General Resources
Eastern Hellbender General Resources
Evaluating the Success of Habitat Restoration
A Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) study of NRCS-Supported Eastern Hellbender Habitat Restoration on the Middle Fork Holston River in Smyth County, Virginia.
Restoring Degraded River Habitat for Eastern Hellbenders
Restoring aquatic habitat in streams degraded by past human activities is an important component of conservation strategies for Eastern Hellbenders across the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. Recent work in Virginia’s Middle Fork Holston River found that restoration efforts placed heavily-degraded reaches of this waterway on similar habitat trajectories to nearby reference reaches with confirmed hellbender presence. These similarities remained following severe flooding from Hurricane Helene and an additional significant flood event in Winter 2025, indicating that restoration efforts may also help improve resilience to future disturbance events in impacted waterways.
Purdue University Help the Hellbender Brochures, Lesson Plans, Videos & Games
The Hellbender is a giant, aquatic salamander that has experienced severe population declines throughout its range. It is a sensitive species and there are a number of factors contributing to its declines. To help address the varied threats facing the Hellbender, Help the Hellbender has produced several new products focused on educating both stakeholders and the general public on ways that they can help protect hellbenders.
Purdue Agriculture Help the Hellbender
Everyone can do something to Help the Hellbender. On this website, you will find information about the hellbender, as well as household and farm management practices that can help keep our rivers and streams clean. People who fish and kayak can also learn what they should do if they see a hellbender in the wild.
