The River Runs On follows conservationists throughout southern Appalachia as they struggle to manage two of the most important national forests in America - the Pisgah and Nantahala. The film revolves around the Pisgah-Nantahala Forest Plan, a plan the US Forest Service is finalizing that will dictate how these two national forests are managed for the next twenty years. The result is a meditation on our relationship to nature, our role in managing lands and what it may mean for the future.