“Since 2017 Energy Savers Network (ESN) has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County,” says Steffi Rausch, director of operations for Energy Savers Network.

“Since 2017 Energy Savers Network (ESN) has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County,” says Steffi Rausch, director of operations for Energy Savers Network.
Xpress recently caught up with faculty from both programs to learn more about how the two institutions are thinking about environmental studies in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.
Conservation easement saves large parcel next to Richmond Hill Park, thwarting a decade of attempts to add large developments.
After Tropical Storm Helene, people were desperately trying to understand what had just happened to turn their mountain refuge into an unrecognizable hellscape. Geologist and landslide researcher Phillip Prince thought he might be able to help.
Extensive personnel shortages at the NC Forest Service hampered the agency’s ability to manage the wildfires that raged in Western North Carolina this spring, state and county officials say.
Of the nearly 800,000 acres of trees that Helene downed, about 187,000 lie in national forests. Salvage logging — a practice scientists and forest advocates have long questioned — is the Forest Service’s primary method of handling such a large disturbance.
“As our grid evolves toward renewable energy, transitioning means a cleaner, more efficient environment,” says Sophie Mullinax, chief administrative officer of Let’s Go Electric/Electrify Asheville-Buncombe.
“If I am healthier, I can help others more often and reduce the load on our first responders and those trying to help us,” says David Thomas, a lifelong recreational cyclist, kayaker, angler and hiker.
To stay positive, UNCA student Olivia Williams says she reminds herself of “all of the intellectual, strong and determined students that surround me in my environmental science classes at school.”
A crowd of about 150 people attended a forum designed to educate community members about nonprofits that focus on public resources, land and wildlife, especially given recent federal policies that could pose long-term challenges.
“Buy local groceries when you can and research where your food comes from,” says Kathryn Wolfe co-president of the A.C. Reynolds High School Environmental Club.
The suit is the third connected to one of the two WNC national forests that the Virginia-based nonprofit legal organization has filed since early 2024.
Hickory Nut Gap Farms and UNCA co-host this film screening and discussion on April 9.
Three days after a WNC church secured funding for solar panels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) froze $20 billion in climate and clean energy grants, putting energy efficiency and resiliency projects in limbo across the country.
Ryan Cole, Buncombe County Emergency Management assistant director, said that while some fallen trees left by Helene are not dried out enough to be considered a fire hazard, the accumulation of debris over the next several years will increase the likelihood of more intense fire seasons.
Hit hard by Tropical Storm Helene, WNC Nature Center exceeds its own expectations by opening March 17 with a few renovations and expansions too.
Post-Helene debris and waterway changes have made some of the public’s favorite fishing rivers inaccessible for the season, which peaks in spring and fall, though some trout fishing is allowed year-round.
The celebration of World Water Day benefits local environmental nonprofit MountainTrue.
The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County invites self-paced exploration of four lovingly restored and preserved Chestnut Hill homes Feb. 22-23.
“The eastern hellbender is one of only three giant salamanders on the planet,” said District 3 Commissioner Parker Sloan during the Feb. 4 meeting. “They’re down to about 59%, so we’ve lost roughly half of the eastern hellbenders.”
“Historic Floods and Landslides — What Have We Learned” will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2-4 p.m., at the Bo Thomas Auditorium on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College.