When you pick up trash/litter, please take a minute and tell us how much and where. We would like to include your efforts in our reporting to Keep America Beautiful. Click on the button below and you will be redirected to the reporting page:

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Storm Water Management Storm Drain Tagging

Left to Right: Caleb Krebs – Storm Water Manager and Board Member, Don Hlavaty – KCCB Treasurer, Lisa Vezzosi – KCCB President, Ed Jordan – Founder and Board Member, Ed Basconi – Master Gardner and Board Member, Seth Hice – Board Member and Media consultant, taking picture Mary Hlavaty – Secretary

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Carter County Landfill have successful Covered Load Law Tarp Giveaway

On Saturday September 7, 2024, Keep Carter County Beautiful (KCCB) partnered with the Carter County Landfill for a Covered Load Law Tarp Giveaway. Thank you, Chris Schuettler, Solid Waste Director, and Tia, for helping us make this a successful event. Chris and his department are doing a great job for the community and provide KCCB with support throughout the year. Thank you to Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTNB) and Keep America Beautiful (KAB) for their Affiliate Support Program. KTNB and KAB provided 200 Tarps for this event. Thank you to Lisa Vezzosi, Mary Hlavaty, Ed Jordan and Don Hlavaty for volunteering to hand out the tarps and help educate the community about this important law. The volunteers gave away free tarps for each vehicle that entered the landfill.

Every year thousands of motorists are injured or killed on our highways. Even under the best of conditions, driving can be hazardous. Add bad weather or poor road maintenance to the equation and it can be downright dangerous just to go out. One factor that increases the risk associated with driving is road debris. Anyone who has had to swerve to avoid an object in the road understands the danger.

Tennessee State Law requires: “Any motor vehicle that transports litter or any material likely to fall or be blown off onto the highways, shall be required to have such material either in an enclosed space or fully covered by a tarpaulin.” Were you aware that this includes Pickup Trucks? You should also know that violating this law is punishable by a $500 fine and community service. If you see unsafe loads driving our roads please get the license plate number and submit it to the Tennessee Department of Transportation by clicking on the button below.

Litter Hotline (tn.gov)

Six community partners came together on Sunday August 11, 2024, and hosted a successful community cleanup in downtown Elizabethton.

Non-Profits Meet the Mountains, Responsible Stewardship, Keep Carter County Beautiful, and Main Street Elizabethton partnered with downtown Elizabethton businesses, Hellbenders Outfitters and Riverside Taphouse. Thank you to all the organizations and a special thank you to the volunteers. This is the second year in a row Meet the Mountains and Responsible Stewardship worked to improve our community. We hope to see them back next year.

Community volunteers cleaned up trash and litter from the Covered Bridge Park, parking lots behind downtown businesses, the Tweetsie Trail in front of Elizabethton High School and the Linear Trail at the Broad Street Bridge.

A special thank you to Hellbenders Outfitters and Riverside Taphouse. Please support these local businesses. When you go to Hellbenders Outfitters for your camping, hiking and outdoor activity needs you can relieve some stress by showing some love to the owners’ dogs and then have a cold one at the Riverside Taphouse. These businesses showed they were good neighbors and are working to improve our community. Please show your support for them.

The 2024 Great American Cleanup sponsored by Keep America Beautiful was a great success. Keep Carter County Beautiful, Keep Tennessee Beautiful, and the Elizabethton Department of Streets and Sanitation held a successful litter pickup of the Tweetsie Trail in Elizabethton, TN

The weather finally cooperated for most of Saturday, May 25th. My apologies to the volunteers that started out from the east end of the trail. I understand you did get wet in the short downpour that those on the west end did not experience. Ten KCCB Volunteers and two Elizabethton Employees at the Streets and Sanitation Department removed 450 pounds of litter and trash from four miles of the Tweetsie Trail.

