Helene reshaped much of western North Carolina’s landscape, rerouting rivers and felling large swaths of forests. Aerial timber surveys indicate that Helene damaged over 800,000 acres of North Carolina’s forested land.

After Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina last September, tens of thousands of homes were damaged and large swaths of the region were damaged by flooding. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to speed up recovery,