 In 1987 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Land of Sky attained funding through a civil works planning grant.A loosely knit group of volunteers and conservation advocates known as the French Broad Riverfront Planning Commission were asked to team up with the French Broad River Foundation and Asheville's Chamber of Commerce to create the Asheville Riverfront Plan.In the 1980s, as efforts to clean up the river intensified with citizen advocacy groups like the FBRF, policy makers came to finally see the critical importance of the French Broad River to the region.