A special thank you to Elizabethton City Councilman Mike Simerly and Department of Streets and Sanitation Supervisor Danny Hilbert for their support. Danny provided the pickup truck and employees that followed behind the cleanup, disposing of the trash. Without the support of the City of Elizabethton we could not be successful. The trail looks great, let’s work to keep it that way.

Safety Vests and Trash Grabbers were provided by Keep Tennessee Beautiful through the Affiliate Support Program.

Overmountain Chapter of Trouts Unlimited, Keep Carter County Beautiful, City of Elizabethton and Carter County partnered to create and install the informative sign at the Trout Trash Trap, Lions Field

What is a trout trash trap? Thanks to the Overmountain Chapter of Trouts Unlimited, Keep Carter County Beautiful the City of Elizabethton and Carter County when you visit Buffalo Creek at Lions Field you will know. The mockup of the sign below explains what the Trap is all about.

Elizabethton High School Art Class creates rock garden for Isaiah 117 House

Keep Carter County Beautiful provided a donation to the Elizabethton High School Art Program run by EHS Teacher Lisa Malone. The students in the Art Class bought supplies to paint rocks to create an “Art Rocks” rock garden for the Isaiah 117 House. The Wood Shop Class at Elizabethton High School designed and built the display table. Thank you Elizabethton High School for supporting our local community.

At a ceremony on May 2nd EHS Students presented the Rock Garden to Isaiah 117 House. Way to build responsible, engaged citizens.

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Wildflower Plots planted

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Keep Tennessee Beautiful team up to provide 11 beautiful wildflower plots in Elizabethton, Carter County. Thank you, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation for providing the plots and tilling the soil. Thank you, Keep Tennessee Beautiful for providing the wildflower seeds. Spring and summer are going to be beautiful in Elizabethton, Tennessee again this year. The plots don’t look like much right now but look at the flowers from last year. A little cooperation from Mother Nature and watch what happens. Thank you to the Keep Carter County Board members and their families for raking the plots, weeding and planting the wildflowers.

Keep Carter County Beautiful is working with the Roan Mountain Recreation Foundation, providing wildflower seeds so they can beautify their local parks. Wildflowers plots are not only great for birds and pollinators but help eliminate mowing all summer. The plots help labor and gas and reduce emissions from the lawnmowers.

Elizabethton High School AP Environmental Studies Program creates wildflower seed packets for distribution to Carter County residents

Keep Carter County Beautiful partnering with Keep Tennessee Beautiful provided wildflower seeds, envelopes and printing for the Elizabethton High School AP Environmental class. The class designed the labels and made wildflower seed packets. Thank you to all our students for learning the importance of saving our environment. Carter County Birds and Pollinators will be very happy this year. The wildflower packets are being handed out to residents at Elizabethton Parks and Recreation events, at the Northeast Community Credit Union Business spotlights, at local businesses, and to County and City officials. Hope everyone enjoys planting some beautiful wildflowers. Thank you Elizabethton High School AP Environmental Studies for beautifying Carter County and helping our pollinators.

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Tree Planting

Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation partnered to plant beautiful mature indigenous trees. It rained all week, but when Saturday came the weather cooperated and we had a warm sunny day. Twenty redbud, dogwood and service berry trees were planted at Kiwanis Park, Riverside Park, Mill Race Park and on the Tweetsie Trail. The trees will provide beauty, shade and homes to birds and pollinators. In all 14 volunteers over three days participated in digging the holes, removing rocks, planting and mulching the trees.

This event was made possible through the Keep Tennessee Beautiful Affiliate Support Program.

Overmountain Chapter of Trouts Unlimited Watauga River Cleanup

Keep Carter County Beautiful – TDOT Adopt-A-Highway Milligan Highway Cleanup Success

We watched the weather all night long hoping we could complete this event. On Saturday morning, the sky cleared for four hours allowing us to complete our work. Eight volunteers walked three miles of Milligan Highway picking up trash. Thank you to all the volunteers including City Councilman Mike Simerly who did not make it into the picture because he was already out picking up trash. Thank you TDOT for providing trash bags and picking up the trash after the event. It is great to have partners like TDOT. We removed 15 bags of trash, 1 Tire, 1 Lawn Mower Battery, a folding lawn chair and couch cushion.

