite annual traditions! 🎭 📸: Durham Arts Council [Image Description: CenterFest Arts Festival Celebrating America 250 in downtown Durham on September 19 & 20, 2026 presented by the Durham Arts Council.] #durham #creatives #downtown #CommunityEvent #artsfestival

💚 Concert Ticket Giveaway! 🎉 For 60 years, the Eno River has brought people together—to explore, play, create, find quiet, make memories, and connect with the land and one another. And every person who loves the Eno has a story to tell. 🎥 We went down to the river near our office looking to meet Eno River "regulars" who want to share their story with us. We'll be continuing this series and giving away two tickets to our 60th Anniversary Benefit Concert to each participant who wants them! 🎶 Join us September 12 at the Carolina Theatre in Durham for an unforgettable evening of music, art, storytelling, and community celebrating 60 years of protecting the Eno and looking toward its future. So think about it: What does the Eno mean to you? What’s your favorite memory, place, tradition, or reason you keep coming back? We encourage you to get out there and make the Eno part of your story if it isn't yet. We can’t wait to hear your stories—and celebrate with you in just two weeks! 💙 🎟️ Learn more about the concert and tickets at the link in our bio. #enoriver #supportconservation #outdoors #durhamnc #anniversaryevent

🌿 Stewardship Notes 🌿 At home stewardship can be as simple as doing nothing! 🍂 Leave your leaves this fall to provide a natural fertilizer and provide shelter for insects and small animals during the winter months. 🍁🎃 Leaving your leaves is an easy way to be more environmentally friendly, as leaf litter provides winter habitats for butterflies, moths, bees, and insects, along with 94% of caterpillars. Save time and money this fall by leaving your leaves! The best way to do this is to just leave your leaves where they fall, but in areas where that is not an option (such as grass you need to maintain), rake or blow leaves under trees, shrubs, or in garden bends to use as mulch! If necessary, you can also mulch leaves directly using a mulching lawnmower. Learn more about leaving your leaves at the link in our bio! 📸 Kathy Lee, Nick Ferguson, Nick Ferguson, Todd Nance [Image Descriptions: Eno River in the fall with orange and yellow-colored trees lining the river; fall trees in the Eno River Basin; The Eno River reflecting fall colored trees; Nancy Rhodes creek dam in the fall] #leaveyourleaves #enoriver #supportconservation #protectwhatmatters

🌿 Help improve the river crossing and trails at Panther Branch! Our stewardship workdays are picking back up for fall, and we’re looking for volunteers to help us continue caring for the trails at Panther Branch Natural Area. Join us next Thursday, September 3, from 9 AM–12 PM for a stewardship workday at Panther Branch Natural Area near Hillsborough! We’ll be getting our hands dirty improving a rock crossing over Panther Branch, making the trail safer and easier to navigate. Volunteers will use hand tools to move large rocks into place as stepping stones and install trail steps along the banks of the branch. 🪨🥾 It’s a great chance to spend a morning outdoors, meet fellow Eno supporters, and help care for a trail that visitors can enjoy for years to come. 💚 No trail-building experience necessary! We’ll provide the tools, equipment, work gloves, and even breakfast and snacks. Get all the details and sign up to lend a hand at the link in our bio. 📸: Christina Schubert [Image Description: The waters of the Eno flow through a shady rocky section of the river with a light glow from the sunlight peeking through the leaves above.] #EnoRiver #TrailBuilding #VolunteerWithUs #LandStewardship

Staff Series! 🌿 Eve is the Development and Communications Manager at the Eno River Association! A fun fact about Eve is that her first time visiting the Eno was on Memorial Day last year, and she had no idea that seven months later she would be starting at the ERA working for the river she enjoyed visiting! Today, Eve helps manage donor data, donor relations, supports stewardship, and helps handle social media and other communications strategies. Eve’s favorite things about working at the Eno are the opportunities to do hands-on activities and get out into nature and enjoy the Eno, along with meeting community members passionate about protecting the river. ERA Staff [Image Descriptions: Eve with Nan and Heather; Eve at the 60th Anniversary for the Eno; Eve kayaking with staff] #staffseries #protectwhatmatters #naturelovers #enoriver

