Lynnette Batt
Associate Director, River Restoration Program, NC
Department: Conservation
Area of Focus: Lynnette works with communities across North Carolina and the Southeast to remove unsafe and outdated dams by providing technical assistance and general guidance for these projects. Lynnette also coordinates the region's American Rivers-NOAA Community Based Restoration Partnership grant program, which provides funding to local communities to restore rivers and enhance native fish passage.
Background: Lynnette joined American Rivers in 2009. Prior to this, she worked as an environmental planning consultant for state and federal infrastructure projects. She also worked with the North Carolina Coastal Federation on coastal policy and planning issues, developing a community-based watershed action plan to restore health to a coastal river. Lynnette is a life-long equestrian, and has trained horses and taught riding lessons for over a decade.
Education: B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine; Sea Education Association Class S184, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Master of Environmental Management (MEM) from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Favorite River: Eno River in North Carolina
Blog Posts By This Author
Removing the Milburnie Dam, Neuse River, North Carolina
December 4, 2012 | Dams & Dam Removal
A public workshop for the Milburnie Dam removal project on the Neuse River in North Carolina will be held this Thursday December 6. The Milburnie Dam was proposed for removal over two years ago, and is now near approval. American Rivers strongly supports this project.
Read more »Second of Two Dam Removals near Troy, North Carolina
September 20, 2012 | Water Pollution, Dams & Dam Removal
The US Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Town of Troy and American Rivers, worked to remove a dam on Denson’s Creek in Montgomery County, NC a week ago (Tues, Sept 11). The dam was built by the Town of Troy over 50 years ago to provide water supply, but it had long since stopped serving that purpose. Removing the dam will restore and reconnect habitat for several rare mussels and other high priority species.
Read more »Two NC Dam Removals, Two Days
September 12, 2012 | Dams & Dam Removal
American Rivers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service worked together to remove a privately owned dam on the Little River in Montgomery County, NC on Monday. The project will benefit a number of rare, high priority fish and mussel species by restoring river habitat and allowing fish to move upstream.
Read more »What’s So Bad About Dams, Anyway?
September 6, 2011 | Dams & Dam Removal
In our line of work removing old dams to restore rivers, one of the most common questions people ask is “what’s so bad about dams, anyway?” It’s a great question and could be a short or long answer, depending on how detailed you want to get. I’ll attempt to summarize the key issues here.
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