If you travel on Milligan Highway please do not litter and if you see someone littering, get a picture and report it. Littering in Tennessee is a $500 fine and a $50 reward for anyone providing evidence leading to a conviction.

Trashercising the Tweetsie Trail Extension at the Old Tunnel

KCCB Volunteer Susette Clark was at it again. This time she was out Trashercising the Tweetsie Trail at the Old Tunnel in Hampton. Two of Keep Carter County Beautiful’s Board Members joined her on this cleanup. It took over 2 hours to remove the litter from just 1/2 mile of the trail. In that short distance, we collected 10 bags of trash. Unfortunately, while removing the litter, we noticed some significant dumping along the way. Ignorant people are pulling to the shoulder along Highway 19E and throwing furniture and trash down the ravine where it ends up in the Doe River. I will never understand why people dump like this.

Did you know dumping like we found can be a $3000 fine and 1-6 years in jail. Is it really worth the risk when the landfill is just down the road? Please stop dumping in our beautiful county. Anyone providing information leading to a conviction for dumping like this can get a $250 reward. Let’s all work to stop the dumping.

Trashercising Cat Island Park on the Linear Trail

One of our great Keep Carter County Beautiful volunteers is cleaning up. When Susette Clark wants to go out and get some exercise she invites along some friends, and they enjoy the outdoors. While walking they pickup trash. Each time she goes out she makes our community better. Trashercising is a great way to get out, get some exercise and enjoy all that Carter County Tennessee has to offer. On this day, Susette and her friend May collected 10 bags of trash from Cat Island Park and the Linear Trail.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, Keep Jonesboro Beautiful and Keep Carter County Beautiful held a successful Cherokee National River Cleanup at Watauga Lake

When it’s cold outside most people just want to stay in and stay warm. That was not the case for fourteen terrific volunteers at the 4^th annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup on Watauga Lake. Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful put two aluminum boats in the water at Watauga Lake on Saturday February 17, 2024. The fourteen volunteers were then ferried to remote coves and shorelines. Four hours later when the volunteers were brought back to shore they had a haul of 84 bags of trash, 11 tires, 74 sq ft of dock Styrofoam, a 20 ft section of boat dock, 4 dock floats, two TVs, a basketball and several other items of trash. A total of 4407 lbs. of trash was removed from our beautiful Tennessee lake.

My sincere thank you to the fantastic volunteers that got up on Saturday morning in freezing temperatures and said I am going to the lake today to pick up trash. I also want to thank Kathleen Gibi, Matt and Kendall of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. Without the boats and motors this cleanup could not have happened. Thank you to Chris Schuettler the Director of the Carter County Code Enforcement and Will Miller from Carter County Storm Water Management. These dedicated Carter County workers dropped off an empty dumpster and collected it back up disposing of the trash the way it was supposed to be disposed of.

I will never understand what causes some people to dump their trash in a National Park. Eighty percent of the trash that ends up in Watauga Lake is from either the road around the lake or just ignorant people dumping. The litter is bad enough, but when you go out of your way to dump a stove or TV and even furniture there is something wrong.  What takes a few minutes to dump will take numerous volunteer hours to remove. Please stop destroying our community. Dispose of your trash properly and use the County Landfill to dump your large items. Trash does not belong in a National Park!!

Cleanup Sponsors

Harold McCormick School Grant provided thru a donation by supporters of Keep Carter County Beautiful

Keep Carter County Beautiful awards grant to Harold McCormick Elementary School. These grants are made thanks to a wonderful donation from one of our great supporters. The donation was designated to be used for educational projects supporting Environmental awareness. We hope to highlight a student’s artwork each month on our website as a “Sustainability Snapshot”. Each month will feature a different topic, such as “Recycling Awareness”, “Water Conservation”, “Tree Planting and Gardening”.

