The effects of agricultural best management practices and in-stream restoration on suspended-sediment concentrations, stream habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were examined in a comparative study of three small, rural stream basins in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces of North Carolina and Virginia between 2004 and 2007. The study was designed to assess changes in stream quality associated with stream-improvement efforts at two sites in comparison to a control site (Hogan Creek), for which no improvements were planned. In the drainage basin of one of the stream-improvement sites (Bull Creek), several agricul-tural best management practices, primarily designed to limit cattle access to streams, were implemented during this study. In the drainage basin of the second stream-improvement site (Pauls Creek), a 1,600-foot reach of the stream channel was restored and several agricultural best management practices were implemented.