Matt Cook cuts through the crisp December air, the throaty thrum of his jet boat reverberating over the French Broad River. The vessel is by far the loudest noise on the river’s remote Section 9, which winds through Pisgah National Forest between Marshall and Hot Springs in Western North Carolina.
Beneath the clear surface, a school of brown fish flees before the bow. Belted kingfishers, red-shouldered hawks, and bald eagles patrol the skies above.
The French Broad runs shallow in the winter, and navigating it challenges even a seasoned captain like Cook, who pilots boats for the Asheville-based environmental nonprofit MountainTrue’s river cleanup program…