Elizabethton High School Grant provided thru a donation by supporters of Keep Carter County Beautiful

Keep Carter County Beautiful received a wonderful donation from one of our great supporters. The donation was designated to be used for educational purposes. Last year Elizabethton High School AP Environmental Studies class designed and created wildflower/pollinator seed packets for the community to plant around the County. This year, teacher Jessica Hayes inquired if KCCB could help with a recycling effort. The timing was perfect, Ms. Hayes applied for a grant to buy recycling bins so that the High School could recycle paper instead of throwing it away. After reviewing the application, the KCCB Board decided to award the first grant to the EHS AP Environmental Studies class to purchase the recycle bins. Thank you, Jessica Hayes, and the EHS AP Environmental Class. You make our community better.

Keep Carter County Beautiful 2023 Holiday Greetings

Daniel French receives Community Recognition for his years of service

Daniel French has been volunteering at Keep Carter County Beautiful events for years. His positive outlook on life is contagious. On December 14, 2023 the Elizabethton City Council recognized Daniel’s dedication to improving our community. Thank you, Daniel from the whole community. You make Carter County a better place to live!

Keep Carter County Beautiful and the Tennessee Department of Transportation “No Trash November” Tweetsie Trail Cleanup

Keep Carter County Beautiful and the Tennesse Department of Transportation held a “No Trash November” Tweetsie Trail Cleanup Saturday November 18, 2023. Ten Volunteers walked the Tweetsie Trail from the Elizabethton DQ parking lot out to the trailhead at Snap-On Tools. Twenty large bags of trash were picked up and one homeless area cleaned. Great work by these volunteers and thank you TDOT for sponsoring this event. Volunteers working to make Carter County a great place to live and visit.

Thank you Johnson County Litter Chicks!! The organization held a litter cleanup on Saturday November 11th along Poga Rd. and collected 45 bags of trash. That road has got to look a lot better now, what a great event. Any time you want to help cleanup Carter County we welcome your efforts. You can follow the Johnson County Litter Chicks at:

Carter County Stormwater Management and Roan Mountain Recreation Foundation hosted a Trout Trash Trap Cleanup on the Doe River at Erik Anderson Memorial Park, Roan Mountain

Did you know that 80% of the trash in our waterways comes from the nearby roads? It would be great if there was some kind of device that could filter out all that floating debris without harming wildlife. Well, there is such a device and several of them have been installed around Carter County. The Trout Trash Traps are made with pontoons, chain link fence, and aluminum tubing. They are tied to the riverbank with steel cables wrapped with floating buoys. Trash drifts downriver and is redirected into the trap by the cables and buoys. The chain link fence traps the debris but allows the fish to swim through.

One of the trash traps is installed on the Doe River in Roan Mountain at the Erik Anderson Memorial Park. This trap became filled with branches, logs and trash and needed some help from the community. Will Miller with Carter County Stormwater Management, the Roan Mountain Recreational Foundation and Keep Carter County Beautiful asked for assistance from volunteers to help clean the trap so that it could once again function properly. Ten wonderful volunteers showed up waded into the cool river and removed all the trash and debris. Thanks to these volunteers, the trap is now working properly again and trapping trash 24 hours a day. Thank you to Will Miller and all the volunteers for their support. Thank you, Matt, for the tractor. It sure made the job easier. The Carter County community appreciates your support. If you are in the area stop at the Erik Anderson Memorial Park and take a look at the Trout Trash Trap. This local park is one of the hidden treasures in Carter County.

Ever wonder what makes one community seem so much nicer than another. I think it has to do with the people. Some people see a need and complain that something should be done, or they think it’s someone else’s problem. Other people see a need and jump right in to help. I think what makes one community better than another is its volunteers.

Susette (Anna) Clark is one such volunteer. Since moving to Carter County a few short months ago. Suzette has been going out on her own and removing trash from the roads, parks and trails. She saw an issue and set about solving it. If you see Suzette out on the roads or in the parks in her safety vest picking up trash, please let her know how much you appreciate her support. Better yet follow her example and volunteer yourself.