Join communities across the state for NC Climate Week starting tomorrow for a series of workshops, events, and conversations hosted by EarthShare NC to move our state to climate action! 🌎 This year, the Eno River Association’s own Audrey Gentry will be sharing information on building climate resiliency with her talk “Tropical Storm Chantal and the Eno River: Impacts, Recovery, and Resilience.” at 2:30 p.m. on September 29. Check out more at the link in our bio! 📸 Dan Smith [Image Description: Eno River flooding after tropical storm Chantal] #naturelovers #events #enoriver #climateaction

🌿 Nature Notes 🌿 The Southern two-lined salamander is a lungless salamander that is commonly found under small rocks and in leaf litter around shallow creeks feeding into the Eno. 🦎 Some fun facts about Southern two-lined salamanders are that breathe entirely through their skin and the lining of their mouth. During the breeding season, adult males grow small, fleshy projections on their snouts called cirri, which help them detect females. Additionally, babies hatch with gills and live an entirely aquatic lifestyle for 1 to 3 years before finishing their metamorphosis into adults. 📸 Audrey Gentry [Image Description: Southern two-lined salamander found along the Eno] #NatureNotes #protectwhatmatters #naturelovers #enoriver #salamander

🌿 Nature Notes! 🌿 Hearts-a-bustin’ or strawberry bushes are a deciduous shrub native to the eastern United States. Though this plant blooms in the late spring and early summer, this plant shows its true colors in the late summer and early fall when the seed capsules mature, turn a vibrant magenta-pink, and burst open to reveal bright orangey-red seeds! 🧡❤️ These shrubs are not actually related to strawberries, and all parts of the plants are toxic to humans. However, white-tailed deer and rabbits love to eat its twigs and leaves, and songbirds and small mammals will eat the seeds. These plants are native to the Eno River basin, and you can go along the Eno Riverwalk to enjoy them in their full beauty! Audrey Gentry [Image Description: Hearts-a-bustin or strawberry bush (Euonymus americanus) taken at the Hillsborough Riverwalk this past weekend] #naturelovers #NatureNotes #supportconservation #enoriver

Join us Saturday, Sept 12 in downtown Durham as we celebrate 60 years of Eno River advocacy with a full day of music, art, community, and conservation! A BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE ENO at Carolina Theatre, doors 6:30p Live performances by Pura Fé & Cary Morin, Jake Xerxes Fussell, and Tre. Charles Sound poetry collaborations by Cortland Gilliam & Brian Howe // Beverly Scarlett & Special Guests FREE COMMUNITY CELEBRATION at DPlex Plaza, 1-5pm Paperhand Puppet, Rowdy Square Dance w/ Five Points Rounders + caller Simone Fine, Durham Labor Choir, and Duo d’Antan, Scrap Exchange, Luke Vandergriff, NC Herpetological Society, and live mural painting by Serendib Creative … and NEW MERCH ! The “Little Big Top” merch tent will be on-site at both events debuting a special collection of tees, art prints, and anniversary-inspired collaborations with local artists and printers Whether you join for an afternoon hour in the plaza, an entire evening inside the historic Carolina Theatre, or make it a full-day downtown adventure, we'd love to celebrate this special milestone together with our COMMUNITY 💚 🎟️ GET TICKETS link in bio 🌐 Learn more at enoriver.org – @pura._fe @cary_morin @jxfussell @tre.charlz @corter_pounder @brian_gray_howe @paperhandpuppet @lukev432 @durhamlaborchoir @serendibcreative @carolinatheatredurham @scrapexchange

