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A group in southwest Virginia is working to restore bamboo that's native to the U.S.

A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: There's a bamboo that's native to the United States. It's called rivercane, and it has an importance both for Indigenous people and the natural environment. Roxy Todd of member station Radio IQ in Virginia reports on efforts to restore the plant.

ROXY TODD, BYLINE: On a Saturday afternoon, a group of 10 volunteers gather for a short hike in southwest Virginia. They tromp through mud and long grass.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)

TODD: They're revisiting a patch of rivercane they planted three years ago. Laura Young, with the Virginia Department of Conservation, says when they're babies, these plants look like mere sticks that fit in the palm of your hand.

LAURA YOUNG: They're just these little scraggly things like that. Now they're literally taller than us.

TODD: As she stands next to the plants that now tower over her head, she says they can stand up against invasive species and reduce damage from flooding.

YOUNG: Rivercane is really amazing for stabilizing stream banks. It's great for habitat for migratory songbirds.

TODD: This bamboo that grows up to 30 feet used to be abundant along rivers in much of the Southeast.

YOUNG: And then there's also a lot of rare moths that we track that this is a specific host plant for. This is the only thing that those moths can eat. If this plant is not there, the moths are not there.

TODD: Since the 1800s, rivercane slowly faded from riverbanks as farmers cleared it to make space for agriculture. It's now recognized as a culturally significant plant for many Indigenous tribes, including the Choctaw and Cherokee, who use it for intricate artistic basket weaving. They've also been working to bring it back in Oklahoma, Louisiana and North Carolina.

Young says their work has inspired her to grow rivercane here in Virginia. And these volunteers are committed to the project. People like Abigail Burggraf, who holds her 3-year-old daughter Susanna's hand. Their rain boots are covered in mud. She says her daughter learned to walk when they came out to weed this patch of rivercane two years ago.

ABIGAIL BURGGRAF: She'd done the, like, taking a couple of steps and then just started walking around. I was like, OK then. (Laughter) I guess we're doing that now.

TODD: She and others helped start the baby rivercane plants on their porches. They nursed them in plastic sandwich bags till they were ready to transplant. Young says it doesn't take a lot of technical expertise to grow a patch along a river bank.

YOUNG: This is something that a sixth-grade class could do.

TODD: What began as five volunteers has now grown to 20.

YOUNG: I feel like the community's really excited about this because it's so important, and you can see it working.

TODD: This year, this group planted a thousand rivercane along the Clinch and Powell rivers. Young hopes next year they'll add more river banks, where America's only native bamboo can grow again.

For NPR News, I'm Roxy Todd in Lee County, Va.

(SOUNDBITE OF JULIAN LAGE AND CHRIS ELDRIDGE'S "RYGAR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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