This last week Suzette enlisted the support of her grandson and his friend, and they removed 9 bags of trash and a bunch of old cardboard around Unaka High School. Thank you, Joshua and Jacob, for improving our community.

If you are or have a High School student in your house be aware that working with Keep Carter County Beautiful can fulfill your community service requirement.

What does 150,000+ wildflowers look like when they start blooming? You do not have to guess just visit the wildflower plot at Elk and Dixon Avenue in Elizabethton Tennessee. Keep Carter County Beautiful would like to thank the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Department, our volunteers and Mainstreet Elizabethton for their support beautifying our community. Eleven areas along the Linear and Tweetsie Trails were plowed and planted with wildflowers.

A special thanks to Mike Mains and Ed Basconi for their vision and hard work making this a reality.

All I can say is wow…what a celebration!!! Thank you Mike Mains and the Parks and Recreation Department for inviting Keep Carter County Beautiful to participate in the 2023 Fourth of July Celebration at the Covered Bridge Park. If you did not get a chance to attend, then you missed something special. Thank you to all the participants that made use of the KCCB recycle bins placed around the park. Thank you also for using the trash receptacles and making P&R cleanup job a little easier. Hope to see everyone next year. Mike and the City of Elizabethton put on the best show in the area.

Keep Carter County Beautiful provides recycle bins for Parks and Recreation Events

Nine volunteers participated in this year’s TDOT Adopt-A-Highway Summer Cleanup. 14 Bags of trash were collected and removed from this beautiful section of Carter County Road. Thank you to all the volunteers. We saw Elizabethton Police Department patrols helping out to make sure we were safe. Thank you, Chief Shaw and the Elizabethton Officers for helping us hold another safe event. A special shout out to Daniel French, one of our great volunteers who wanted to be with us but was under the weather. Keep up the fight Daniel, our community is better because of your support.

Carter County Stormwater Management Spring Stream Cleanup at Blue Hole Falls

Thank you to the Carter County Stormwater Management for a great cleanup event. Will Miller, Stormwater Management Coordinator, organized and lead this effort. Keep Carter County Beautiful was happy to partner with them on this cleanup. I not only got to see Blue Hole Falls for the first time since moving here in 2018, but I also got to help keep it clean for residents and visitors.

I met and talked to two couples from out of town and they were impressed that we were volunteering to keep our county clean and that our County Mayor was participating. Thank you, Mayor Woodby for supporting this event. It is great to have the support of our Community Leaders. Please keep an eye out for future events sponsored by the Stormwater Management team.

Adding Wayfinding signs to the Tweetsie Trail allows visitors and residents to locate some of Carter County’s many great attractions and recreational opportunities. I would like to say thank you to Mike Mains at Parks and Recreation for supplying the Bobcat, auger and operator. Digging holes along the Tweetsie Trail and Carter County waterways is challenging, but equipment like that makes the process easier. Thank you to Mike Priest for operating the Bobcat, digging the holes and helping install the signs. Thank you to Councilman Mike Simerly, KCCB Board Members, Lisa Vezzosi and Ed Jordan for all the support and labor for installing the signs. Special thanks to KCCB Board Member Ross Garland who planned, managed and delivered on this great resource for our county. Ross also provides much of the physical labor installing the signs. The map signs were designed by Seth Hice at the Elizabethton / Carter County Chamber of Commerce. More signs are on the way, and I hope residents and visitors find them helpful.

15 volunteers took to the Tweetsie Trail to pick up litter. We collected 1200 lbs. of trash, two tires, and several large pieces of miscellaneous trash. Many of the trail users expressed their appreciation for our efforts in keeping the Tweetsie Trail beautiful and enjoyable. The Keep Carter County Beautiful Board thanks all of the volunteers who participate in our events.

A special thank you to the young adults who volunteered. It was great seeing the next generation take pride in their community. Also, a special thank you to our Roan Mountain volunteers.