Down by the River | Ticket Giveaway! 🐍 We chatted with Meredith along the trail by the Eno River and gave her some free tickets to our Sept 12th concert at the Carolina Theater. Buy tickets while they last at the link in our bio. We hope to see you there! 🎶🎟️💧 Music by concert headliner Pura Fé: "Before the Sky Split in Two" (Extended Instrumental), Pura Fé & Geneviève Gros-Louis

Welcome to our Salamander Spotlight Series! 🔎 First things first - what even IS a salamander? Salamanders might look a little like lizards, but they're actually amphibians — more closely related to frogs and toads than to reptiles. Unlike lizards, salamanders have moist, permeable skin, and many rely on their skin and the lining of their mouths to breathe. Some live mostly on land, others spend their entire lives in water, and many depend on both aquatic and terrestrial habitats throughout their lives. Here in the Eno River Basin, salamanders can be found in all kinds of places, from damp forests and hidden spaces beneath logs to the rocks and leaf litter of the Eno River and its tributaries. Despite being small and secretive, they're important members of these ecosystems, helping regulate invertebrate populations, serving as prey for other wildlife, and acting as important ecological indicators. Over the coming weeks, we'll introduce you to some of the fascinating salamander species found in our own backyard, exploring their unique adaptations, surprising behaviors, and the habitats they depend on. 🌿 Stay tuned to meet some salamanders of the Eno! 📸: “Marbled Salamander” by Peter Paplanus via New Georgia Encyclopedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0. [Image description: a marbled salamander rests on leaf litter] #EnoRiver #AmphibianConservation #SalamanderScience #SalamanderSpotlightSeries

We want YOUR input! 🍂 The Eno River Association is proud to announce we are pursuing renewal of our land trust accreditation. This program recognizes the ERA's commitment to the highest standards in protecting the Eno River and surrounding lands. 🌿🌎 The Land Trust Accreditation Commission is accepting public comments on our application through March 19, 2027. We're inviting you to read more about reaccreditation and share your feedback here 👉 https://www.enoriver.org/era-accreditation-renewal/ 📸 Sheila Tayrose [Image Description: The Eno river in the fall, with colorful trees lining the river] #protectwhatmatters #naturelovers #enoriver

NEW BEER ALERT! 🚨 Come to @enoriverbrewing to try our new collaboration, Easy Peasy Eno Squeezy, to celebrate the Eno River Association's 60th anniversary! 🩷🌱 Easy Peasy Eno Squeezy pours a clear straw color with rocky white head, aromas of warm lemon groves, and a sweet malt character reminiscent of lemon drops. A portion of proceeds from the draft sales of Easy Peasy Eno Squeezy will benefit the Eno River Association! 🍋 #enoriver #supportconservation

Staff Series! 🌱 Hillary is the Director of Education and Engagement at the Eno River Association! A fun fact about Hillary is that she worked for the National Park Service for 10 summers. Today, she helps educate people on the Eno and why it’s important to spark financial contributions, volunteering, and advocacy. She does this through programming, public school programming, guided hikes, and more. Hillary’s favorite thing about working at the ERA is seeing kids in the summer camps growing up to be lovers and stewards of the Eno! 📸 Caroline Gilmore & Hillary Harrison [Image Descriptions: Hillary Harrison staff photo, Hillary and her husband, and Hillary at the river during a field trip] #education #outreach #protectwhatmatters #naturelovers #supportconservation

To protect the Eno is to protect our community. 🌿 This World Environmental Health Day, we’re celebrating the incredible response to our $60K for 60 Years campaign. Together, our community helped raise over $97,000—far surpassing our original $60,000 goal—to protect and care for the Eno River Basin and the people within it. This year's theme for today, “Environmental Health: Standing with Science to Protect Communities,” reminds us that resilient communities depend on healthy environments. Clean water, functioning ecosystems, protected natural areas, and access to green space all contribute to the places where people live, work, play, and thrive.💙 That connection is at the heart of the Eno River Association’s work. By protecting land along the Eno, caring for the ecosystems that sustain the river, and creating opportunities for people to connect with nature, we’re helping safeguard the environmental resources our communities depend on—today and for generations to come. The more than $97,000 raised this summer will help protect important lands and care for the places entrusted to us. This outpouring of support from our community will shape the health and resilience of the Eno River Basin for years to come. For 60 years, people have come together to protect the Eno. This year was no exception. Thank you for investing in a healthy future for the Eno and the communities that call it home. This next chapter belongs to all of us. 💚 📸 Susan Reeves [Image Description: A bright orange Monarch butterfly perches on a daisy to drink its sweet nectar on a sunny day amid a lush green field.] #WorldEnvironmentalHealthDay #EnvironmentalHealth #EnoRiver #LandProtection #ProtectTheEno