Thank you to Danny Hilbert and the Elizabethton Streets and Sanitation department for collecting and disposing of the trash. It is a great relief to know that we do not have to transport the trash to the dump. Danny’s worker came down the trail at 2:00 PM just as we were finishing, and the trail was clean as a whistle.

Thank you to Keep America Beautiful for the resources provided for this cleanup.

Keep Carter County Beautiful wants to distribute flower seeds in the community, so they turned to Elizabethton High School students for help. Could students design labels and package seeds for the group to give away at public events? Elizabethton instructor Jessica Hayes, who teaches an environmental science course, was quick to say “yes.”

“The first question from students was, ‘Will we get to plant some?’” Hayes said. The fun, colorful seed labels tell gardeners how and when to plant sunflowers and zinnias, how big the plants will get, and how these easy-to-grow plants attract pollinators. It includes an invitation for gardeners to submit their flower photos to the KCCB website.

Junior Makenzie Oliver designed the labels, and sophomore Loren Watson created drawings for Yellow Pygmy sunflowers – which grow 18 to 22 inches high, and a mix of four different zinnias. Both students said they were excited to be part of a community project. Oliver worked under a tight deadline, creating several label designs for her teacher’s review. Because she is interested in studying architecture, designing an appealing product came naturally to her. Watson said she wanted flowers to be both idealized and realistic, with strong visual appeal. “I felt as though the seed packets’ design would be a big factor in whether or not people chose to use them,” she said. Though Watson and her family enjoy gardening, the project gave her new perspective on the intricate nature of flowers. She learned “how meticulous it is to draw hundreds of tiny petals.” She also learned what Keep Carter County Beautiful does in the community. That work was “really inspiring to me in a world where we often hear a lot of negative news about the environment,” Watson said.

The class of 16 filled and labeled hundreds of packets, with students who plan to major in engineering in college serving as production managers. Students range from freshmen to seniors, but most are juniors. The students were excited to do the project because KCCB trusted them, giving them full control of the design, their teacher said. To Hayes, the project was a natural fit. The advanced-placement, college-level course focuses on Earth’s health and resources. Planting flowers is part of that story. Students talk about the harmful effects of deforestation and the good that comes from pollinators. “Any time you add an organism that pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, it’s an asset to the planet,” Hayes said. Hayes had worked with Elizabethton High’s Denise Hilton on the Bee Cause Project in 2018. She knew first-hand that the bee population has declined in recent years, and how growing more flowers can help. “Planting flowers helps the entire food web, the entire ecosystem,” she said. “We are constantly analyzing ways that humans have affected our biosphere and seek to find solutions to the issues that the human race has caused to our planet,” Hayes said.

The seed project isn’t the only way Hayes has combined action with learning in the classroom. Advanced-placement EHS biology students traveled to Kingsport recently to meet and give feedback to fourth- and fifth-graders who created projects for St. Dominic School’s science fair. “Elizabethton as a school has made a push to incorporate more project-based learning,” Hayes said. “When an opportunity arises for us to give back and help out our home, I want to take the time to do it and instill that mindset into our future generations.”

KCCB chairman Don Hlavaty is happy to have young people involved. “To have the Elizabethton students packaging and creating the design for the packaging of these seeds is a fantastic thing,” he said. He added that young people also joined in a recent tree-planting event on the Tweetsie Trail. “We’re hoping to get them involved in a lot of things in the future. Because our volunteer base seems to be getting older and older, any ideas young people have is just fantastic,” he said.

Hlavaty would love to see flowers growing on bare patches of land across Elizabethton. “Getting flowers growing – imagine how much better it’s going to look, coming into town,” he said. KCCB will give away seeds to volunteers at the Great American Cleanup, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, at the Lions Field parking lot. Volunteers will remove litter along the Tweetsie Trail.

When you are out doing your banking at the Northeast Community Credit Union in Roan Mountain on Highway 19E stop at the Keep Carter County Beautiful display table and pick up some information. Calendars, Stickers, Tennessee Law Booklets, Carter County Chamber of Commerce brochures and wildflower seed packets designed and created by Elizabethton High School students are available.

What a great turnout for the 2023 Tweetsie and Linear Trail tree planting. It looked like rain would force volunteers to postpone, but the skies cleared just hours before planting time. The ground was muddy and at the end so were the volunteers, but no one complained. Seventeen terrific volunteers worked hard removing rocks, backfilling holes and mulching 20 new trees. It was particularly nice to see some energetic young people and one very good doggie join us. It is always good to see families getting involved in their community.

Keep Carter County Beautiful 2023 Adopt-A-Highway Spring Cleanup

This year’s spring cleanup of Milligan highway was a success even though many of our volunteers were out ill. Four healthy volunteers still managed to collect 12 large bags of trash, one tire, some pool parts and other various items. We were even able to extend our cleanup past Okolona Rd. Let’s hope those littering the area learn to keep it clean. I hope our dedicated volunteers recover from their illness and are able to join us for our 2023 Tree Planting event on March 25, 2023.

Keep Carter County Beautiful, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation and Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association team up to install Hampton area Wayfinding signs

It was raining and chilly, but once the work started it was not that bad. Keep Carter County Beautiful, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation and Wes Bradley from the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association worked through the rain and mud to erect new wayfinding signs at the Green Bridge Landing Park and Watershed Bike Trail trailhead in Hampton.

Thank you to the hearty volunteers for making our community beautiful. Visitors and residents can use the Wayfinding signs to take advantage of our great outdoor activities. While working at Green Bridge Landing some young fisherman from Appalachian State even stopped by asking for trash bags so they could pick up trash as they fished. We love visitors like these that leave our community cleaner than how they found it. Hope they enjoyed themselves and will tell others about our beautiful Carter County.

Carter County Sheriff’s Department hit the road in January

Thank you, Sheriff Mike Fraley and the Carter County Sheriff’s department. In January 2023 the Sheriff’s Department supervised the collection of 23,740 lbs. of trash from our county roads. Thank you to the Tennessee Department of Transportation Litter Grant Program. This program really works! The cleanup covered 627 miles on 25 county roads and took 155.75-man hours. Thank you also to the trustees that worked to keep Carter County beautiful. The crews collected 2315 lbs. of aluminum cans, 4635 lbs. of glass, 2190 lbs. of paper, and 14600 lbs. of other trash. Just another reason to be proud of our community. If you see littering/dumping or uncovered loads, please report it. Together the community can solve this problem.

In recent weeks we noticed an increase in the citations and prosecutions for littering/dumping violations. Hopefully the offenders will start getting the message that we do not tolerate littering/dumping in Carter County.

Keep Carter County Beautiful, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Keep Jonesborough Beautiful partnered on a very successful Watauga Lake cleanup

Twentynine terrific volunteers showed up at the Little Milligan Boat Ramp on Watauga Lake and removed 5500 lbs. of trash. This successful cleanup was part of the 3rd Annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup series. Thank you to the volunteers for making a difference and keeping our lakes and rivers beautiful. Thank you to Kathleen Gibi and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful for making this event possible. Thank you to the sponsors of this event. Without your support we could not be successful. A special thank you to Benny Lyons Carter County’s Solid Waste Director for providing and picking up the dumpster. Without it we would have no means of disposing of the trash.

Please visit the “Events” page of this website for updates on upcoming events. Our Volunteers are making Northeast Tennessee a beautiful place to live, visit and work.

Please stop and view this very important video from the Tennessee Clean Act. I urge you to act now!

Please do not ignore this issue. Litter and trash impacts all of our lives and only we can fix it. Keep Carter County Beautiful is not a political organization, but I urge you to call, write or email your local and state representatives. Act now to save our beautiful state. You can click on the logo below and the website will help you with your message.

Enjoy all Carter County Tennessee has to offer