✨ Our 60th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit Concert is coming up THIS SATURDAY and we can’t wait to celebrate with you. Come join us and learn about the past 60 years of protecting the Eno River, from our grassroots efforts to the beginnings of the Festival for the Eno to our more recent projects and successes. We’ve partnered with artist Kelsey Grawill @klgraywill and Hyperlocal Dispatch @hyperlocaldispatch to develop a Zine to share the history of the Eno River Association in a fun, creative way! A special thank you to our friends and artists Rosali Middleman @rosalimusic and Joe Liles for their beautiful images. 🎨✏️ You can pick up a copy of the Zine at the Benefit Concert at Carolina Theatre on Saturday evening. Tickets are available at the link in our bio. Can’t wait to see you there to celebrate 60 years! 📸: Kelsey Graywill [Image description: A paper copy of a Zine with text sits open on a surface]

Meet the Staff at ERA! 🌎🌱 To kickoff of our new Meet the Staff Series, we're introducing Nick Ferguson! Nick is our Conservation and Stewardship manager here at the Eno River Association. A fun fact about Nick is that before he originally worked as our Finance and Operations manager, and has recently transitioned into his new role! Today, he helps with increasing conservation in the Eno River State Park, the Confluence, and Panther Branch, and leading workdays. He also helps with land restoration in our preserves and natural areas. Nick’s favorite thing about working at the ERA is the positivity of the team and the genuine happiness that people bring to the work. #enoriver #supportconservation #volunteerwithus #staffseries

🌿 Thank you to Latta Park for supporting our 60th Anniversary celebration as a Trail Head Sponsor! As our neighbors, Latta Park shares our vision for communities where people can connect with nature through publicly accessible green spaces, multi-use trails, and thoughtful public art. We’re grateful to have you alongside us as we celebrate 60 years of protecting and connecting people to the Eno River! 💚 📸: Latta Park [Image Description: Drawing of plans for Latta Park's layout showing the residential and shopping areas of the community.] #EnoRiver #LattaPark #DurhamNC #SponsorSpotlight #TrailHeadSponsor

🌿 Dreaming of working in nature at a state park? Looking to gain hands-on experience that could help launch a career in parks, recreation, or the outdoors? Eno River State Park is hiring! 🥾🌳 The park is currently seeking applicants for two positions: 🔹 General Utility Worker — Help care for park facilities and grounds through work including bathroom and litter maintenance, mowing and trimming, trail maintenance, invasive plant management, and other park operations. There may also be opportunities to assist with environmental education programs! 🔹 Weekend Office Assistant — Be the friendly first face visitors meet at the park! Responsibilities include answering visitor questions and phones, camper registration and check-in, merchandise sales, and opening and closing the Visitor Center. Both positions are 40 hours per week, with contracts running through December 31, 2026. The positions include rotating weekend and holiday work, as well as early and late shifts. These are great opportunities for anyone looking to build experience toward a career in outdoor recreation, parks, conservation, or environmental education. 🌎 📋 Interested? Complete the NC Employment Application (State Form PD-107) and email your application to eno.river@ncparks.gov Application can be found at the link in our bio. 🔗 Questions about the positions? Call the Eno River State Park office at (984) 250-1370. Please share with someone who might be a great fit! 💚

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🌿 Dreaming of working in nature at a state park?